By KARINA SCHULZ WHARWOOD

Soon after arriving in Melbourne, Athena* found herself without a job and in desperate need of some income while completing her science degree.

“We didn’t have that much saving put together and I saw an ad for escorting,” she says.

Not long after she tried out the practice, Athena secured a job at Elsternwick brothel Daily Planet largely because it was a regulated and secure environment.

Daily Planet receptionist Lisa** says the brothel works hard to keep both the workers and clients safe – and it all begins with the front desk staff.

“It’s all about being a good judge of character, the kind of men that we let into our establishment,” she says.

Sex workers are introduced to new clients and are given the option of declining a client’s request to provide sex work service.

Each room within the brothel has a panic button next to the bed. If a sex worker feels uncomfortable or becomes anxious for whatever reason, they can buzz for assistance.

Women are required to get monthly health check ups to ensure they are STI-free and do not transmit any diseases to their clients.

“It is unfortunate that the brothel industry gets a bad rep, because it is clean and it is legal,” Lisa says.

“It is more so about a service that usually in a relationship they either wouldn’t want their partner to do or don’t know how to approach their partner.” 

Alternatively, private sex workers hire out rooms in hotels and furnished apartments to offer services similar to those in a brothel.

Online pages such as Melbourne Backpage, a website where women post photos of themselves and explain what they are willing to do, are used by private sex workers to seek out clients.

They use massages as a major selling point before offering other services.

Sex worker Amy* says when it comes to safety, “[working privately] has its pros and cons”.

She tries to work with a least one friend on any night, frequently changes locations and makes sure there is a security camera in the complex lobby in case anything goes wrong.

The Victorian Sentencing Guidelines were updated last year to ensure offenders who attack sex workers are not given reduced sentences. 

The Vixen Collective, a peer sex worker organisation in Victoria,  campaigned against a perception that sex workers are at least partially to blame if they are raped or assaulted, because of the work they do. 

While sex workers at Daily Planet choose their hours and clients, Amy says she prefers to work for herself because she makes more money and feels like she has greater control over her work.

Daily Planet, which has been named Australia's best brothel many times and was the first brothel to be listed on the stock exchange, offers counselling services to sex workers and their partners who feel the job has taken a psychological or emotional toll the job on their relationship.

Sex client Ben**, who says he is new to the scene, opted to go to private sex workers after he ended a 10-year relationship. He says as long as he manages the risks by not having unprotected sex, the woman is responsible for keeping herself safe in the process.

“It is for convenience and from my perspective it is completely obligation-free,” Ben says.

Looking for the physical touch and on-demand encounters, Ben took a liking to private sex workers as opposed to brothels because it was a way of “putting his toes in, rather than diving in head first”, he says.

Lisa says brothels need greater online publicity because they are competing with sex workers who advertise their services in online forums.

“(Brothels) really need to start competing with the social media world because we are falling behind,” she says.

Daily Planet's building was sold late last year after the business was placed in administration. 

Athena says the community's judgmental attitude towards those working in the sex industry is incredibly upsetting.

“I mean look at the age we live in: Kim Kardashian can do a sex tape, make millions out of it and become famous but she is not a whore.”

Both private massage workers and those who work at licenced establishments incur the judgment of the world, Athena says.

“If I put a price on how I want to have sex and with whom and how many times then all of a sudden I become someone of disrepute.

“It doesn’t take away from who you are inside. It is just a service, it is just the same way you would be paid to do any other profession and then go home and be who you are at home.”

*Athena and Amy are not their real names
**Lisa and Ben did not want to disclose their surnames.