Interview with Laura Lee!

[Martin Ward]

Today I had the honour of speaking to Laura Lee. She is one of Scotland's most famous Escorts and a champion of the rights of women in the sex industry. Her work is made even more vital by the campaign to bring the 'Swedish model' into Scottish law. This would make it illegal to buy sex, and we feel, along with Laura, that this will just force the industry underground and into the hands of the pimps and traffickers that Escort Ireland and our Sister sites continually fight against.

Needless to say, what Laura had to say was really interesting. We got into issues ranging from 'strange requests' to what to do if you want to join the industry. I hope you enjoy reading the interview as much as I did writing it up.

1) Reading your blogs, it is obvious that you are intelligent...how did you get into escorting?

That's very kind. I'm a geek and love to read.

I got into the industry a long time ago now, when I was 19 and going through university.
I felt at the time that working on a Saturday at the local parlour would be far preferable to slaving for
four nights a week in a bar or restaurant. For me, it was.

2) Did you find it difficult at the start?

Not at all, I felt I was finally being true to myself. I always had a fascination with working ladies, I saw them as
independent, feisty females in control of their own destinies and answerable to no-one. It was a baptism of fire for me really, but I had two older ladies where I worked who took me under their wing, they were wonderful and spared me no blushes in mentoring.

I had a naive doe-eyed approach at first, "You want me to stand on you in my stilettos ? WHY ??"
I soon learned that there is very little which can't be associated with sexual titillation, in some permutation or combination.

3) Are you still enjoying it?

Oh very much so. The industry has changed so much over the years, when I came back to escorting in 2006 I
could have died when I realised that it was internet based. At that time, I really didn't know the difference between upload and download and so I panicked. A lot.

Some things never change though and it still makes me smile when a nervous new client runs an idea past me which he thinks I will find abhorrent or "sick". Trust me, being covered from head to toe in custard doesn't even touch the sides of "sick".

4) There is talk that Scotland is going to the Swedish model...would that be a good idea?

Absolutely not. At the heart of the current drive to criminalise the client is a desire to "reduce demand" which while it may happen on a very limited basis, will do nothing to improve the real 'issue' purportedly being tackled which is trafficking. In actual fact, criminalising the client will only serve to drive the industry further underground and make it near impossible to reach those sex workers who do need help.

If the measure being proposed is to tackle trafficking, it is futile since human trafficking is already an offence. The difficult part of the coming months will be to counter the dreadful data being tendered by the abolitionists. In some instances they are using very dated studies carried out on street sex workers. We know that approximately 10% of sex work takes place on the street (O'Doherty, 2007), so the data as presented is skewed and is not statistically allowable.

Following decriminalisation in New Zealand, 93.8% of sex workers reported feeling that they had health and safety rights under the law ( Abel, Fitzgerald and Brunton 2007).

In the UK, 440 sex workers were interviewed and only 7% reported that being paid meant that they handed control over to the client. 85% of the women were aged 26 and over. 32.9% of the women had degrees whilst 18% held post-graduate qualifications (Jenkins, 2009).

The most important point to make is that there is no trafficking epidemic in Scotland. In June 2012, Dr. Brooke Magnanti wrote a fantastic blog on why Scotland should never make sex work illegal and she quotes Dep Ch Con Gordon Meldrum as saying "In Scotland, to the best of my knowledge, we don't have a conviction for human trafficking".

I also visited the saunas in Edinburgh to meet sex workers and talk to them about the current consultation, I wrote a blog on my experiences here - http://lauraslifeandthoughts.blogspo...-brothels.html. I am very fortunate to be working with a fantastic team of activists at Scot-PEP who are passionate and committed to the rights of all sex workers.

In summary, Rhoda Grant is misguided, ill-informed and just wrong.

5) I see you are disabled friendly. Do you find this an important part of your job?

Very much so. I can't put into words the satisfaction I get from working with the disabled, if I had my way we would be on NHS salaries, but for now let's concentrate on the current consultation.

It really angers me when I read the views of various writers who paint a picture of my clients as insatiable lust driven animals. A lack of knowledge on their subject is no deterrent to most of those critics. Let me be quite clear here, it's not a question of entitlement, not at all. No man is entitled to claim a sexual act as his right. On the other hand, I do believe that disabled clients ought to have the same opportunities as their able bodied counterparts, that's the difference.

If Rhoda Grant's new proposal is adopted as law, it will be a shocking indictment on just how small minded and blinkered we are as a country. It's time we recognised that not only is it impossible to "reduce demand" but also, "demand" is a very complex and multi-layered animal, as indeed is "supply", (best described as diverse in the extreme).

Frankly, were I a purchaser of "sex", I know I would find the notion of an ill-informed politician telling me what I can and can't do in the privacy of my own bedroom downright insulting. Ironically, to condemn those men I have written about to a life of solitude and loneliness on foot of a Victorian attitude towards the exchange of sexual services for money is hugely immoral in itself.

6) I see there is a national Ugly Mug scheme in the North. Could you tell us about it and do you find it a valuable tool for escorts in Scotland?

The scheme is run by the UKNSWP - http://www.uknswp.org/ugly-mugs/

It is a fantastic and long awaited scheme which pools information from sex workers around the country. Once registered, sex workers can make a report of a dangerous client and this information can then be shared with any other sex workers who may be based in the area or likely to come into contact with that client. Sex workers who travel to work in other areas can access all the alerts, which helps them to avoid problem clients whom the local workers will already know to stay away from. Also, sex work projects are able to report and share information from the street sex workers they support, and the alerts can be done by email or even text.

The NUM will also make a complaint to the police if a sex worker feels unable to do so or is in fear of her anonymity being compromised. One of my friends within the industry, Amy Vergnes worked very hard on that scheme and is to be commended for it.

I would highly recommend that all escorts join the scheme or at the very least, visit the site because there is a wealth of information there about working in safety which is required reading.

7) What is the strangest request you have ever had? Did you do it?

I once had a 'gentleman' email me with his darkest fantasy. He wanted me to perform a sexual act on his dog (while he filmed) and for the session he was prepared to pay £10,000. I told him that one of my friends has a rather frisky rottweiler and with very little encouragement, he could expect a damn good rogering. I told him I would film the event for his future viewing pleasure and that I would donate my fee to the SSPCA. Funnily enough, I never had a response.

8) If there is anyone wanting to get into Escorting, do you have any tips for them?

Research and then research some more. I would recommend the Saafe website -http://www.saafe.info/ - which is designed for new escorts and covers everything from paying tax to dealing with stigma. Secondly I would advise them to join the excellent Buddy Scheme - http://www.escortbuddys.com/, so that they can be matched up with a more experienced lady in their area who can advise them on the best places to work, clients to avoid, where to go for sexual health screening etc.

Finally I would advise them to develop a very thick skin, because it is an essential.

9) How long do you intend to stay in the industry? What do you intend to do with your life post-escorting?

I am studying at the moment towards a qualification which will take me away from escorting in time, but suffice to say that when qualified I will put my experience as an escort to very good use. There is no doubt in my mind that I will miss it, I'll miss the clients, I'll miss the sense of community with the other escorts I'm friends with and I'll miss the laughter.
Visit my site for tour dates - coming to an overpriced broom cupboard near you soon.


My Personal Site.
My Escort Scotland listing.