At this time we are still largely living in a world where prostitution is illegal. The intensity of punishment varies from country to country, state to state and even city to city. I am only well versed in the laws pertaining to my jurisdiction - where I work. And I would strongly suggest to those who want to start working or to those already in the industry to do some research, if you have not already done it, of the prostitution laws in your area.
Almost everything can be found online these days. Search the government websites, the codes and regulations in your country. A good search phrase on those websites might be “prostitution laws”. Once you read those, you may also want to read some court cases for examples of what the defendant had to deal with and the charges, the fines that had to be paid and/or prison time served.
When you read the laws, also consider how to phrase your advertisements. If your face is visible in your escort ads, it could be easy for the police to prove that you were in fact the one advertising the services.
Let me explain how the laws may help protect you. After doing some thorough research of the laws in my area (once I read the exact wording of the statutes) I concluded that it really would not help having a disclaimer that I so often see on escort websites, which goes something like this:
“Money exchanged is for time and companionship only.”
This disclaimer Is Fuck All, because the wording in the statute states that anyone selling - “time” and “companionship” is an escort. And an escort can be fined up to $10,000 if caught by the authorities.
Of course it becomes difficult wording an ad in such a way where ‘time’ can be avoided. We all advertise our rates as $ XXX per half hour or $ XXX per hour, or etc… The companionship clause can be avoided however. In this case to say you are offering a “girl friend experience” would be exactly what the law is trying to target. Instead listing the services offered could be wiser. Yes, it makes little sense when you look at it but in my jurisdiction it actually helps to avoid being labeled an escort (which in terms of the law states an escort is a professional selling - time and companionship …not sex).
This is just a brief example of how knowing the laws would help in wording your ads. This is far from a foolproof method of avoiding the interest of the authorities.
Let me go on to explain the better methods of avoiding police.
1) Reference by escort - The best way to avoid police is to ask for references. This method works by requesting your prospective client to provide you with a reference from a lady that he has seen in the last 3 to 6 months. You will need to ask him for the following information:
a) The name of the escort who will provide him with a reference (he should have seen her at some point in the last 3 to 6 months. Sometimes a year or 2 years is enough but only if the escort is still around and she keeps good records).
b) The escort’s web address, phone #, or email address (make sure the email address does in fact belong to the escort and not some email the client created to give you the reference. Usually to verify you can trace the email address to web advertisements on the Internet).
c) The phone # the client used to contact his referring escort.
d) The name he used when he saw his referring escort.
e) The handle (or review board) he used to contact his referring escort.
Once you receive this information, and any other information that will help you decide that the escort is legitimate, contact her by email or phone and ask her if she has in fact seen the client.
This method works well in eliminating a session with a cop. Some disadvantages of this method - some clients never seen an escort before, some escorts never respond, and/or it may take time to receive a reply from the referring escort.
2) Reference by work - This method is second best to #1 above. Personally, I have only been successful in using this method a few times. Most clients are very discreet and do not want to let an escort know their place of employment.
This method is fairly simple but requires some research. Ask your client to send you an email from his work email address. How do you differentiate it from a personal address? Most of the time a personal address would end with “@hotmail.com” or “@gmail.com”
If the address ends with something like, “@plumbingplus.com” it will most likely belong to a company.
Do not just stop there! Make sure you do a search online to see if “@plumbingplus.com” actually comes up with a company website, or is listed in an official business directory.
Please never, reply to a work email unless the client has indicated it is all right to do so.
A client may also provide you with a company phone #, and his full name. Once again use the web to research if the number and name belongs to a company. Make a call to the main line and ask for, “insert client’s name”. If you get put through, you can hang up or pretend you are a consumer survey representative calling with some questions. It really is up to you, just do not ever compromise your client’s personal and professional life.
3) Government ID photo - This method I have never tried myself, however I have heard of escorts using it and being successful. It works by asking the prospective client to take a photo of himself (picture of his face) holding up his photo identification and then emailing this photo to you. I am not sure how this protects an escort from law enforcement? I don’t practice this method because a police officer would probably agree to do this and not worry about anything. In any case, this is just something I have heard and am now passing it on to those interested.
These three methods are the only ones I know of avoiding the police 99% of the time (nothing is 100% when you are meeting a stranger). If someone has any more advice to my readers please comment.