Sex sales slump during cost of living crisis

Published

2 years ago

August 10, 2023

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Sex sells, but does it when the price of almost everything has gone up?

Sex worker Jenna Love is a Sydney, Australia-based escort, and shes currently watching her industry adapt to these strained financial times.

When you are a sex worker, you are relying on people having a disposable income, so Ms. Love saw the cost of living crisis coming from a mile away.

We feel the pinch with this stuff quite early on, she said.

Theres no denying that plenty of people are financially strapped at the moment.

The US also continues to grapple with inflation, with the rate currently at nearly 3%.

People are cutting back on expenses, with a recent CNBC and Morning Consult Poll finding that 92% of US consumers are spending less.

So where does that leave sex workers?

If people cant justify mince, can they justify paying for intimacy? The answer is complicated.

Ms. Loves unique job gives her insight into the general vibe of wealth in Australia. For instance, she flagged when the building industry was drying up way before anyone was writing about construction companies collapsing.

She simply noticed she was booking less appointments with tradies paying in cash.

She also flagged early the trend of Gen Z staying at home longer after chatting with her younger clients.

People in their twenties, they dont see how they could move out.

Given Ms Love makes a living by dealing with people and often people at their most vulnerable shes very aware of how the cost of living is impacting her clients, and therefore her and the sex industry in Australia.

Across the broader sex industry, Ms Love knows from speaking with other sex workers that times are tough, and people arent making the money they used to.

People are pretty worried.

If you have regulars, you will get through, but if you arent established, its a real struggle, she told news.com.au.

The nature of sex work is to make yourself seem desirable and in-demand.

Its basic marketing, but it means you are never going to see an escort reveal shes having trouble getting enough private bookings to make rent, and that means even when things are tough, the sex industry looks misleadingly glamorous.

Lots of people in my industry are struggling at the moment, I speak to women who are getting only one booking a month, she said.

You arent going to put on your marketing that you are doing really poorly. We have got to put out this image that we are really successful.

For every OnlyFans success story, Ms Love knows plenty of sex workers who are currently barely making rent.

A spokesman from Scarlet Alliance, the Australian Sex Workers Association Sex workers, confirmed that sex workers are feeling the pinch during the cost of living crisis.

We face the same inflationary pressures as all other workers including increasing costs for food, mortgages or rents, electricity, and so on.

The spokesman said sex workers are in a more vulnerable position than other Aussie workers.

Due to stigma, discrimination, and criminalization in some states and territories, sex workers may find it harder to access government and other supports. We saw this during the COVID-19 response, and we encourage any sex worker doing it tough to get in touch with their local sex worker organization for support and appropriate referrals.

Ms Love explains shes in a lucky position in the industry because shes an established sex worker and has regulars, but even shes noticed a shift in her demand and bookings.

Yes, she has her regulars, but some have cut back from coming once a week to once a month or fortnight.

Theres been a reduction, she tells news.com.au.

I used to be heavily booked and have a waitlist, and Im not in that position these days. But I do still have enough bookings.

A single hour spent with Ms Love will set you back $600 ($420 USD), but shes not planning to lower her rates.

Remember the price of tomatoes?

While she understands if clients cant afford to keep visiting her, shes not prepared to lower her costs at a time when all her personal bills are going up.

She does offer a cuddles and chat option, which is only $250 ($165 USD) per hour, but that service involves no sex.

It was an idea that stemmed from the pandemic when she realised how many people were just starved of touch, and something shes kept on as the cost of living pressures increase.

It was also in my mind because things were starting to get tough for us all, well, most of us besides the 1 per cent.

So does she think sex work is drying up? Well, no.

Ms Love thinks there will always be a demand for intimacy and human connection, but the bigger question is will Aussies keep being able to pay for it?

Sex sells, but you have to be able to afford it.

World

Hamas names three Israeli hostages it says it will release today

Published

2 hours ago

February 8, 2025

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Hamas names three Israeli hostages it says it will release today

Hamas has released the names of three Israeli hostages it says it will release today in the fifth such swap of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza.

The hostages are Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy, Hamas armed wing spokesperson Abu Obeida said in a Telegram post.

An Israeli official confirmed Israel had received the three names from Hamas.

In return for the captives’ release, Hamas said it expects 183 Palestinian prisoners to be released.

Both Mr Ami, 56, and Mr Sharabi, 52, were taken from Kibbutz Be’eri during the 7 October attack. The cross-border attack saw around 1,200 Israelis killed and around 250 people taken hostage.

Mr Levy, 34, was abducted from the Nova music festival.

Of the Palestinian prisoners being freed, 18 have been serving life sentences, 54 were serving long sentences and the vast majority, 111, were detained in Gaza during the war.

Eli Sharabi

Mr Sharabi’s wife Lianne Sharabi was born in Bristol.

She, along with their children, 16-year-old Noiya and 13-year-old Yahel, were killed in the 7 October attack.

His brother Yossi was also killed after being taken hostage.

In a statement after news he would be released was announced, Mr Sharabi’s lawyers said the “family has already lost too much… [they] are pleased and relieved that Eli Sharabi is reportedly on the list for release by Hamas”.

It added: “It is long past time to bring Eli home.”

Or Levy

Mr Levy was captured by militants from a bomb shelter near the Nova music festival.

His wife Einav was killed during the 7 October attack. Their son Almog, a toddler, is staying with his grandparents.

Mr Levy is from the city of Rishon Lezion, where he worked as a computer programmer.

Some of Mr Levy’s family previously spoke about his kidnapping and the death of his wife.

