Movie (for free on Youtube)

We sex workers have steady partners and lovers just like other people.
Due to our profession and the prejudices associated with it, we are often confronted with relationship dynamics that are draining. We often find ourselves in situations where we must educate and enlighten our partners or are confronted with stereotypes of our work within the relationship. And of course, only if we decide to be open about our profession!

Pauli made a video clip with a colleague from Vienna in which sex workers gave a statement about what they want from people they date, from their lovers, possible future partners and what behaviour is an absolute no-go.

You can find the trailer at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j4BB_xGoeQ&t=7s
and here we briefly introduce two migrant sex workers and their statements:

LAYALI

Layali came to Germany seeking asylum from Morocco 8 years ago. She works part time in theatre (Abendpersonal), info desk and also as a sex worker for 4 years.

My name is Layali and what I want you to know is that being a prostitute is not shameful! A few months ago, I got to know a guy and I didn’t tell him about my story because I was terrified that I might lose my relationship or that I might lose him and that lead to panic and exhaustion which wasn’t necessary in our relationship. But when I told him, he was really terrified because he had prejudice. That wasn’t really the thing that I wanted to hear so we just broke up. And now I’m more open about it and I think what I want for my future boyfriend, I just… What I wish from my future lover is just to understand that there is nothing wrong about being a prostitute. I’m using the word prostitute to bring or to break this stigma that a prostitute is something bad. It is just something we do, something we are and something we enjoy and from my personal experience it’s a thing I really enjoy otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it. And… What else… And I hope… or my wish is that people would look at prostitutes or sex workers as valuable people, same as any other people and not just exclude us from society on the base of this stigma. Anyway… that’s it!

LILY

Hi, I’m Lily and what I want you to know is that when I first started in the industry, I met a man in the scene and what we had soon evolved into an abusive relationship. So, he would use the fact that I’m an industry worker as a way to blackmail and control me. So, if I didn’t do everything he wanted, if I disagreed with anything he said, if I ever wanted to leave the relationship, he would threaten to contact my very conservative family who I’m very close with and tell them what I did for work, which was never an option. I wasn’t allowed to talk about my job with the people around us but after it escalated into physical violence, I finally found a way out of the relationship, but it left me feeling traumatized and I felt like I wanted to explode. So, when I freaked out, in a way completely unlike myself, there was almost nobody there to ask me why, so I felt shamed, and I felt silenced. I think it goes without saying that this is an absolute no-go. You don’t ever treat people this way. What I want you to know is that I’m now in an awesome relationship with a partner who loves and respects me, who is there when I come home from work with a hot drink and some food to talk about the good and funny things that happened that day and holds me through everything else. If I’m late for work, they’ve driven me and yeah… If they’re around when I’m doing a show they will be in and amongst the crowd on camera watch, so trying to catch any sneaky patrons, trying to film and get footage of the show for later which is NOT allowed without consent, always. Yeah, I love my job and their support means the world to me. You know, like… this isn’t Hollywood, it’s not the movies, we are real people with real feelings, and we deserve love and respect just like everybody else.