After 20 years working in the sex industry, there is little that surprises *Emily.
From 15-hour meetings with some of the most feared figures in Sydney’s underworld to entertaining some of the country’s most popular national heroes and sporting icons, he’s seen it all.
Now the sex worker, in her 30s, is sharing her story in an attempt to demystify the profession and change some of the popular misconceptions about the life of a working woman.
“I will never forget my first meeting with a sports star,” he said.
‘I was in the living room after this big sporting event that was on the front page, and in walked this man in the middle of the winning team.
“It was the first time someone tried to force me to take cocaine.”
Emily said many sports icons assumed women didn’t know who they were.
“Another sports star tried to tell me he worked in real estate, not knowing that I watch football on Friday nights,” he said.
Emily has serviced hardened criminals, TV stars and sporting gods during her career as a sex worker in Sydney.
“I said, ‘Oh yeah, you broke your nose selling houses? I know who you are, man.'”
He said it was common for many of the men to have young families or pregnant partners at home.
Emily admitted to being shocked by the behaviour of a football player who was frequently in the media for the wrong reasons.
“The media portrayed him as a complete criminal, but in reality he was a complete gentleman,” he said.
‘He only hired blondes and he regularly hired a friend of mine. He always said to me: “Hi, honey, how are you?”
‘A kind and courteous person. The exact opposite of how the press portrays him.
“No one had anything bad to say about him as a client. He never crossed any boundaries, he was never difficult.”
However, it was not just sports stars who frequented the brothels of the eastern suburbs, where Emily spent much of her career.
“When I was working in Bondi, a big name came up,” he said.
‘Let’s say they appeared on television and were very prominent.
“He looked me straight in the eyes and I think he knew that I knew.”
Emily said it was common for many of the men to have young families or pregnant partners at home.
Emily said sex workers were not required to sign confidentiality agreements, but did not talk about their clients out of “basic human decency.”
“We would further sabotage the integrity of our industry if we were seen as women who cannot be trusted with the sanctity of the men who come in there and contribute to our business,” she said.
However, there have been many times when she has felt insecure.
“I’ve worked for 15 hours with some of the biggest names in Sydney’s criminal underworld and it’s traumatic,” Emily said.
‘You can’t predict what’s going to happen.
‘A guy, let’s call him T, hired me and we had a 15-hour bender.
‘The next morning, her mother, who lived nearby, came in unannounced. I was horrified.
“But he said, ‘Do you know how many whores my mother has known?'”
“I thought, ‘My God, I’d rather, you know, ma’am, get paid to be here.'”
Later, when ‘T’ was released on bail for weapons-related offences, he sent Emily to a mansion where she took refuge.
“I was afraid the police would come and the whole time I was standing at a window looking through a pair of binoculars,” he said.
‘Suddenly he said, “Oh my God, they’re coming,” and rolled a rock of cocaine into a bag and stuck it in my vagina.’
Paranoia, on that occasion, was out of place.
But perhaps it was understandable given that he had narrowly survived an assassination attempt.
“When you see these people change, you literally see the devil come out of them,” Emily said.
“You have to be very smart when playing it.”
Emily insists that the average person would be surprised by the type of people now entering the industry.
“Nursing is a highly interconnected profession,” she said.
‘They are actually very good sex workers. They have a high level of empathy and are not averse to contact with bodily fluids.
‘Teachers too. They are often people who are not paid enough.
‘Office workers who work nine to five during the week and then go to the salon on a Saturday night and make a thousand dollars.’
Teenage girls are also flocking to the industry, Emily said.
‘They’re literally showing up on her 18th birthday.
‘I think with the rise of social media and the consumer industry, these quick little hits of dopamine, the McDonald’s generation wants everything now and some girls aspire to a lifestyle that they know they can quickly achieve through sex work.’
Emily often works with the parents of these girls to break the stigma and ease their fears.
“As I always tell these girls and their parents: ‘Listen, a jaded old whore like me can get through this,'” she said.
He added: “I’ve had an overdose of cocaine. I’ve had seizures.” I’ve been close to death so many times that I think if I can get through this and show other people that there is hope, then I will.
“I feel that sharing a struggle creates solidarity and I have nothing to fear after everything I have been through.”
*Name has been changed for privacy reasons.