Sex workers working as escorts in Victoria feel unsafe under the current 'no in-call' laws that make it illegal for escorts to bring a client to their own space.

Whether that is a hotel room, booked residence or their own home, escorts can be charged with running a brothel.

In Victoria, the person paying for the escort's company, usually a man, has to invite the sex worker to his space.

"When you go to a job there's a feeling like you don't know what to expect," sex worker Mary* said.

Victoria is the only state where escorts can not work out of their place of choice — other than South Australia where sex work is criminalised.

Sex workers who work as escorts and travel to areas where there are no brothels have only one option — going into an unknown space.

"A big problem for us is [that] this law gives men the chance to set up hidden cameras," Mary said.

"It's more than just practical though — it's psychological too.

"It's saying, 'This is the man's space and he's in control' — it's another way to remove any power women have over their own bodies."

Mary said the laws around sex work had been set up "as if society needs to be protected from us".

"The laws are not there to protect sex workers," she said.

Uniform sex work laws needed

Sex worker Coco*, who travels across Australia working as an escort, said she found work by putting an advertisement in the local paper of whichever town she was in.

She came to Australia from China and sends money back to her family.

Her family in China does not know what she does for work here and she said they would disown her if they did.

Coco said she originally tried to find other work but found it hard because she had very little English language skills.

Coco said the no in-call laws were tied to the stigma that still surrounded sex work, and she wished the stigma would change.

"I work hard, I don't take Centrelink or ask for anything — I help my family in China," she said.

"I don't feel respect and sometimes in a town I just stay in my hotel room and don't come out because I feel shame.

"I'm just another person with a big heart — it's just a job."

Escorts working in rural Victoria say they feel unsafe due to laws prohibiting them from running their business from hotel rooms. ( ABC News: Malcolm Sutton )

'Sex is a part of life and we should feel safe'

Linda* said she felt disrespected due to "all the time-wasters who call you to a wrong address for a joke".

Linda works throughout Victoria as an escort and said it was time the community was more open-minded.

How can independent escorts operate in each state and territory? Victoria : Cannot work from a place of choice. Escorts can go to a client's space only. Up to two escorts can work together

: Cannot work from a place of choice. Escorts can go to a client's space only. Up to two escorts can work together New South Wales : Can work from a place of choice, can work with others

: Can work from a place of choice, can work with others Queensland : Can work from a place of choice, can only work alone

: Can work from a place of choice, can only work alone South Australia : Sex work is criminalised. A bill to decriminalise sex work is currently in Parliament

: Sex work is criminalised. A bill to decriminalise sex work is currently in Parliament Western Australia : Can work from a place of choice, can only work alone

: Can work from a place of choice, can only work alone Tasmania : Up to two sex workers can work from their own place of choice

: Up to two sex workers can work from their own place of choice Australian Capital Territory : Can work from a place of choice, can only work alone

: Can work from a place of choice, can only work alone Northern Territory: Can work from a hotel, not a place of residence. Must work alone

"I think my work's important," she said.

"Sex's a part of life and sometimes men with disabilities book me, or sometimes it's a man whose wife has died."

Linda prefers working interstate.

"I can watch who's coming from my hotel and I don't give out room numbers until I see them," she said.

Coco said in one case "one girl was tied up and the man hit her".

Although sex work is mostly legal in Victoria, with the exception of street-based sex work, which is still illegal, the laws are complicated.

A spokesman for the Victorian Minister for Consumer Affairs, Marlene Kairouz, said the strict licensing scheme was in place to protect the health and safety of sex workers.

The Sex Work Act 1994 permits legal sex work where the brothel and/or escort agency business operator is licensed, or where the business comprises one or two independent sex workers registered with the Business Licensing Authority.

"If a premise is made available for sex work by a business or person providing sex work services, the premise meets the legal definition of a brothel and therefore requires a brothel planning permit in order for the business or person to operate lawfully," the spokesman said.

Going to police not an option



"One thing you know as a sex worker is you can't go to the police," Mary said.

"You would only ever go as a very last resort.

"They see us as a problem that needs to be managed, not as workers with rights."

Victorian Police have the role of implementing the no in-call law.

Senior Sergeant Sam Ryan from Victoria Police's Sexual Offences Team said police had come a long way in better supporting sex workers.

"Victoria Police are aware people who work in the sex industry sometimes face poor community attitudes around their profession," he said.

"This may cause them to feel disbelieved or that they are not being taken seriously."

Senior Sergeant Ryan said allegations of sexual assault from people who worked in the sex industry were investigated like any other sexual or physical assault report.

"Sex workers may also have concerns they could be charged with a licensing offence if they are working illegally when they are sexually assaulted, which is another major hurdle to sex workers reporting sexual assaults to police," he said.

Sex work is real work

Jane Green, a spokeswoman for Victorian Sex Worker's support group Vixen Collective, is also calling for the laws to be changed.

"Current laws on sex work in Victoria are the major barrier to sex workers reaching out to police for assistance.

"There will not be real improvements until sex workers are treated like other Victorian workers under the law.

"This can only happen when sex work is fully decriminalised. Sex work is real work," Ms Green said.

"We feel our place as sex workers in society, and that's no place," Mary said.

"I say to you, you don't need to understand why I do what I do, but you need to respect my choice. I'm an adult making a choice about what I do."

"I love what I do.

"The freedom. The feeling of finishing work at 5am and knowing somehow I've escaped the rat race."

*Names have been changed.