The men selling sex online
An underground operation is allowing anyone over 18 to anonymously promote their services as a certified sex worker.
The male sex industry has shifted over the last 20 years, from gay clubs and backstreet brothels into a virtual realm.
New platforms are emerging and web accessibility has rapidly grown.
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The effortless interface of escorting apps allows workers to set up a profile, connect directly with customers and start work immediately. The ease of earning money quickly and discreetly has made sex work rocket as a profession.
Joe chuckled nervously and sheepishly said: "We can't have my boyfriend coming home from work and catching me in bed with another man, can we?"
The 37-year-old only works on weekdays and never meets anyone after 5 pm. It isn’t a safety issue, or to ensure a work-life balance. It’s so his other half doesn’t find out.
He exhaled loudly: "I think it would hurt my boyfriend. He doesn’t know because I don't want to upset him any more than I already have."
At the end of the working day, Joe races around his home tidying up and hiding everything related to his work, in time for his other half coming back from a day at the office.
He worked in an office full time, but was made redundant last year. He joined the gay sex site Fab Guys out of boredom.
"I found meeting these men interesting and I quite enjoyed it, then I had a lightbulb moment and realised… God, I should be paid for doing this!"
Joe declared "I'm a high-class person from a very good family. It would never have occurred to me to sell sex on the streets, but I enjoy this."
Joe has a lot of freedom in the way he operates his business. He uses Sleepyboy, the most established gay escorting site in England.
He advertises appointments at his 'luxury cottage', which he shares with his partner.
Charging most customers £150 for one hour of his company, or £250 for two, working online has given Joe the freedom to advertise to a large market of potential customers and earn more per hour than he ever had done in previous employment.
Joe sees a lot of married men "they always want to be f***ed, some put on an act and 'make out' it's their first time, but I doubt it always is."
Others are single gay men, but they rarely match his sexual preference.
"I don't like f****ng other guys, it isn't what I'm personally into. I wish more of them just came for oral… but it's fine, I'm used to it now" he commented casually.
Joe goes into a lot of his appointments blind. He doesn't search for the client on social media beforehand and will usually only have a short phone call ahead of the meeting.
Apart from the odd "drug dealer with gold teeth and a stench of cannabis on him", Joe has had very little trouble. He believes this is down to the hours he offers services.
"I worked an evening once, when my boyfriend was on holiday. The clientele you see at midnight is a million miles away from the type of person you would see at mid-day. It felt less safe late at night when clients are drunk. Some even came on drugs."
Unlike the dentist, there isn’t a moral etiquette when committing to or cancelling an appointment with an escort.
Joe vocalised the downsides of his work, expressing frustration towards people not turning up to appointments, or cancelling them at the last minute. He charges no shows £100, but whether he gets that money is another matter.
"There was one married guy that stood me up. I put the fear of God in that man. An hour later he drove from Nottingham to apologise and to drop off the cash he owed me" Joe vented.
Like Joe, 40-year-old escort Will uses SleepyBoy to meet clients.
Charging between £60-100 an hour and undertaking appointments alongside fulltime employment, Will escorts for extra income. As he only offers outcalls to client's homes or hotel rooms, warehouse worker Will, adds a charge on top of his fee to reimburse him for travel expenses.
Will and Joe share a typical client. They describe many meetings with men aged between 50 and 60 years old, outwardly 'straight' and fairly nervous about the encounter.
Will is bisexual and offers his services to women too. However, less than 1 in 30 of his customers are female.
He uses the site AdultWork, which also allows escorts to post some ads for free. Any sex worker can advertise themselves and customers from around the world can view their profile.
Alongside escort advertisements, AdultWork also allows workers to offer private pornography and live webcam streams. Will started webcamming over 15 years ago and gradually became an escort, after people he cammed for offered him money to meet.
Anyone with a camera and internet connection can become a pornstar. Indirect sex workers operate from their home and offer content, but no physical contact, to paying punters.
Customers ‘get off’ to anything, from nude images on social media platforms, sexual performances on a webcam stream and content posted on membership-based paywall platforms like OnlyFans.
