"I feel much safer in a physical and emotional sense [with a sex worker] without question," Rachel said. "I didn't get a good sense of groundedness in love, which is what I’m still trying to work through, and that’s where sex workers come in really well because they do communicate clearly ... whereas lots of other people don’t." Dr Hilary Caldwell, lead author of the report, believes the trend is attributable to the MeToo movement and a greater conversation around sexual consent. "One of my participants was a person who had suffered childhood sexual abuse to a dreadful degree and she said that when she purchased sex ... that was the first time that, when she said no to someone, they actually stopped," she said. "[The women in the study] didn't fear that they would be pressured or put upon to do anything they didn’t want ... they felt if they said they didn’t want to do something, that that would be respected." All of the women who paid for sex also reported a 100 per cent rate of condom compliance, Dr Caldwell said.

"It wasn’t something that the women who were paying for sex had to actually think about or initiate," she said. "Whereas in dating, they had to insist on the male using condoms and sometimes put the condom on the male themselves because the male wasn't experienced." The study also interviewed 17 sex workers who provide services for women. 47-year-old Sydney escort John said the internet has made it possible for Australian women to seek out a sexual experience outside of real-world dating. "I got into sex work nine years ago because my IT business was ruined by the global financial crisis," he said. "I think that women are feeling more confident in taking control of their sexuality and choosing how they experience it rather than feeling compelled to stick to traditional forms of dating and relationships." "Dating is messy, disappointing, dangerous, and far more miss than hit."

Dr Caldwell said participants in the study felt they had a more positive and safe experience post-sex in comparison to regular dating. "They didn’t fear that the male sex worker would then stalk them or refuse their advances." Many of the women in the study also felt their emotional safety was better protected when buying sex. Loading "Some of these women were afraid of rejection from being on dating sites or having been in bad relationships," Dr Caldwell said. "They wouldn’t be ridiculed for [a] part of their body that they were not particularly happy with ... they wouldn't be disrespected."