1. photographybynamehere
22 | idealog.co.nz
business | Sex industry business | Sex industry
may – june 2015 | idealog.co.nz | 23
M
istress Sophia is a dominatrix. As befits
her profession, she’s forthright, honest
and unabashed in proclaiming what
she does. But you won’t hear about
her services from a flyer on K Road or
Vivian Street.
Instead, using the handle @QueenMistress, Sophia
has more than 16,000 followers on Twitter, where she
actively promotes herself as a sought-after commodity.
Her Instagram account, though it has only a fraction of her
Twitter followers, also acts as a virtual introduction to her
world of ropes, whips and leather lingerie.
Sophia uses social media as an entrée, where the end-goal
is to direct potential clients to her website, then more private
email conversations and eventually her Auckland studio.
She is part of a new breed of independent entrepreneurs
in the sex industry, taking advantage of the rapid shift
in disruptive technology changing the oldest profession
in the world. Like Uber in the taxi trade and Airbnb in
accommodation, specialist websites and apps are making it
more convenient – and more private – for workers and clients
to contact each other, without going through a middleman.
The directory website madam.co.nz, for example,
launched at the end of 2014, uses geo-location to connect
client and sex worker. Like searching for a destination on
Google maps, users key in their whereabouts, and a list of
available girls pop up, ordered by how many minutes they
are from you.
The list can be refined based on “skill sets”, hair colour,
body shape and price. And Madam’s not unique – at least four
other popular directories are active.
The newzealandgirls.co.nz directory also has a forum,
allowing clients to give feedback about their experiences.
And just like any other forum, there are sections for romantic
advice, fitness and nutrition, relationships, and even tech
support. It’s a good starting point for first-timers, both worker
and punter.
Trick
or tweetIn a world where you ain’t anyone
unless you have an online presence, the
sex industry in New Zealand has also
embraced fast-changing technology, with
many independent workers becoming
savvy digital players.
text by johan chang
»
photographybygettyimages

2. 24 | idealog.co.nz
business | Sex industry
may – june 2015 | idealog.co.nz | 25
Overseas, prostitutes are also cottoning on
to dating apps like Tinder, which allows you to
log in with your Facebook account, and make
a split-second decision on whether you like
someone or not, by swiping right to “like” or left
to “dislike”.
Although an estimated 5% of New Zealanders
have a Tinder account, Catherine Healy,
national coordinator for the New Zealand
Prostitutes Collective (NZPC), does not believe
sex workers here are using the app.
In addition, she says, prostitutes who have
tried to use other Kiwi dating sites have been
asked to stop.
What about the numbers?
One of the big unknowns is the impact the
internet has had on the number of sex workers.
In an industry where only 60 people declared
themselves as “sex worker or escort” in the last
census, numbers are notoriously hard to come by.
But AUT psychology senior lecturer Dr Panteá
Farvid says anecdotal evidence suggests there are
a lot more independent sex workers out there,
attracted by relatively good money (from around
$150 an hour for a romp in a student flat to $1200
for a luxury liaison in a penthouse hotel suite) and
the ease of opening their own business.
The same anecdotal evidence suggests the
internet may be threatening the business of
brothels. Although it’s hard to gauge the impact
in New Zealand, an Australian brothel owner
recently told Melbourne’s Age newspaper
that business was down 18% on 2013 levels,
and Australian Adult Entertainment Industry
spokesman William Albon said some brothels
are experiencing a 30%-40% dip in profits.
Dutch research, quoted in the Economist,
suggests in the decade to 2010, the number of
licensed sex clubs in the Netherlands fell by
more than 50%.
In New Zealand, figures indicate the number
of brothel licence applications has been falling
– from 326 in 2004 (just after prostitution was
legalised in 2003) to 72 in 2011. There were also
only 54 renewals granted in 2011.
Part of the answer could be the rise of
independent sex workers, although the NZPC
suggests this assumption is speculative and
numbers are uncertain. The Collective believes
prostitute numbers in its organisation have
remained relatively stable since legalisation in
2003, from around 2300 to 5000 workers.
