


It's a classic problem of circling around the truth without ever getting any closer to it. Academics and sociologists have no better luck trying to interview the prostitute, even when offering to pay for her time she will then be happy to cooperate and will tell them exactly what (she thinks) they want to hear, exaggerating her circumstances and stories for shock effect.

She won't give women an honest answer, since they are potential competitors or worse - moralists. She won't give men an honest answer, since they are potential customers, and will claim she earns less than she actually does to gain sympathy. There is nothing more difficult than finding out what goes on in the mind of a prostitute, even when one is genuinely curious and not afflicted by sanctimony.
