After Singapore’s lockdown period ended in June, sex workers are going back to work, same as everyone else.
A few decades ago, anyone who wanted to hire a female escort in Singapore would pull a number from the phone book and schedule an appointment in a nondescript office. An agent would sit the client down with a photo album, and ask them to pick from photos of the women catalogued inside. Nowadays, anyone can make direct contact with an escort, in minutes, without ever leaving their couch. But fundamentally, the job remains the same. And in 2020, it’s easier than ever for escorts to make their own hours, devise their own strategies, and control their own purse strings.