What is more certain is that there are more
online ads than ever before, and punters are
flocking to directory websites. HypeStat, a free
online statistics and analytics service, estimates
newzealandgirls.co.nz receives 151,260 monthly
unique visitors.
There are more online ads
than ever before, and punters
are flocking to directory
websites. HypeStat estimates
newzealandgirls.co.nz
receives 151,260 monthly
unique visitors.
photographybygettyimages
can manage their own services.
“It’s a worldwide trend [that] girls are working
for themselves now,” Healy says. “Forty percent
[of prostitutes] are now managing their own
business, where 40 years ago they would have
been in a brothel.”
Still, competition on the internet is fierce.
Multiple directories are available, which means
sex workers often have to list in several places
– and that can be costly. They may also list
themselves as several different people (although
sites such as NZGirls try to avoid this with a
verified photo seal of approval).
The internet is also making it easier for people
looking for sex to find it – for free. Apps such as
Tinder or Grindr (for the gay scene) bring people
together. Websites such as Ashley Madison help
married people find extra-marital partners,
for anyone looking for a paid quickie in central
Auckland. Once hunting grounds for girls either
looking to make quick buck or even settling in
for the long-term, the pavements around K Road
and Eden Terrace are more or less deserted.
A little more than a decade since the
Prostitution Reform Act made sex work legal, it
seems workers have found an easier alternative
to standing for hours under street lamps.
Instead, a short search and a couple of mouse
clicks are all you need. The internet can and will
provide. Some prefer meeting at a hotel, others
offer their own home. Some cater to specific
fetishes, others don’t. As with business as a
whole, the internet allows potential customers
to choose exactly what they want – and for sex
workers to market to a preferred niche.
Healy says going digital means sex workers
It’s also hard to gauge the size of the industry,
as the tax department doesn’t separate out
sex workers from the overall entertainment
sector. However, extrapolating from UK figures
suggests New Zealand’s sex industry might
produce the GDP equivalent of the entire
clothing, footwear and textiles sector. That’s
roughly $800 million.
A grey area
Back in 2010, the NZPC said there were about
400 street-based sex workers nationwide,
though the numbers were sketchy due to
the often temporary and sporadic nature
of the work. Five years on, it seems online
advertisements have made kerb-crawling a
harder business model to follow.
At 11.30 on a Friday night, it’s thin pickings
while NZDating, FindSomeone and OkCupid
also compete in the market. What’s the point of
paying for sex when you can easily get it for free?
Still, the internet is allowing entrepreneurs
like Mistress Sophia to create a profitable
business. According to Farvid, “independents
could earn as much as 40%-50% more than in
an agency”.
Mistress Sophia will see you now
The entrance to Sophia’s boudoir is a literal hole
in the wall. A single door from the outside leads
down a long corridor, then through another
two sets of locked doors. At the very back of
the building, Sophia’s “office” looks more like a
dance studio than a sex dungeon.
Full-length mirrors cover one wall, while
the other three are adorned with black drapes.
Metallic frames and hooks hang from the
ceiling. It’s sparsely populated, minimalist
even, with a heavy table sitting at the back
behind opened partitions, covered with
various instruments.
You’d never find her den from the street, but
with the internet, physical presence doesn’t
matter as much. The web has been critical to
building her business – from providing how-to
guides on painting and decorating, to YouTube
“dominatrix-for-dummies” videos.
Sophia started as an independent and wasn’t
mentored by another mistress, she had to
effectively train herself.
“You have to know your shit when it comes
to not hurting people,” she says, referring to the
skills she’s picked up from a variety of online
sources along the way.
Then, of course, there are all the tips on
how to run a business: from search engine
optimisation to managing her social media
followers. Sophia’s even learnt how to code her
own website.
“I do it all myself. It is time. It is sheer
tenacity, and the balls to learn how to do that.”
Still, as with any previously offline business,
the rise of the internet has caused problems for
less tech-savvy workers.
That might be as mundane as having to
go online every hour or two to maintain a
social media presence, or pay more for online
advertising than print ads.
