Desperate Irish women turn to working in sex industry as economy tanks

Estimated 1,000 Irish woman work in escort services to pay the bills

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Irish women, from respectable backgrounds, are turning to prostitution to pay the bills during the recession

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Irish women, from respectable backgrounds, are turning to prostitution to pay the bills during the recession. Those forced to sell their bodies for cash include former business people, stay-at-home moms, and recent college graduates.

Linda Latham, of the Women's Health Service, in Dublin, said, “No matter what side of the tracks they come from, I have never met a happy prostitute in my 12 years working in this business…In the '80s and '90s, we saw mainly heroin addicts but now across the board we are seeing educated women who are so strapped for cash they are resorting to it out of dire economic need.

"We see a lot of women with degrees and qualifications who just can't get work."

The Irish Independent spoke to a middle class, well educated, suburban woman who is now running a one-woman escort service from her home in Dun Laoghaire, south Dublin.

The woman, named Niamh for the purposes of the article, studied psychology in university, worked in marketing, and doesn’t drink, smoke or do drugs, however, she’s now running her own escort service. For $280 (€220) Niamh offers conversation, companionship and “personal services” to men at her home.

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She also said she’s happy to be taken out to dinner and she’ll do an overnight, if the price is right.
She can make $1,917 (€1,500) within a matter of hours each week.

Niamh said, “It's the only way of making ends meet at the moment…I won't say it's easy money, but it is fast money. For example, this afternoon, I was down with a dentist near Wicklow. He gave me €250 and he didn't even last five minutes.

"It's always very busy at this time of year, during and after Christmas. My phone is on call most of the time and there is a lot of work after midnight."

A former marketing professional, Niamh started working in the business as the Irish economy began to falter. She said that since then, colleagues in the sex industry have changed from Brazilian and Eastern Europeans to a completely different group.

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