Korean student sells sex to pay rent
Four years ago, Suzie and her parents moved from South Korea to New
Zealand.
But Suzie's father could not find work, and her mother's food
business failed. So they decided to go back to Korea, and they
wanted their daughter to join them.
But Suzie decided to stay in New Zealand because she enjoyed the
freedom there.
'My parents said I had to support myself financially if I wanted to
stay on,' she said.
But Suzie, who is pursuing a degree in business management, found
it hard to get by.
After finishing high school, she worked at an Asian grocery shop
with a salary of $180 per week. This was not enough to cover her
$110 weekly rent and her living expenses, she said.
A friend then suggested that she work in the sex industry.
'I was looking at ways in which I could earn fast money. I looked
at the classifieds, and there were a few advertisements for workers
at massage parlours,' she said.
'But I knew if I worked for them, they'd take a commission. Since I
know prostitution is legal in New Zealand, I thought I might as
well do it myself and keep everything.'
She bought a pre-paid handphone and bought an ad in the classifieds
under the 'adult entertainment' section. To her surprise, she
received over 20 calls.
Her first customer was a Kiwi man in his mid-40s. 'He said he was
lonely after his wife died, so I pitied him,' Susie said.
'He was quite a nice man. We talked first and we had sex only for a
short while before he left.'
But Suzie said they did not use a condom as she thought he 'looked
like a nice family man and not the kind that would visit
prostitutes every night'.
She claims she is a good judge of character and 'can judge people
by their voice'.
'If they sound nasty, I won't even give them my address or go to
where they want me to go,' she said.
Parents Don't Know
Now, she works from a rented house she shares with two other
Chinese student prostitutes, and earns about $2,000 per week.
'My parents have got no clue about what I am doing. They think I
got lucky and have struck a deal with a modelling agency that pays
me well,' she said.
'I used to have to watch every cent but now, not only am I able to
spend freely. I also have money to send back to my parents for the
Korean New Year.'
Though she knows about the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective,
Suzie said she will not go to them for help for fear that she would
be registered as a 'prostitute'.
'I do not want my friends to know, or my parents to ever find out
that I am selling my body,' she said.
'I am happy doing what I do now, but I will stop when I find a good
paying professional job one day.'