Warning: The article uses words that are not intended for readers under the age of 18.

“I go to places to meet clients where it is practically impossible to mutilate or kill and hide me,” says a 34-year-old woman, who has been involved in sex work for 15 years, called Ira (her name has been changed). When Ira leaves the house to work, she constantly has to think about how she could leave a “trace” everywhere if she is abused.

We met her in her apartment and talked about the labor rights of women involved in sex work. She says that when you are in this field, risk and fear are your daily routine, and you also have to learn human psychology in order to be able to cope with any situation.

“Some of the girls who were involved in the business with me at the beginning are no longer alive, and a thousand misfortunes have befallen them, despite the fact that they were supposedly working in a safe environment. There were cases of violence, murder, and addiction. There also are uninvestigated cases.”

“You Always Have to Be Alert”

She tells us that at first, when she started living independently and had to stay alone, sex work seemed like the best option for her — to have a place to stay for the night and food. At that time, she didn’t have much information or experience in managing finances, so she didn’t know how to use money properly and save up enough money to live on.

“When I realized this, when I gained some financial education, I was already involved and my expenses were high. I realized that there was no point in giving up, it was better to continue.”

Clients mostly contact her online. The first thing Ira does is check these people out, including with other women involved in sex work. There have been cases when this has led to the discovery of an abuser who has attacked other women.

Verification is only the first stage. As Ira says, it is safest for her to receive a client at her own home, because she knows where she can leave if necessary, as well as where she keeps her means of defense.

“I prefer to use means of defense than to be in a victim’s position. You should be in an apartment where you have access to the outside space and can see who is coming in, how many people are there. Also, if possible, put a camera at the door. You should monitor that they come sober, are alone, etc. Once, one of my friends agreed to meet someone, but when she looked out from the balcony, there were four of them. Who knows what they were would to her.”

 

As for meetings in other spaces, as Ira says, “you don’t know what you’ll find there,” because they don’t invite you into their own family — they call you to a daily rented apartment, where a number of people may gather in advance.

“It’s sounds off… but the safest are 5-star hotels, where there are cameras and all of them are turned on, they always have information about you and the person you’re visiting. You have to look at it with the eyes of an investigator and think about things like that in advance. You have to leave your DNA, your traces everywhere, save correspondence, numbers, everything, so that if something happens, you have leverage to blame that person.”

Ira believes that it is important for women involved in sex work to know their rights, especially since the police often do not take them seriously.

“If I go and complain about rape, they will not take it seriously – they may tell you that’s what you went there for, that’s their approach. No matter who complains about rape and sexual violence, it is very difficult to prove, and in this field it is completely impossible.”

Ira also speaks about the need for sexual education so that sex workers have sufficient knowledge, including about the ways in which diseases are transmitted.

“You should be in an apartment where you have access to the outside space and can see who is coming in, how many people are there. Also, if possible, put a camera at the door. You should monitor that they come sober, that they are alone, etc.”

“You have to stand strong. You shouldn’t agree to everything just so the person won’t run away from you. However, many people have conditions that make them risk everything. I understand, it’s very difficult. If I could, I would help everyone, I would create some kind of foundation.”

She says that she gets tested every three months, which surprises those around her.

“People are afraid of getting a disease from someone’s mouth, and at that time they do things that are much more dangerous. Some girls have this attitude – if I go to the doctor, they will think I’m a whore. Shaming from doctors is a separate issue. I tell them directly that I have a lot of sex, I need to get tested, and what’s the problem?!”

We asked her what she thinks about legalizing sex work. In Ira’s opinion, a lot of preliminary work is needed for this, especially awareness-raising and sexual education for the population. She says that official registration will create problems for the majority of sex workers in Georgia – those who support their families through this work, but these families do not know about it, therefore, a woman involved in sex work does not have the “luxury” to register officially anywhere.

“There are many who are in extreme situations and are doing this. We are a small country, the population is small, how many husbands would find out… femicide would increase.”

She also talks about society’s attitude towards women involved in sex work, including the idea that their work is shameful. Ira notes that everyone has their own measure of shame.

