Optics In pictures: Risky business for ‘sexugees’ in Turkey For many LGBT refugees — from former students to engineers and cleaners — sex work is often their only hope of a steady income.

ISTANBUL — Open any dating app in Istanbul and you will see the effects of the refugee crisis appear on your screen. For many LGBT refugees who have fled war and persecution — from former students to engineers and cleaners — the financial struggle to get by can lead them to sell sexual services online.

For the gay men and trans women photographed here, sex work is often their only hope of a steady income. Many aspire to live a "normal life" but, unable to find more traditional jobs, sex work can mean the difference between renting a room or sleeping rough on the street.

A 12-hour shift in a textile factory — one of few other options for regular work — pays between 40-70 Turkish Liras (€9-16) a day. Sex can bring in considerably more — and for far fewer working hours. In Istanbul, refugee sex workers find their clients among the city's many tourists, particularly among visitors from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, as well as Turks and the occasional Westerner.

Only brothels that employ registered female sex workers are considered legal and are subjected to government supervision. In the LGBT refugee community, many turn to Istanbul’s handful of gay clubs and bars or to mobile phone apps to find work. Their "freelance" status leaves them especially vulnerable to extortion, rape, kidnap, abuse and in some reported cases, murder.

'JULIA,' 28

FROM IDLIB, SYRIA

“Each time I have money to eat and pay rent, I send the excess to my family," says Julia, who has lived in Turkey for a little over a year. "I can’t send them money every month, but I do it when I can." She spends 350 Turkish lira (€83) on rent and 100 lira (€30) for utilities every month. That leaves her with 500 lira (€120) for food, "so I can’t afford to have fruit and veg every week," she says. "I’d like to have a normal life. I was an engineering student at university before I came to Turkey. I want to have a good life and find a good man. I’m crazy about becoming a designer and [opening] my own shop.”

MARK, 19

FROM LATAKIA, SYRIA

“After I finished my A-Levels, I left Syria for Turkey, but I don’t feel free here. I can’t wear my earring, for instance," says Mark, who came to Turkey in early 2016. "I’ve been working as an escort for the past five months. I couldn’t find any other type of work. The main problems are the threats. Clients would tell me to take people to a place to rob them, they would use me as bait, and if I didn’t agree, they would threaten to beat me up. I once refused a dodgy looking client, so he threatened to kill me.”

AMMAR, 19

FROM DAMASCUS, SYRIA

“I worked as a cleaner and a waiter in a restaurant in Syria before coming here," says 19-year-old Ammar. "I want to go to Europe and study drawing and art." In June, Ammar was diagnosed as HIV-positive. "I was scared the first time I worked as an escort, but luckily he was a good guy. I was scared he would take me somewhere and kill me or something. I felt really cheap for the first time in my life, and couldn’t believe I had become one of 'them.' Other refugees don’t talk about it much.”

WISSAM, 23

FROM DAMASCUS, SYRIA

“I want to be a professional dancer, I studied accounting at university before coming to Turkey," says Wissam, who has spent the past three years in Istanbul. "I started working as an escort three months ago. I don’t accept Turks as they only pay 100-150 Turkish Liras (€24-35). I have a Kuwaiti guy who’s becoming a regular and pays me $100-150.” His monthly rent and bills add up to between 300-600 Turkish Liras (€72-144), he says.

DEA, 22

FROM ALEPPO, SYRIA



“Before I left Syria, I wasn’t doing anything. I left school at around 13 or 14 after I was raped by my uncle, which ruined me psychologically," says Dea, who fled Syria and lived in Lebanon for a year and a half before moving to Turkey. "My parents forced me to stay at home. My family is illiterate, so they don’t understand things like gender or sexuality. I was forced into sex work for financial reasons [since arriving in Turkey]. I was kidnapped once by four clients in a car, and dumped outside of Istanbul after being raped and beaten. Once my old housemate was murdered and I saw so many Syrian sex workers diagnosed with HIV, I stopped.

“I charge 300 lira (€72) per hour for Turks, up to 600 lira (€144) per hour for non-Turks. I had one regular client who paid 1,000 lira (€240) for a few hours each Saturday night. That's over now, but if I break up with my boyfriend, my only option will be to do sex work again — to survive.”

'MAJID,' 28

FROM ALEPPO, SYRIA



“I don’t want to stay in Turkey. I want to change countries, and am waiting for resettlement to a third country," says Majid. He has been waiting in Turkey for a year. "I want to be a hairdresser and a makeup artist. My family kicked me out of the house when they found out that I was gay."

“I normally charge $100 and have an average of three or four clients per week," he says. "Sometimes people don’t pay, sometimes they pay a little more or a little less; I send most of the money to my family in Aleppo to help them survive.” Majid’s rent in Istanbul is 900 lira (€215) a month.

Bradley Secker is an Istanbul-based photojournalist whose work focuses on the consequences of social, political and military actions, with a primary focus on the individual. His ongoing long-term project Kütmaan tells the stories of LGBT asylum seekers and refugees from the Middle East, forced to flee for reasons connected to their sexuality and/or gender identity.