Mare Magazine about student escorts

On june 9th, magazine Mare published an article on students with a jobs in the sex industry. One of Society Services high class escorts was also interviewed. At that time she was a university student. The article was published in Dutch but below you can find a summary in English.

Student do not only have jobs as a bartender or postman. Some offer their bodies to earn a lot of money. 

"My fellow students are all working twenty hours per week to pay for their studies. In one evening I earn what they earn in a month. During exam periods, I don't work for a few weeks to concentrate on my studies, I'm not broke then. I have a lot of flexibility in my work. If I decide to go out with my girlfriends, I am no longer available and can therefore not be booked."

Those are the words of a 22-year-old law student. The question was whether her work as a call girl is not difficult to combine with her master's degree. She works for the Rotterdam-based escort agency Society Service, according to owner Marike (26) the most expensive agency in the Netherlands. Appointments start of seven hundred euro. One night starts at two thousand euros.

Make higher education more expensive and more students take a job in prostitution. That was suggested by the French newspaper Le Figaro a few years ago. They mention that 1 in every 57 students works in the so-called "Relax-Industry". Especially the increased housing costs would be there to blame. A sidenote to this research is the hidden nature of this profession, which makes an accurate research difficult. In addition, the label 'student' is often wrongly used.

2006 Study of London's Kingston University among 130 students concluded that the number of students working as a stripper, erotic dancer or escort had increased by fifty percent since 2000. That same period the tuition was raised from one thousand to three thousand pounds, and was seen as a possible cause.

Precise numbers are not available but Marike reports that twenty of her escorts are currently students. The law student who was interviewed by Mare Magazine, prefers to keep her work as an escort a secret: "My best friend knows but nobody else. For me this is a private matter and nobody has anything to do with it. Once a week I'm someone else, I'm a luxury call girl with an interesting businessman, experiencing a romantic evening."

She is not afraid to bump into somebody she knows or perhaps of one of her teachers during work. "I always get a few details in advance about the client, including the name. I am free to list my preferences regarding age and nationality so there will be no surprises." 

Meanwhile, Marikes escortservice is doing well. The turnover of the in the 2006 established agency approaches a million. That will mostly be because of the business talent of this female owner. Her press publications about a deflowering service (The Virgin Experience, from 950 euros, for an additional fee with two bisexual women), specials during football World Cups and a tripling of the number of Muslim customers during Ramadan,  are very popular in national and international media. The alumna of the Erasmus University can be booked for lectures about her business through the Speakers Academy. At any time, she works with about thirty women of who at least half are studying or  finished their PhD. "If you have more escorts in your portfolio, you lose perspective and how everyone matches together. Some of my escorts work, two times a month, others twice a week. Usually they do this work a year or two.".

Society Service recruits mainly through the media. "When we wanted to advertise in the magazine of the Erasmus University we were refused. A little later we were interviewed by the same magazine. We received fifty new applications to work as an escort. A few of them we hired." Marike says during the recruitment process she especially looks at the motivation of the younglady. "Who expects to be on a yacht in Dubai every week, will be corrected. Our clients are mostly foreign businessmen between thirty and fifty years old, looking for a night of erotic companionship. There are some international trips the majority of the bookings are national. A week with an escort costs thousands of euros plus expenses. That's not for everyone."

And what if one of the escorts end up with a client they do not like? "In those ten percent that you do not have chemistry, you must create chemistry. But the ladies know that if their intuition tells them to go, they should. Of course it is not a dating service. You can not run away if someone is a little overweight. But disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated. And I will not match a girl in her early twenties to a man in his fifties. That's not a good match."

While still finishing her master degree at university, Marike is already running a business in an industry that is not common. Never problems? "My closest friends all know. But I do not tell my dentist for example. When I was looking for a telecom provider, nine out of ten companies do not want accept me as a client. You can forget any kind of credit from a bank. It makes no difference that I work fully legal, pay taxes and with all necessary permits. And yes, my parents were shocked when I told them. But they were not angry."

The anonymous law student is struggling with a prejudice about her work. She wants to make clear that she and her colleagues are very aware of sexual health and safety and that they get tested regularly. "Very different than the average student who has sex without condom with a new boyfriend, every year. Anyone looking for a job will try to find something that suits him or her. Something you're good at and what you like. But eventually, everyone works because you earn money. That's no different with me. "