“I would probably be more ashamed of many other things. People do a lot of shameful things. The people who shame people involved in sex work are the ones who are the intense users. If you are a user, i.e., you need it. Why do you need it? Is it your problem that you need it? Then don’t desire me. Do they think that if there was no sex work, I would just randomly want to satisfy these people? No! Just because I become “free” doesn’t mean that I will become available to them. All women should be “decent”, “virgins”, and these men should always be having sex, then it turns out that they should have sex with each other. This is also “not okay”. So who are they are going to f*ck?!”

Ira is a so-called escort. She has both on-call and online sessions. In addition to sex, her services include going to a specific event with the client or participating in various activities. In addition, she sells photos and erotic solo videos.

“They have foot, hand, a thousand other fetishes. This is done by pre-order, but photos of feet are so popular that I take them in advance and have them. Also, erotic solo videos — something that they won’t have the opportunity to see anywhere else with my participation, and I sell them only once,” says Ira, noting that she “streams” this type of content in specific applications, on demand, and if someone records it without her permission, she knows that they have no right to do so and will resort to appropriate legal measures.

She says that sex work is not “easy” money and involves quite intense physical and emotional labor.

“We work very hard on ourselves. It’s very difficult psychologically, it’s very difficult physically, you have to be positive all the time, you have to be alert all the time, you don’t have a chance to relax at all. I don’t have a personal life — it’s also dangerous, and you sublimate personal relationships into work. You don’t have the time, you don’t have the mood, your nervous system is destroyed, your character changes. You don’t have the mood and resources to run around with rose-colored glasses of personal relationships.”

“Someone Will Come Along, Throw a Stone at You, and Run Away”

A transgender woman, who we will call Nino, has been speaking publicly about her experiences for many years, but feels more threatened after the Georgian Dream party passed the hate law. Therefore, we will not reveal her identity in this article.

She tells us that she got involved in sex work at an early age, and the reason for this was that she was left on the streets and had no one to support her — “I lived on the streets for a few days and then I started empowering myself through sex work.”

She has worked both on the streets and on websites. She recalls numerous cases of physical and psychological violence and insults.

“Attacks, injustice… throwing stones for nothing. Someone will come along, throw a stone at you, and run away. Lately, the police have stopped reacting to attacks at all. You are always tense, always expecting danger, and always in defense mode. Then you are so irritated that your quality of life drops significantly, you also become aggressive.”

“You tell the client that you nly have safe sex, with a condom. He tries everything, even increases the amount of payment just so that you agree to have unprotected sex. If someone tells a trans woman who is fighting for her survival that he will give her 200 GEL, if she has unprotected sex, she will agree, and you can’t blame her, she is fighting for her survival.”

She recalls an incident when she had sex in a car, after which the client pointed a gun at her and started praying.

“He tells me to get out of the car. Saying, oh my God, what have I done? When you’re standing on the street, someone thinks you’re a hundredth-class person — you’re pathetic, that they can hurt you.”

According to Nino, the result of the traumas is that even with the slightest noise, she feels like someone is attacking her and preparing for a fight.

Years later, she started another job, but due to financial circumstances, she still had to engage in sex work sometimes. She still does so today — she meets clients only when necessary.

“The problem with sex work on social media and escort sites is that it’s psychologically draining, you don’t have enough human resources. They message you, ask for photos, but don’t come.”

She says that due to trauma and difficult experiences, she can no longer have “friendly sex.” She says she would rather be involved in sex work than have “friendly” sex with a man who writes, calls, and, at the same time, publicly talks about the “sanctity of the family.”

“This is neither easy money nor easy in general. It ruins your health and leaves you with traumatized, and it makes you lose respect for society. When a husband and wife celebrating the family’s sanctity day and he begs you for sex in the evening, your morals are broken and you protest that in this society, you are different, a “faggot and a whore.”

For Nino, as a trans woman, it is especially offensive when a man asks her to be the one doing the act. The “active,” also known as the “act” or “top,” is the partner who has the penetrative role during anal sex.

