MEN use brothels to get a confidence boost, to be told they are beautiful, to discuss their life and many times not to have sex, say workers.
The prostitutes interviewed by the Courier Mail ranged from single mums whose attitude to men had been hardened by relationship breakdowns, and a 40-year-old man who was a prostitute for women, to a softer 20-year-old university student who said she had learnt about her body as well as how men "worked".
Ashley, a young mother of four in her early 20s, is typical. She moved to Brisbane with her children after a relationship breakdown with her partner interstate.
"The girls I know don't like men," she said.
"Their perspective of men has changed from this, they do it because they get a dollar amount at the end of the day . . . it's about how much you can get out of him . . . whether they're a nice person or a bad person, it does not matter."
She said she did not experience guilt from being a sex worker, but rather she was pleased she could provide her children's needs.
"We have more money in our pockets to spend for our children, we have more things supplied to them, we have more time to give to them, we can go to their schools and do the parent-teacher helping, or volunteer at their canteen, or go down and look after a kid full-time three days a week if you are working one day a week," Ashley said.
"We have more time and more money to fulfil the needs of a child than someone who's going out doing a nine-to-five job."
But did she mind sleeping with men she would find unattractive, even physically repulsive?
"Everyone goes to work and everyone talks to people they don't want to talk to, they do a job they don't want to do, it's exactly the same," she said.
She didn't have a problem telling people she was a sex worker, provided they could handle it.
In contrast Anna, 20, a university student in a legal brothel, lived in fear of being discovered.
But the monetary benefit was huge. By working as a prostitute for two nights a week, she could earn four times the income of her other job, full-time waitressing.
"It's incredibly stressful. Incredibly," Anna said. "Every day you panic about it. As I work in a restaurant I'm always worried that clients will come in and recognise me.
"It is kind of awkward when in daily conversational life it (prostitution) comes up. I don't want people to think, to even have a slight idea that I might be. I just say I don't know how women could do that."
There were spin-offs apart from money.
"Self-confidence, it's brilliant. You can never get sick of people telling you how lovely your face is, or how gorgeous your hair is.
"Plus all the men know more about the female body, so I've learnt a lot more about myself and different places that feel good."
She found that as a young prostitute her clients were mainly older men between 45 and 65, who often came for "an ego boost" and not sex.
"Most of the time there's not much sex involved at all," Anna said. "They basically just want self-esteem boosts and like to see you naked, which is just a self-confidence boost for me.
"They tell you straight up, 'I'm ugly, no one likes me,' and they want you to literally say, 'No you're not, you're beautiful, you're a great person, I love your hair,' and just compliment them for half an hour."
Michael, a 40-year-old sex worker for women, said grooming and empathy, and his giving 100 per cent to fulfilling a woman's desire and needs were priorities.
He said for women, a visit to a legal brothel was a reaffirmation of their sexuality; often they were divorced or widowed and hadn't found a suitable partner.
"With female clients, it's usually much more than sex," he said.
"Every client comes here for a different reason, and that's half of the game is working out why the client has."
The prostitutes interviewed by the Courier Mail ranged from single mums whose attitude to men had been hardened by relationship breakdowns, and a 40-year-old man who was a prostitute for women, to a softer 20-year-old university student who said she had learnt about her body as well as how men "worked".
Ashley, a young mother of four in her early 20s, is typical. She moved to Brisbane with her children after a relationship breakdown with her partner interstate.
"The girls I know don't like men," she said.
"Their perspective of men has changed from this, they do it because they get a dollar amount at the end of the day . . . it's about how much you can get out of him . . . whether they're a nice person or a bad person, it does not matter."
She said she did not experience guilt from being a sex worker, but rather she was pleased she could provide her children's needs.
"We have more money in our pockets to spend for our children, we have more things supplied to them, we have more time to give to them, we can go to their schools and do the parent-teacher helping, or volunteer at their canteen, or go down and look after a kid full-time three days a week if you are working one day a week," Ashley said.
"We have more time and more money to fulfil the needs of a child than someone who's going out doing a nine-to-five job."
But did she mind sleeping with men she would find unattractive, even physically repulsive?
"Everyone goes to work and everyone talks to people they don't want to talk to, they do a job they don't want to do, it's exactly the same," she said.
She didn't have a problem telling people she was a sex worker, provided they could handle it.
In contrast Anna, 20, a university student in a legal brothel, lived in fear of being discovered.
But the monetary benefit was huge. By working as a prostitute for two nights a week, she could earn four times the income of her other job, full-time waitressing.
"It's incredibly stressful. Incredibly," Anna said. "Every day you panic about it. As I work in a restaurant I'm always worried that clients will come in and recognise me.
"It is kind of awkward when in daily conversational life it (prostitution) comes up. I don't want people to think, to even have a slight idea that I might be. I just say I don't know how women could do that."
There were spin-offs apart from money.
"Self-confidence, it's brilliant. You can never get sick of people telling you how lovely your face is, or how gorgeous your hair is.
"Plus all the men know more about the female body, so I've learnt a lot more about myself and different places that feel good."
She found that as a young prostitute her clients were mainly older men between 45 and 65, who often came for "an ego boost" and not sex.
"Most of the time there's not much sex involved at all," Anna said. "They basically just want self-esteem boosts and like to see you naked, which is just a self-confidence boost for me.
"They tell you straight up, 'I'm ugly, no one likes me,' and they want you to literally say, 'No you're not, you're beautiful, you're a great person, I love your hair,' and just compliment them for half an hour."
Michael, a 40-year-old sex worker for women, said grooming and empathy, and his giving 100 per cent to fulfilling a woman's desire and needs were priorities.
He said for women, a visit to a legal brothel was a reaffirmation of their sexuality; often they were divorced or widowed and hadn't found a suitable partner.
"With female clients, it's usually much more than sex," he said.
"Every client comes here for a different reason, and that's half of the game is working out why the client has."
Not looking for a shrink, friend, GF, wife, or lover, just someone to enjoy for a fixed period of time with no strings attached when I leave, she's happy and I'm happy after we go our separate ways.