Sex workers from Slovakian capital Bratislava talk in the club Podchod run by the SWAN member from Slovakia about their relationship with customers. More

1. What do you in general think about customers?
„Customers generally don´t want to pay the prices which we have and try to make some „deal“ about the prices.“
„It´s difficult to say, some of them are very good ones and some of them I don´t wanna meet anymore.“
„It´s funny, that when customer comes on old „škoda“ (old type of typical car in Slovakia) in boiler suit he usually pais more and faster than somebody well dressed who drives BMW.“
„Customers are different, majority of them are very nice because they know me for ages and usually go with me.“
„My experience are that younger customers are cheeky and they want lower prices, they have stupid remarks obviously in the first sentence they say.“
„Older customers are more mature, they have more experience, they are calm and in general they are better customers.“
„Some customers are afraid for me – they ask me if it´s not dangerous to work on the street.“
„Some of the customers are vulgar and they beat us.“
„My relation to the customers? I call it „crystal sex“ – it´s very clear relationship – we don´t know each other, I provide sex, he pays me for it. It´s better when two people are together – she only because of money and he only because of sex.“

2. Do you like (dislike) your customers?
„My „old“ customers are good ones – very often they just need some social contact and very often when I´m in the need they help me with the money.“
„I like my customers – my job is like any other kind of job, so without customers´money I will not survive.“
„I like my steady customers, if I don´t know the guy who wants to pay me, I´ m very careful.“
„I like when customer accept me as a woman.“
„Good customer always brings you back to your place.“

3. How you can describe so called good customers?
„Good customer is a person who is listening to me, who has a respect to my personality, who accepts my „no“, who doesn´t think I´m a thief, who trusts me and whom I can trust as well.“
„Good customers are men who give me a lot of money for the service.“
„Usually persons who work with the people at some point there are very nice and talkative.“
„Good customers are polite – it´s not about how much money they pay.“

4. How you can describe so called bad customers?
„When he uses force and doesn´t accept my will.“
„They don´t want to use condoms.“
„When they throw you out from the car.“
„Man who is from begining agressive and forced me inside of the car even if I didn´t agree to go with him.“

5. What kind of influence can have criminalisation of customers on your life or work?
„I can imagine that, probably, customers would be much more hidden somewhere indoor (hotels, apartmants etc.) or they won´t buy sexual services, also we must be better hidden, but just few of us have their one apartmants, so I can´t imagine how we can continue in our job…“
„Probably I would go to work in the club… but how? I´ma drug user, so no club would accept me.“
„I would continue in sex work anyway… during the communism prostitution was prohibited and I did it for 20 year in the hotels where were a lot of foreigners… you can alway find the way how to do it.“
„Mayby police would be more interested on customers, not on us…“
„I think there won´t be any influence on my work or life.“
„In that case I will not continue in my work“
„Probably I would be forced to make some kind of contract with police and give them some money…“
„This is not the solution for us – only mafia will have more money“

6. What do you think about the politicians who suggest that all customers are abd ones and their only abuse sex workers?
„Politicians are the same as customers and often also politicians really are customers, so I don´t know what to add…“
„They usually have no idea what´s going on in the sex work but they still have some ideas what should be done in this field.“
„They are not right and they don´t have true information.“
„Some of my customers are politicians – they have this arguments about criminalisation only when elections are due.“

7. Funny client story?
„Once a group of young people were crossing the street, they just stopped for a while and gave me money without any reason.“
„I don´t know if it is funny story but once group of young boys came to us with some food and drinks. We just went with them for small picnic, without any sexual contact and after few hours they gave us money and brought us back to our street.“