An enlightening and moving, firsthand account of a woman’s life affected by prostitution, disclosing the emotional, psychological, and social effects of living that existence.
This is the unedited transcript from a video interview Ruth Jacobs undertook with a London call girl in the late 1990s.
Ruth Jacobs is the author of Soul Destruction, a series of novels exposing the dark world and the harsh reality of life as a call girl. http://www.soul-destruction.com
All royalties received from the sale of “In Her Own Words... Interview with a London Call Girl” will be donated to Beyond the Streets, a charity helping women exit prostitution. Registered charity number: 1099006. http://www.beyondthestreets.org.uk
A message from Ruth Jacobs:
The video interview has been transcribed completely unedited, including every broken sentence and pause. I have considered editing, but as the woman I interviewed (referred to as Q) is no longer alive, I feel it would be wrong to make any changes without her consent. The words in this book are Q’s, and to respect her, her memory, and the fearlessness and courage she showed in disclosing her innermost self, I have left her words untouched.
This charity publication and the cause is very close to my heart, even more so because the woman I interviewed was a dear friend, a wonderful person, and who had a painful life, with childhood sexual abuse and then being pimped on the streets from the age of fifteen. After escaping from her pimp, she moved to London and began working as a call girl.
From making this publication available, I hope to change the stigma some of society has against women who work in prostitution, which is mainly through lack of knowledge. 75% of women working as prostitutes have been sexually and physically abused as children, 70% have experienced multiple rapes, and 67% meet the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder, which is a major cause of suicide.
I am the author of Soul Destruction: Unforgivable, a novel exposing the dark world and harsh reality of life as a drug addicted call girl. The main storyline is based loosely on events from my own life.
In addition to fiction writing, I am also involved in non-fiction, journalism and broadcasting for charity and human rights campaigning in the areas of sex workers' rights, anti-sexual exploitation and anti-human trafficking.
I am currently involved in the campaign calling for the Merseyside hate crime model of policing prostitution to be made law. To sign the Change.org petition follow this link: http://www.change.org/merseysidemodel.
My short charity publication, In Her Own Words... Interview with a London Call Girl, is available to download from Amazon and all royalties are donated to Beyond the Streets, a UK charity working to end sexual exploitation.
My author website on which I interview writers, musicians, artists and filmmakers as well as human rights activists and survivors of sex trafficking and prostitution is at http://www.ruthjacobs.co.uk.
I don't know if I am allowed to review my own book, however, the words are not mine. They are the words of Q, the woman I video interviewed for my research on prostitution in the late 1990s. I only transcribed her words, completely unedited, including every broken sentence and pause, so that her words are presented as honestly and boldly as she spoke them.
At the time, Q was a very dear friend which is probably what enabled her to be so open in the interview. She was brutally honest about how she felt and thought about herself, working as a prostitute, sex, men, relationships, society and much more.
She was a wonderful person who had a sad and painful life, with childhood sexual abuse and then being pimped on the streets from the age of fifteen. After escaping her pimp, she became a call girl in London. She was one of the most beautiful women I have ever known, inside and out. Sadly, she is now dead, which is the reason all royalties received from this publication are being donated to a charity called Beyond the Streets, which helps women exit prostitution.
Her words dispel the 'happy hooker' myth. On the outside, being a 'happy hooker' was the image she presented. From her contradictory statements, it can be ascertained that she tried to make herself believe certain facts, whilst knowing another truth. Bravely and fearlessly, she exposed her innermost self. She shows the reality of life for women working in prostitution, the effects it has on them psychologically, emotionally, with relationships with men, how they are viewed and how they feel they are viewed by society, as outsiders and outcasts, often judged and looked down on.Ruth Jacobs
Have you ever watched / read 'Secret Diary of a Call Girl' by Belle de Jour? How about Tracy Quan's '...Call Girl' series of books? Did they make you laugh? Did their lives sound exciting and liberating? Did prostitution begin to sound like a viable, safe way to make extra money? Well, it's not.
Ruth Jacob's 'Interview with a London Call Girl' reveals the harsh truths behind a profession that, over the past few years, has been sensationalised, with the stigma attached to prostitution being lessened with the appearance of each glamorous tale.
Following an interview with a call girl in the late 199os, Ruth Jacobs has written a series of novels and published them on her blog, soul-destruction.com
'In Her Own Words' is the unedited transcript of the interview Ruth conducted with a call. It exposes the negative social, psychological and physical effects on the woman who sold her body for money. The answers given by the interview are unflinching, brutally honest and utterly heartbreaking. It doesn't make for comfortable reading but it is a necessary read.
Ruth Jacobs published this anonymous interview following the death of the subject in the hope of highlighting the true nature of this exploitative profession. All proceeds are going to Beyond the Streets - a charity that helps women escape prostitution.
This interview with a call girl is heartbreaking, raw and revealing. The interviewee describes how she went from being a 15-year-old crying every night and scrubbing herself with bleach to seven years later, feeling nothing, seeing her body as a way to get from A to B, unable to have a normal relationship ever. What is it that makes happily married men seek fantasy scenarios with women who are virtual strangers, for whom they have little respect and who regard them as perverted and untrustworthy? What made this girl play out these men's fantasies whilst hating what she was doing? She describes how she is ostracized and used, although she is "exactly the same as everyone else really" and how she feels she is protecting society by allowing men to act out their "sick fantasies" with her. She describes the power play between prostitute and client and how sometimes she just wants someone to hold her. It's fascinating and I think it's impossible not to feel sympathy for her and for the way people play games to conceal their disconnectedness from themselves and each other.
I do not think I've read something so fast or ever been so engaged. I read it all in one sitting, which I rarely find myself capable of sitting still for any period of time! It is a short book, but it is one that needs to be read.
Word-for-word, I could relate. I cried, I sulked, I thought endlessly about it, and I still think about it a lot. I felt like Q was my twin sister, experiencing many of the same things, in another country. I have not read someone put PTSD and addiction experiences so eloquently and matter-of-factly.
This is not erotica, this is not glamorous. Do not expect a "happy hooker" storyline or an optimistic end. Expect the truth.
I am extremely moved by this piece, and Ruth Jacobs deserves the utmost respect, as an author and as a person.
Thought provoking from the start, I imagined myself sat there in front of this poor women hearing her story first hand. A deep subject matter with questions being raised about the ancient and primal needs of man.
I would recommend this to Over 18's only as it is explicit! It's great to read the honest and true words of a woman in prostitution! Thanks Ruth for sharing it!
An honest account by a london call girl of her life. On the one hand Q (the call girl) says that she is happy in her work, that she relishes the power that comes from working as an escort. However on the other hand she bemoans the fact that men see her merely as a prostitute and even males she meets while out socialising simply want sex rather than a loving relationship. Q started off working on the streets which entailed seeing upto 20 clients a day. She graduated to working as an out-call escort which entails seeing approximately 2-3 clients per day. She likes the comparative safety of working as an out-call escort girl but misses the freedom of working the streets.
The first hand account of a mixed up, troubled prostitute putting on a brave face. As I read this I saw in my mind's eye a girl with rings under her eyes, smoking a cigarette in a cloud of smoke, with a cassette recorder between her and the author in a restaurant. A quick 30 minute read that shows you a first hand look at life on the line.