“A man who transferred me 300 GEL so that I would f*ck him, so that I would be active with him, can call me a faggot on the street, throw stones at me, humiliate me and prove his manhood. We have to live in this society. It’s very psychologically destructive. There have been cases when they have written to me and I said, let’s go for a walk somewhere, have a coffee. The answer was: you know what, let’s wait for it to get dark. Why should I walk at night?! I love nature very much and when I would tell them to go to the botanical garden, such men would disappear. They also wanted sex. I would rather be called a sex worker than have sex with them at night and let them use me in the name of friendship. The fact that they have wives and children doesn’t make me angry. What makes me angry is that they would come and suck my d*ck, and point their *sses at me, so that I would f*ck them. I had to put away my womanhood for nothing — so that someone would love me. I am a woman, a heterosexual trans woman.”

“If you go to a trans woman who is involved in full-time sex work, you won’t see a light on in their house, open curtains, daylight. They live a nocturnal life.”

She has also felt stigma towards sex workers from those around her. She recalls instances when she was asked for money by people who considered her work a burden.

“You’re ashamed of sex work, but you don’t mind spending the money you earn on it?”

She tells us that trans women in Georgia have many needs, which are largely related to transphobia. For example, the cost of renting an apartment, especially in conditions where they are often refused to rent. Also, many trans women are forced to travel by taxi every day, because public transport is not safe for them — if the taxi driver does not refuse to serve them.

“Most have such traumas that they can’t even go into the store and have to order food. There are cases when someone you know will blackmail you, saying that if you don’t meet them for free, they’ll tell everyone about you.”

She says that because she managed to have another job, she was able to maintain a relatively high price in sex work, but there are trans women who depend solely on this income and are forced to reduce the price and agree to unacceptable conditions.

“She has to draw a line under her femininity and f*ck some a**hole. This is not the comfort zone of heterosexual trans women. They say, ‘you f*ck me in the *ss and I have to pay you?!’ Your *ss is not my comfort zone, I don’t like it at all, when you get on all fours. When you have a financial crisis and are struggling to survive, sometimes you play the role of a mother, sometimes the neighbor’s wife, sometimes your friend’s wife – they had fascinating fetishes.

You tell the client that I only have safe sex, with a condom. He tries everything, even increases the amount of payment just so that you agree to have unprotected sex. If someone tells a trans woman who is fighting for her survival that he will give her 200 GEL, if she has unprotected sex, she will agree, and you can’t blame her, she is fighting for her survival.

Law and Practice

Women enter sex work for a variety of reasons. Research shows that it is often driven by economic hardship and a need to make ends meet. More women than men live in poverty, and the majority of sex workers worldwide are women. However, in some cases, sex work can also be a voluntary activity — a means of earning higher wages than other work.

Stigma, prejudice and discrimination against sex workers are common. They are shunned for not conforming to social, sexual and gender norms. Sex workers are perceived by parts of society as immoral, irresponsible and law-breaking people who “deserve” punishment, judgment and even violence for their work. Lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender sex workers face particular risks of additional discrimination and marginalization.

A sex worker, like any other person, has the right to withdraw consent or change the terms of consent, and this must be taken into account by everyone, including clients. Otherwise, it is not sexual services, but rape. Amnesty International believes that the consent of a sex worker is an important component that distinguishes sex work from trafficking, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and gender-based violence.

Sex work in Georgia is not considered a form of labor and is not covered by the Labor Code of Georgia. According to the legislation, sex work is an administrative offense. However, the legislation does not recognize the terms “sex work” and “sex worker” — the term “prostitution” is used. At the same time, the document does not explain what kind of action prostitution specifically is, which leaves room for law enforcement agencies to interpret the entry arbitrarily.

As for the Criminal Code, it applies to a person who  has forced another person into prostitution or provided accommodation for this act. The 2018 study by GYLA and Open Society Georgia “Gender-based Violence against Sex Workers and Barriers to Access to Justice” emphasizes that according to the Criminal Code, engaging in prostitution, including against a minor, as well as providing a place or accommodation for prostitution, are crimes against the health of the population and public morality. According to the document, engaging in prostitution of a person should be recognized at the legislative level as an act of appropriate gravity and should not be considered in the moral dimension of society — in particular, it should be defined as a crime against human rights or sexual freedom/integrity. And if the crime is committed against a minor, the object of protection should be the minor themselves, not public health or morality.

