Escort agency

An escort agency is a company that provides escorts for clients, usually for sexual services. The agency typically arranges a meeting between one of its escorts and the client at the customer's house or hotel room (outcall), or at the escort's residence (incall). Some agencies also provide escorts for longer durations, who may stay with the client or travel along on a holiday or business trip.[1] While the escort agency is paid a fee for this booking and dispatch service, the customer must negotiate any additional fees or arrangements directly with the escort for any other services that are not provided by the agency involved, such as providing sexual services (regardless of the legality of these services).

Business model

Escort agencies claim that they are dispatching these individuals to provide a social or conversational service rather than a sexual service, since prostitution laws often forbid taking payment for sex or communicating for the purpose of arranging a contract for sexual services. Advertisements for escort agencies often carefully skirt the legal line, and avoid specifically offering prostitution or sexual services. This fact in turn is well known to police and the political powers, who, where prostitution is illegal, usually prefer to act against more visible and problematic street prostitution. This has been criticized as hypocrisy, especially where governments license and tax the escort agencies.[2] However, there almost certainly do exist agencies that do go by these laws and do not facilitate prostitution. Some countries have used a two-pronged approach of criminalizing street prostitution but permitting or licensing prostitution in brothels or via escort agencies.[3]

Legal considerations

The arm's-length relationship between the escort and the escort agency is designed to protect the escort agency (to some degree) from prosecution for breaking laws against prostitution. If the employee is solely responsible for arranging any illegal prostitution-oriented activities, the agency can maintain plausible deniability should an arrest be made.

Escort services aim to provide an experience that allows the operators to claim that whatever happens between the escort and the client is consensual. Operators tend to avoid discussing specifics over the telephone or via emails to avoid complications with the law.

Financial considerations

The amount of money that is made by an escort varies with many factors, such as sexual attractiveness, competition from legal and illegal sources, and the commissions to be paid to the agency. Typically, an agency will charge their escorts either a flat fee for each client connection or a percentage of the pre-arranged rate. According to police in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the high fees charged by escort agencies may make escorting less lucrative than street prostitution, especially as agencies often also deduct the license fees directly from the earnings.[8]

Independent escorts may have differing fees depending on the season or whether the client is a regular or semi-regular customer. Independent escorts may tend to see clients for extended meetings involving dinner or social activities whereas agency escorts tend to be split into two categories: Cheaper services, especially if mainly based on incall appointments (client visiting the escort at her accommodation), often only provide sexual services, while agencies that provide mainly outcall appointments (the escort visiting the client at either their home or hotel) tend to offer services similar to that of independent escorts.

In New York City, escort services charge anywhere from $200 to $1,500 or more per hour. The industry standard for dividing the money is 50% to the escort, 40% to the agency, and 10% to the booker (a kind of sales representative). Given the level of business can vary week to week, it is not uncommon for escorts to be featured by more than one agency provided they are operated by the same ownership group.

Statistics

A 2005 government survey in New Zealand (where prostitution was regulated and for the most part legalized in 2003) estimated that of the 6,000 prostitutes surveyed, around 20% worked for escort agencies.[9]

See also

• Call girl
• Girlfriend experience
• Girlfriend: can be asked as companions to events
• Geisha: can be called upon for occasions in other districts
• Prostitution by region
• Prostitution law
• Rental family service: allows hiring boy/girlfriends for events (platonic relationship)
• Sugar baby