By NICOLA McCASKILL

"If anyone was to think badly of me for knowing what I do, it’s more of a reflection on them than me," says Clarissa Darling, a sex worker in a Melbourne brothel. This photo essay follows Clarissa on her daily activities, from morning to evening, outside of her actual work. She is part of an industry she feels is rarely represented respectfully and accurately in the media, and the workers themselves are rarely given a voice, even when they are being discussed. 

Sex worker Clarissa Darling, 23, checks her online networks first thing in the morning. “I started out stripping, and then eventually one of my stripping friends put me on to a full-service brothel,” Clarissa said. Social networking is becoming an increasingly important part of sex workers’ jobs.

“It used to take me forever to do my makeup," Clarissa said. "I’m still pretty lazy, but I’m a lot better at doing things quickly.”

The contents of Clarissa’s work bag: “I would definitely say that the instant porridge is about as important as anything else. Sometimes shifts are upwards of nine hours, and if I don’t eat constantly … I will fall asleep.” Also featured: lingerie, dry shampoo, make up, a phone charger and glasses cleaner. “Sometimes guys ask me to leave my glasses on. Hell no, I’m not going to walk around with dirty glasses for the rest of the day. You know, the secretary fetish takes its toll.”

Clarissa finishes her morning coffee outside the brothel before starting her day shift. “I do look forward to going to work, mostly because I love my co-workers,” she said. “We’re all really close. I don’t feel gross about the rest of it, most of my clients I get along with fine. It’s kind of like any other job I’ve had, there are days where you’re like, ‘ugh, I can’t be bothered going in to work’, but it’s just that I’m lazy.”

Sex work is much more than just sex, Clarissa said. “I do a lot of folding sheets, and towels – I do so much fucking housework. Vacuuming, cleaning out driers, spraying down showers with disinfectant …” Working in a brothel taught her how to properly fold a fitted sheet.

Clarissa quickly swaps shoes as soon as her shift is over. “I haven’t worn heels outside of work in so long,” she said.

“My job is to be pretty, so I feel like when I’m not at work … everything is like, duffle coat, jeans, boots, baggy T-shirts, flannel shirts,” Clarissa said as she left work for the evening. “I’m the complete opposite so often of my work persona. I’m still really proud of my femininity, but I express it differently … and not really invite the sexual objectification that I do in the workplace, because I’ve already had nine hours of that today. I’m not really keen to experience that on the way home.”

“I don’t wear lipstick or perfume at work, because I’m conscious of the fact that many of my clients, even if they don’t tell me – and most of them don’t – are often in other relationships, in which it wouldn’t be okay to have come to see a sex worker,” Clarissa said. “I don’t really want to leave any evidence that they have … I don’t leave marks on them from anything I do at work, and I think most of them really appreciate that. And it also means that it’s really fun for me, when I’m outside of work, to put on green lipstick or glitter on my face, or perfume, because I don’t have to worry about who I’m going to get it on.”

Clarissa said seeing clients outside of work did not bother her, and she didn't mind if people knew what her job was. “I pretty much feel that if anyone was to think badly of me for knowing what I do, it’s more of a reflection on them than me,” she said.

Back at home, Clarissa slips into something more comfortable – a pair of flannel PJs – and heads to bed for an early night. “Most of my job is unsatisfying sex, that’s the point of it – even for the clients, it’s unsatisfying in some way. They’re guilty about it, or they wanted the service to be different in some way but it can’t be, or whatever. So for me, I don’t leave work feeling overexposed to sex because, as far as I’m concerned, very few things in the day were sexy,” she said. “At all.”