“Since prostitution, according to Georgian legislation, is an administrative offense, and a number of related actions are criminal offenses, in case of violence, sex workers face additional barriers and risks when contacting law enforcement agencies, and if their status (sex worker) is revealed, they or persons associated with them may be held administratively or criminally liable and face the threat of abuse of power by law enforcement agencies. As a result, sex workers are particularly vulnerable to various types of violent crimes (committed by law enforcement officials or private individuals),” the document states.

“[The law] places one of the most vulnerable groups of women, female sex workers, in an even more difficult position, reinforces the stigma against them, and serves to exclude them from social life,” — an excerpt from the Public Defender’s “friend of the court opinion.”

It is noteworthy that in 2018, a sex worker appealed to the Constitutional Court with a request to repeal this article of the Code of Administrative Offenses. According to the lawsuit, sex workers often become victims of physical and psychological violence while working. The document indicates that this prohibition forces them not to report cases of beatings, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, and verbal abuse to law enforcement agencies.

“For fear of administrative liability, sex workers are forced to refrain from reporting crimes committed against them and continue to live in an atmosphere of constant violence,” the document states, which also states that this article of the law leaves victims defenseless against their abusers.

According to the statement of a female sex worker, within the framework of her work, she often became a victim of economic and psychological violence from clients and third parties (passers-by). According to her, the number of cases of psychological and economic violence against her by clients is so frequent that it is difficult to even give an approximate number. In addition, the woman speaks of several cases when a representative of a law enforcement agency demanded that she have sexual intercourse for free. According to her, she was forced to agree, because she was afraid that otherwise she or her children would be subjected to some kind of pressure.

In addition, the document also notes that law enforcement officers sometimes ask sex workers to collect certain information about their clients in order to collect compromising information.

According to a sex worker’s statement, there are cases when law enforcement officials, if sex workers do not comply with illegal demands, make their situation difficult and selectively allow them to stand in certain places.

The Public Defender of Georgia has filed an amicus curiae petition with the Constitutional Court regarding this claim. The document submitted by the Ombudsman states that such a repressive approach to the legislation is ineffective and problematic, places an already vulnerable group — female sex workers — in a difficult position, and it is unclear what legal benefit and goals it serves. In addition, according to the document, this approach does not comply with international human rights standards.

“Since their activities are subject to administrative punishment, sex workers have to live in fear that if they report abuses committed against them to law enforcement agencies, information about their activities will be disclosed. This may result in punishment not for the person who committed the abuse, but for them in accordance with the law.”

According to Amnesty International, punishing sex workers administratively or criminally automatically means that they cannot turn to the police for help in the event of violence, which further puts their safety and activities at risk.

This is compounded by societal stigma, which, combined with the legal prohibition of sex work, often forces sex workers to work in secret, in dangerous environments, and with limited access to resources and legal protection mechanisms. The marginalization of sex workers also increases the risks of violence against them. Practice in various countries shows that acts of violence often go unreported and justice is not served, as reporting violence may expose sex workers to additional risks.

In addition, according to the aforementioned study by GYLA and Open Society Georgia , sex workers living in Tbilisi, Batumi, Zugdidi, Telavi and Kutaisi, who participated in a focus group, noted that they or sex workers they know regularly experience physical, psychological, sexual violence and coercion from the police. They also said that various forms of physical, psychological, sexual, economic violence, coercion, blackmail and stalking are common from clients.

“Legal remedies for protection from these forms of violence are inaccessible or ineffective, and clients act with the attitude that they will not be held accountable for these actions. Sex workers’ complaints to the police about violence (which are extremely rare) go unheeded, or inadequately lenient sanctions are applied to the perpetrators. Consequently, the impression remains that law enforcement agencies act in a discriminatory manner, and do not perceive crimes committed against sex workers as crimes of the same gravity as crimes committed against non-sex workers.”

The document also states that, in most cases, a client physically and sexually abuses a sex worker when the client does not consent to a specific form of sexual service, or when the client does not have enough money for the service, as well as when the service is provided in an unsafe or uninhabited location.

Under international human rights law, the state is obligated to respect, protect and ensure the rights of sex workers. The state must take measures, in particular, to provide social guarantees for women, eliminate discrimination and inequality, so that prostitution is not the only way to survive and escape from a difficult economic situation.