But it can be worse. Prostitutes without a
certain amount of technical knowledge can find
themselves at the mercy of their webmasters
or service providers when it comes to adding or
changing content.
This may seem innocuous to the average
small business owner, used to employing
someone to manage their website, but
prostitutes see any loss of control as a risk. »

3. 26 | idealog.co.nz
business | Sex industry
may – june 2015 | idealog.co.nz | 27
photographybygettyimages
It’s particularly concerning, because
webmasters can become cyber-abuse
facilitators, says NZPC Wellington coordinator
Calum Bennachie.
This happens, for example, when prostitutes
list on a directory website and “webmasters
request videos or other things that prostitutes
don’t want to [share]”, he says. They may also
force prostitutes to pay for advanced functions
or “VIP sections”, and ban anyone listing on
their site from being on a competitive site.
But when a particular directory is a market
leader, sometimes there just simply isn’t that
much choice, he says.
The webmaster has now become the
quintessential abusive pimp.
Farvid agrees that being an independent
doesn’t work for everyone, which is why brothels
and agencies still have a part to play.
“You can just go in, do your eight hours, leave,
and everything is taken care of,” she says.
“Being an independent means you have to
manage security, maybe a different apartment
for work, clients that are no-show and a lot of
admin stuff that you’re not getting paid for.”
Yet using the web as a business and
professional tool means Sophia has been able
to retain complete control of her brand and the
image she wants presented, which isn’t limited
to just the New Zealand public.
Part of the allure of having a prolific social
media presence is the ability to compete on the
world stage. Last year Mistress Sophia went on
tour, visiting other international cities, in much
the same way as a rock band might. Announcing
the cities she was going to visit via social media
meant she had sessions booked even before
leaving New Zealand.
One positive for sex workers – from porn stars
to prostitutes – is the internet gives them the
option to present a human, as well as a business
profile. They can be stories, not just brands.
They are just as likely to post photos of them
posing with fluffy animals, or status updates on
what they had for lunch, as images of them in
their birthday suit.
As Farvid says: “The internet has allowed sex
workers more visibility in a mundane way.”
Healy says personal blogs mean the general
public, who may be curious about the trade, can
relate and understand sex workers, and start
to treat them as individual humans instead of
just as pieces of meat. It can help break through
stereotypes and misunderstandings that people
may carry towards the workers, and let people
become less squeamish when approaching the
topic of sex.
Yana the Russian
Yana has been a sex worker for more than two
decades. She started out as a 17-year-old in Russia,
where her stories of stretch limos and palatial
encounters seem like something from a James
Bond film.
She’s now based in Auckland and specialises
in what’s called a “girlfriend experience” –
conversation, companionship and a lot of non-
sexual touching and cuddling. Sporting an Ed
Hardy T-shirt and half-dyed green hair, Yana is
razor sharp with a heavy dose of wit. Holding a
master’s degree in psychology, there’s a scientific
approach to her business.
Twenty years ago, prostitution, in Russia
anyway, was all about knowing someone who
knew someone. It was all very hush-hush. But
today, things have changed. Instead of physical
fixers and go-betweens, the internet is an integral
part of Yana’s business.
“In this day and age, every working girl needs
their own website,” she says.
Although she calls herself a technophobe
and is highly critical of some forums and review
websites, Yana writes her own blog and uses the
internet for market research to improve her trade.
Trawling through the experiences of other sex
workers gives her an insight into what some clients
like or dislike. It’s all about improving customer
service, she says.
“It is a business. If you plan to do this long term,
you must approach it as a business.”
Yana’s attitude towards forums is a reaction
to punters who don’t know the limits. Reviews
internet has been of particular benefit to the male
prostitution industry, which has not traditionally
had the support of either brothels or agencies.
When Grindr came along, it was seen more as a
blessing than a curse.
Male sex workers find it useful to operate
through these sort of applications, Bennachie
says, as they can advertise their services on
their profile. Online communities also allow
individual recognition and group support among
the gay community.
Healy says the bottom line for many clients, as
they weigh the pros and cons of dating websites
and apps against paying for a prostitute, comes
down to time and efficiency versus cost. Clients
also are weighing up which option is likely to
provide sex – and with a disease-free, well-
groomed partner.