Will's girlfriend, Anna, is aware and supportive of his involvement in the sex industry and has previously taken part in webcamming herself.
"We are an open couple and pretty experimental within our relationship, so this is just an extra thing."
There are some hefty perks attached to Will's escorting enterprise. "I get to travel everywhere… One of my clients paid for me to join him on holiday in Spain on an all-expenses-paid trip, first-class and everything! I've also been flown out to meet regulars in Italy and America" he said proudly.
Will turned one customer away, despite him offering hundreds of pounds to spend the afternoon with him.
"It was weird. This gentleman wanted me to dress head-to-toe in a large bear costume and ride in a hot air balloon with him. He got off on the idea of me being restricted whilst he was in control. I declined. He wanted to help me take the costume off whilst in the air… I thought it could be quite dangerous."
One man pays Will for an hour, just to watch him masturbate. "There is never any sex" he laughed: "he just likes being physically connected with someone, being held."
The emotional side of sex work is something present amongst Joe's clients too, with a lot of customers coming for the sex and staying for the chat.
OnlyFans models sign up to the online membership platform, which allows fans to pay a small fee every month to view content by their favourite adult performers.
Mannie Gregg set up an OnlyFans account last year, to gain some extra income alongside his full-time employment as a sales assistant. He charged each subscriber £4 a month to view private images and full nudity.
One of the 'teaser' images Mannie uploaded to OnlyFans. Image credit: Mannie Gregg
One of the 'teaser' images Mannie uploaded to OnlyFans. Image credit: Mannie Gregg
Subscription platforms, like American based OnlyFans and JustForFans allow content creators to charge their 'fans' a monthly fee in return for exclusive videos, pictures and voice notes.
The performances are not live, but the app has a private message feature, which allows the workers to quickly engage with ‘fans’ and send personalised content. The site doesn’t state what to expect as a subscriber and some say they only follow fitness instructors and celebrities.
However, a lot of performers on the site cater to a range of kinky audiences and most ‘fans’ expect X rated content.
He shared his OnlyFans profile on social media, after blocking family members from viewing it. To seduce people to subscribe, he put up pictures of himself in underwear on a 'teaser' page.
"The thing is, you need to have an established fan base to promote to" he said. Due to the lack of earning potential, Mannie removed his profile after three weeks.
Mannie pondered: "I would be tempted to go back if I had a large following, but there is just no guarantee you'd get money. The thought of having my images leaked scares me too, I wouldn't want my mum seeing the things I put on there."
Mannie Gregg discussing his experiences on OnlyFans.
Mannie Gregg discussing his experiences on OnlyFans.
Cam boys operate on hundreds of camming sites across the world. They perform, dance and take requests from viewers in exchange for a small fee.
26-year-old James began performing in webcam chat rooms whilst studying at university in Nottingham. Four years later he still logs on, to gain a bit of extra income.
Think of it as a peep show, but instead of being in a shop on the streets of Amsterdam, it is virtually streamed straight to your phone or laptop.
He is straight and has never experienced a true sexual connection to any of his customers, but his profession has taken a toll on his romantic relationships. Last year he separated with his long-term partner.
He said: "It affected us because I didn't want sex as much anymore. I wanted to be able to perform on camera. Sadly, she couldn't accept it. We broke up as a result."
James prefers the site AdultWork, as it charges customers per minute to view him. Many other camming platforms offer 'free rooms', where performers get tipped in the form of tokens purchased through the site.
"You could be sat there for hours before anyone tips a decent amount" James said.
"On here, I set my rate per minute. It can be anything from £1 to £3 and mine is set to charge £1.50."
James offers anything from live masturbation and dirty talk to virtual role-play. The longer the consumer watches, the more money he makes.
When James was new to the camming scene, he earned £60-70 a day.
He pointed out: "Everyone wanted to chat and see what I was like.
“Now I'm not fresh meat, I make a lot less… anything between £20-40 on a good day.”
The female camming industry is much larger, a limited number of people pay for male performers. Today hasn't been a high earner for James, after spending all afternoon sat on his sofa with the site open and his pants off, he has only made £10.
To collect his earnings, James waits until there is enough money in his online account and then gets it wired to his local post office. Cam clients who feel a closer connection with James transfer him cash on PayPal, despite AdultWork discouraging this.
"People want to treat me to dinner or send me cash for a new sex toy, just because they like me, or like my body. It has to be the best part" he exulted.
James’ typical customers are what he categorises as, lonely, rich older men.
“It's clear that they either haven't managed to get into a relationship or aren't getting their fetish or fantasy fulfilled elsewhere."
He said: "Sometimes they go one step further and they ask if I will escort. I'm not sure if they mean it, or if it is just a fantasy they get off on.
“I'm happy to sit at home in front of a camera, but I would never actually meet someone."
Cam site owner Joseph. Image credit: Joseph Martin
Cam site owner Joseph. Image credit: Joseph Martin
Joseph Martin established his first cam site eight years ago, after watching a documentary about cam girls with his family.
“I lost my virginity to an escort and my family have always been very open about sex. My dad suggested setting up the site one night and I sorted all the marketing and admin.”
The 32-year-old from Nottingham takes a small slice of the wages earned by the cam boys and girls who perform on his platforms.
Popular website CandyCams used to earn him around £30,000 a year. Since then, he has decided to take a back seat in the day-to-day admin involved in running his sites and instead now chooses to focus on his residential lettings business.
Joseph stated: "Traffic to the site has dwindled. I have put no effort in for the last 18 months, but it still turns over about £1,200 a year for me."
Joseph Martin discussing his experience of the sex industry.
Joseph Martin discussing his experience of the sex industry.
Online Safety
Being a sex worker can lead to many concerns. Safety issues that were prevalent when working on the street are still present in the online economy.
Throughout history, sex workers were likely to have been vulnerable, choosing the career as a risky means to survive.
For some, this may still be the case. However, there is a real sense of personal choice amongst the participating workforce in the online industry. Many actively elect themselves and are doing so on their terms, to their schedule and for their enjoyment.
An escorts line of work can leave them physically vulnerable to STIs and HIV, but also place them in the way of physical danger.
Charities, like The Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement provide practical support and skill-share sessions, creating a safe space to talk about the alienating aspects of the industry.
The National Ugly Mugs protect workers by offering up to date information on difficult customers. Similarly the mobile app ClientEye allows workers to access information and reviews about customers on a local level.
They allow sex workers to anonymously report incidents and share information about time wasters and abusive clients.
Whilst there is less support to male sex workers, a number of charities offer contraception, advice, counselling and workshops.
You can find out more here:
Professor Teela Sanders researches sociology and criminology at the University of Leicester. Her research with Beyond the Gaze identified that whilst female sex workers are more likely to be at risk, males in the trade are still vulnerable to danger.
Initial contact through calls and texts may not flag issues, leaving sex workers in an unsafe position when it comes to encounters in the flesh.
Professor Teela Sanders discussing the safety of sex work online.
Professor Teela Sanders discussing the safety of sex work online.
A major risk to indirect online sex workers is having their content recorded and shared, losing privacy and the profit they could have gained.
However, with close online relationships being established, there is also a risk that clients will overstep the mark due to intimate connections they feel with performers.
An online gay camboy agency site. Image credit: Go Webcam Jobs
An online gay camboy agency site. Image credit: Go Webcam Jobs
The commercial market for selling sex has become secretive and sophisticated, allowing anyone the ability to sell the most intimate acts, conveniently and securely.
Because of this, the true popularity of the profession remains widely unknown. The lack of government research about web-based sex services and untraceable nature of the trade, currently tells an inaccurate story to society of the people selling sex online.
Red lights above doorways are being replaced with the red glow of a webcam standby light. Now more than ever, people deprived of human connection are turning to their mobile devices to feel a glimpse of intimacy and to fulfil their fantasy.