Speaking around Hanukkah last year, his brother Michael Levy told Sky News’s Yousra Elbagir: “I have three little girls but it won’t be the same. Hanukkah is a happy holiday – you light candles, you sing and eat all sorts of things but for us it is not a real holiday without Or.”

Ohad Ben Ami

Mr Ben Ami, a father of three, was taken hostage with his wife Raz, who was released during the brief ceasefire period in November.

His daughter Ella Ben Ami previously spoke to Sky News about missing her dad Mr Ami, as she pleaded for his release.

“On the eve of Christmas, on the 24 December, it will be his birthday, and I don’t want to celebrate it without him,” she told Sky News in 2023.

Ms Ami was previously one of the first to tell the world what happened on 7 October, calling an Israeli TV channel while hiding.

Row over aid access

Earlier on Friday, Hamas accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire accord and held off announcing the names of the Israeli hostages until the deadline had passed.

The militant group claimed Israel delayed the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying food and other humanitarian supplies agreed under the truce deal and held back all but a fraction of the tents and mobile homes needed to provide people shelter in the devastated enclave.

“This demonstrates clear manipulation of relief and shelter priorities,” Hamas said in a statement.

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COGAT, the Israeli military agency that is overseeing the aid deliveries into Gaza, denied the accusation.

It added Israel would “not tolerate violations by Hamas”.

The claims and counter-claims highlight the fragility and uncertainty of the ceasefire.

This has been heightened by US President Donald Trump recently saying the US could take over Gaza and move the Palestinian population out.

Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, and displaced the majority of the strip’s population.

Fragile ceasefire deal

So far, 13 of the 33 female, older male and child hostages set to be released in the first phase of the multi-phase agreement have returned to Israel.

Five Thai hostages have also been released.

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees have been released in exchange, often returning to large crowds.

Work on the second stage of the agreement, aimed at the release of around 60 male hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, has begun.

An Israeli negotiating team was expected to fly to Doha today, according to media reports.

World

‘Let’s do a deal’: Zelenskyy touts Ukraine’s rare earth stores to Trump

Published

2 hours ago

February 8, 2025

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'Let's do a deal': Zelenskyy touts Ukraine's rare earth stores to Trump

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told Donald Trump “let’s do a deal” as he offered the US a partnership over Ukraine’s stores of rare earth and minerals.

Earlier this week, Mr Trump said he wanted Ukraine to supply the US with critical resources in exchange for financial support in its war with Russia.

In an interview with Reuters on Friday, Mr Zelenskyy said: “If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal, we are only for it.”

While emphasising that Kyiv was not proposing “giving away” its resources, he said he was open to a mutually beneficial partnership to develop them jointly.

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Ukrainian forces seize land inside Russia

Rare earths are a group of 17 metals that are vital in the production of high-performance magnets, electric motors and consumer electronics.

Mr Zelenskyy touted the country’s reserves of titanium and uranium as Europe’s largest.

According to the World Economic Forum, Ukraine also has the potential to become a key supplier of lithium, beryllium, manganese, gallium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite and nickel.

Showing a map of Ukraine’s mineral deposits, he then said Russia currently has control of less than 20% of the country’s mineral resources – but that includes about half its rare earth deposits.

“Putin is not just grabbing them [minerals] along with the land, he is already thinking about how to get other partners in his alliance – North Korea, Iran… and he will give them access,” Mr Zelenskyy said.

“This is very rich land. This does not mean that we are giving it away to anyone, even to strategic partners. We are talking about partnership…

“Let’s develop this together, make money, and most importantly, it’s about the security of the Western world.”

The Ukrainian president added that Kyiv and the White House were discussing the idea of using the country’s underground gas storage sites to store American liquefied natural gas, calling it “very interesting”.

He also said he would like to discuss the US having priority when it came to rebuilding Ukraine, saying it would amount to “a lot of money for business”.

‘Not accepting Russia’s ultimatums’

He also insisted that Mr Trump must meet with him before he meets with the Russian president, “otherwise it will look like a dialogue about Ukraine without Ukraine”.

He added: “I don’t know what compromises can be discussed at the negotiating table, we have not reached that point…

“It is important for people to understand that Ukraine is negotiating, not accepting ultimatums from Russia.”

He also stressed Ukraine’s need for security guarantees from its allies as part of any settlement.

It comes as Mr Trump said he may meet with Mr Zelenskyy in the White House as early as next week. The two last met in New York in September last year.

Mr Trump also repeated his interest in meeting the Russian president with whom he said he always had a “good relationship”.

Speaking to reporters while meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Mr Trump said: “I’d like to see it end, just on a human basis. I’d like to see that end. It’s a ridiculous war.”

Mr Zelenskyy also told Reuters in his interview that thousands of North Korean soldiers have now returned to fight Kyiv’s forces in the Kursk region of Russia.

A Ukrainian special forces commander told Sky News last month that it appeared that North Korean troops had been temporarily pulled back from the frontline after heavy losses.

The commander, who went by the codename “Puls,” claimed the forces had been seen blowing themselves up with grenades rather than risk capture.

World

Will Trump make space great again?

Published

2 hours ago

February 8, 2025

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The US is back in the race to the moon but this time, the competition is China. Determined not to lose, President Donald Trump is pushing for America to return to the moon, backed by billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. But as costs rise and delays mount, could the focus shift from the moon to Mars?

On the Sky News Daily podcast, Tom Cheshire speaks to Science and Technology editor Tom Clarke and space journalist Eric Berger about the escalating price of securing America’s place in the space race – and whether Mars could be the next “MAGA mission”.

Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Editor: Paul Stanworth