Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Recession hard on sex workers

Bay of Plenty Times
6 Jun, 2012 09:07 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The oldest profession in the world has hit tough times in Tauranga, it has been claimed.

Sex workers have started looking for secondary or replacement jobs because they are earning less in the recession, said community liaison officer for the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective in Tauranga, Gina Davies.



She
told the Bay of Plenty Times, sex workers had been looking elsewhere in the past six months.

"Times are really hard for sex workers as well. And they are doing extra work on top of prostitution."

Ms Davies said 40 to 60 hours a week was the norm for some sex workers, with commercial cleaning an example of a second job they picked up.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

One worker with 15 years in the industry said gone were the days where a prostitute could earn "thousands of dollars".

"They'd be lucky if they get $50 to $25 a night," she said.

The woman, who works in a local parlour and spoke on condition of anonymity, said fewer men were spending and if they did, they chose to go to women who were working from home because they were cheaper.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Prostitutes were turning to "real jobs" because the money was better, she claimed. "Whereas previously you might get four or five jobs a night, you're lucky to get one job over three nights."

Tina, who works privately, said things had definitely dropped off.

"All of a sudden, since about Christmas time. I feel it's slowed right down," she said.

But the owner of Corporate Angels in Tauranga and Rotorua, Allan Coombes, said there was no shortage in male clients and no shortage in women looking for work.

His business was "busier than ever".

Mr Coombes, who has worked in the sex industry for 18 years, said women who entered the industry thinking they would be in it short-term, often stayed long-term, because they enjoyed the money, which he said was still good.

Mr Coombes said that for one shift, prostitutes could earn what they made in a week at an "ordinary job".

He has employees who are married, including one woman who has four children, and has been working at Corporate Angels in Tauranga for five years.

The married women do not work every night and do it to maintain a "certain lifestyle," he said.

Mr Coombes said for both female and male sex workers, their main purpose was money.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Tauranga Salvation Army Major Joanne Wardle said times were tough and that meant some people faced desperate situations.

Major Wardle said it was her opinion, most people wouldn't choose to enter prostitution unless their living costs became unaffordable, university fees became too much, or they needed to feed a drug habit.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Truck driver back at work and walking again after surviving fatal crash

07 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

07 Jul 08:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

07 Jul 07:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Truck driver back at work and walking again after surviving fatal crash

Truck driver back at work and walking again after surviving fatal crash

07 Jul 06:00 PM

He had nine surgeries: 'There was nothing left - no bones or anything left in my foot.'

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

07 Jul 08:00 AM
'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

07 Jul 07:00 AM
Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

07 Jul 06:56 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP