‘Belle’ sent this piece in through our Share Your Story page, which provides a space for women to tell of their experiences of the sex trade anonymously and in their own words.

I was lost in sex trade when I was young. I never realised why men pour in droves for new 18-year-olds. When I started, I believed it was the only way to earn quick money and that was all I could do for a job. I barely knew computers and job agencies did nothing.

I had internal bruising and bled from the continual pounding.

I thought I was too ugly and stupid for a real job and I would get ahead in the brothels. But as I got older, the nice brothels rejected me until I ended up in a crack house dodging punches and getting paid low. I was threatened by bikies and saw torture yet the police didn’t believe me.

I was rejected by my family and a scapegoat for their abuse as I was now a whore in my hometown. A nurse from mental health would pay me – probably because he knew my STDs were clean in hospital. Or maybe it was some sick patient-nurse fantasy.

I thought I could be high class one day and it broke my heart my face was more unique than a model and my weight always up. I had to work cheap in new country towns as men got tired of the same faces and bodies. Risking my life working alone in a town further and further away to satiate men’s need for a new face and body.

There’s no retraining programme in my area. I’d try to get a normal job but was rejected and so I’d go back and back and back to sex work.

Family rejecting me. Partners abusing me. The worst is being threatened by bikies and seeing torture and authorities don’t believe me. Getting mental illness from the job. Then public trustee takes financial control of my house because of my mental health caused by this cruel job. I’ve met two murderers while working.

It’s not glamorous. It’s the pits for most of us. The models have it easy – or is it a lie to sell their brand? Maybe they are sick of it too?

Share your story

If you’ve been in the sex trade, or have been affected by it in other less direct ways, and would like to share your story anonymously, please see our Share Your Story page.