“Wanting sex versus actually getting sex are
very different things,” Farvid says. There’s also
the added factor of media representation. There
may not be as much of a stigma attached to
buying sex as there used to be, she says, but it’s
still frowned upon.
The NZPC says it would like to see the next
five years offer more options for sex workers
to operate as independents. Healy says some
clients will always prefer to go to a brothel but
at the same time, she would like to see a more
flexible environment for prostitutes both online
and offline.
For the time being, the internet is making
sweeping changes to the landscape, and it’s
one both the public and those working in the
industry have to adapt to. In the words of
Mistress Sophia: “I’m a child of the internet.”
And it’s there where she thrives. ×
Prostitutes without a
certain amount of technical
knowledge can find
themselves at the mercy of
their webmasters or service
providers when it comes to
adding or changing content.
Editorial note: Idealog recognises the topic of this
feature may be distasteful to some readers. We
acknowledge it is not our role to either condemn or
condone the selling of sex, but merely to comment on
the impact of the internet on an industry which has
been legal for 12 years in New Zealand.
often end up revealing private information that
was shared between the provider and the client.
Even though something like doctor-patient
confidentiality doesn’t exist in the sex industry,
there’s an unspoken rule at play, and clients are
expected to respect the privacy of a sex worker.
Farvid says there’s the risk that a “bad” client
will use the review to settle personal scores. A
client kicked out by a girl for being drunk or violent
may post an unfair review.
“They’ll write something negative, and the
[sex workers] don’t have any way of rebuttal,”
Farvid says. That’s even despite a blacklist for girls
who don’t want to be reviewed. “Some of these
[forums], where it’s men only, become very crass.”
The impact of the internet on safety in the sex
industry is another contentious issue. Brothels
argue the risks of working independently outweigh
the financial benefits for girls of cutting out the
middleman. And agencies, whether physical
brothels or online intermediaries, tend to have
screening in place to weed out unsavoury clients.
Overseas, an online programme known as Ugly
Mugs allows for the identification of dangerous
or dodgy clients. It used to exist in New Zealand,
organised by the Prostitutes Collective, but it
was abandoned after one punter began a legal
challenge to its existence.
Healy says now the only preventative measure
left to sex workers is in the form of gossip about
good and bad clients.
Healy says while most brothels are fairly safe,
there are always bad apples. In 2014, the Human
Rights Commission awarded $25,000 in damages
against a brothel owner who frightened one of the
prostitutes working for him. Safety within brothels
depends on how much governance sex workers
have over their own services, Healy says.
Meanwhile, Yana is not a fan of online agencies
where, she says, safety for the girls comes second
to securing business.
Young, naive newcomers are marketed by
agencies as “new-to-business”, she says, and as
Sex workers who run their
own private websites can
not only be more selective
in their clientele, but also
showcase their personality
and individualism.
Mistress Sophie
such are at risk from potentially abusive clients.
Even though agencies’ screening policies attempt
to weed them out, the ones that slip through the
cracks are worrisome.
At the same time, prostitutes argue that by
attaching price tags to physical statistics and
services they are willing to provide, they are
reduced to mere packages.
Sex workers who run their own private
websites can not only be more selective in their
clientele, but also showcase their personality and
individualism, Yana says.
Tinder me, Grindr you
As the sex trade moves into the digital space,
the increasing number of options available to
clients would suggest a race to the bottom in terms
of price and quality. However, Healy says this is
not the case.
While the predominant complaint the NZPC
hears all the time is “I’d like to be busier” or “there
are just not enough clients”, the average hourly
rate has actually increased, Healy says. Studies
quoted in the Economist indicate classic busty
blonde beauties charge the highest rates, and
anyone offering additional services can command
significant premiums.
New Zealand sex workers have also benefited
from a buoyant economy, Healy says. More people
have money to spend on sex here than in other
post-GFC countries.
Bennachie at the Prostitutes Collective says the
NZPC Wellington coordinator
Calum Bennachie
NZPC national coordinator
Catherine Healy