A candid interview about a prostitute's view on her path and of the overwhelming phenomenon of sex-trafficking in Canada.
GN: So you entered the sex trade at a very young age – you were 14 years old - what made you go down that path?
Mistress Envy: Um this girl I know she was dating this guy that was kind of like the ‘ring leader’ like he had these guys come into his apartment and there’d be some girls sitting around partying, doing coke and stuff, and there was this girl. So she showed me around to see how things operated – these girls they all had money and whatever they wanted – like shopping, weed, whatever. And I’m looking at it going hmmm, I can do the same thing too – I don’t need to depend on my family and get little handles here and there, that’s not cutting it , like my bed alone was 1200 – when I was a kid I couldn’t ask for 1200, my family would be like ‘what the fuck’? It’s easy money you know, like I don’t have to work 9-5, whatever.
GN: What do you mean by “I can do the same thing too.”
Mistress Envy: Give sex for money.
GN: Were you upset with your family for any reason – was that what lead you to do this?
Mistress Envy: I was upset for them not giving me what I needed basically. Like, I lived with my aunt and she had three other boys so she had to split her money between all of us so…I didn’t have EVERYTHING that I wanted, I had what I needed.
GN: So where were your real parents?
Mistress Envy: My mom married some guy and they moved to Detroit and my dad, I only met twice. He lives somewhere in Ontario.
GN: So your mom and her new husband didn’t want to have anything to do with you?
Mistress Envy: Yes, that’s right.
GN: So what was it like dealing with your first client?
Mistress Envy: It was kind of like a rush, like something new, like I’m the star of the moment, and this guy chose me – there’s all these other pretty girls there and he chose me. It felt like “I win”.
GN: Did you need to do drugs to give you the audacity to have sex with a complete stranger?
Mistress Envy: No I never got into drugs. Just a little here and there. But you shouldn’t get into dope in this business cuz all your money goes to getting more. My addiction is shoes.
GN: And I can tell by your authentic chanel bag! So this guy picked you in a room? Was it some sort of party?
Mistress Envy: It was a prostitution ring – it was all underground. All of us girls were like 13 or 14.
GN: Are there a lot of such underground prostitution rings around?
Mistres Envy: I know of this one place but yes, I’ve heard of a lot others around. People were saying like ‘oh be careful’ and in the back of my head I’m like be careful of what? If anything happens here, everyone’s gonna take care of me. If a fight breaks out, everyone is gonna take care of me. If there’d be any trouble there’s 10 girls that I know that will take care of me completely.
GN: So they became your new family – seeing as your real parents abandoned you.
Mistress Envy: Yes –they become like your own team.
GN: Generally, what kind of men make up your clientel?
Mistress Envy: Back then it was old dirty Arabs and all their friends. But when I got older I did a massage parlor. So then it was drunk people downtown like kids and stuff and then I went independent – it was more businessmen. I advertised in the states so it was American men – the exchange rate was better.
GN: Is that what you are doing here in Montreal?
Mistress Envy: I advertised here but I haven’t had any calls yet – I danced though. But I want to get back to the businessmen cuz if your dancing 11 hours a day at Wanda’s, I make a hundred dollars each day.
GN: Have you ever been mistreated?
Mistress Envy: One time I was robbed. I saw this guy through an agency I was with. They sent me 10 guys and I would have made 2500. So I’m like no problem, one at a time. And so they knock at the door, I open the door and they point a gun at me. They tell me to give them my money. And I still had to pay the escort agency I was with the fees that they had to pay cuz they didn’t believe me. So I got fired for being robbed. They don’t give a shit about you in this industry.
GN: So there is no protection for you against this kind of abuse?
GN: No. If you have a pimp, they’re supposed to take care of you but no one cares about you more than you. Like, they are not gonna go in the room if some guy is beating you. They’re just sitting in the car.
Mistress Envy: No one wants problems, the pimp is not gonna get out of the car and beat the guy. So it’s up to us to have our own protection. That’s why I don’t think that pepper spray is illegal cuz we should be able to use that for our own protection. What am I supposed to do? Your not supposed to have a knife, you’re not supposed to have pepper spray, what am I supposed to do? Most men can over-power me.
GN: I hear a lot of stories about the drugs, the wealthy businessmen and the escorts…tell me a bit about that.
Mistress Envy: A lot of rich businessmen do coke but I never touch that stuff – I mean I’ll do a line if I’m in a club or something but I have t control myself because I love it. If I let myself, I would be on it all the time.
But a lot of these businessmen are married – but they have the money and the power. Especially the doctors and pharmacists – they’re the worst cuz they have access to drugs.
GN: So there are these old school feminists that say that sex trade workers are degraded and exploited.They say that women do it out of desperation and not of their own free will. Others say it’s empowering – what are your thoughts on this?
Mistress Envy: Well firstly, I can’t say that we are all mistreated – everyone has their own story. Personally I don’t do drugs so it’s not about scrounging the money for the next hit. The girls who do drugs, they are the ones who get mistreated – they will accept little money and do whatever for the drugs. No one is making me do this so it’s my own free will.
GN: Do you feel a certain amount of power attached to it, do you feel power over some men?
Mistress Envy: Yes, cuz they want me and I have what they want. Some are really dumb, they’ll do anything I say especially if they are hooked on drugs- I honestly like the coke-heads best, they are better clients, they just keep throwing money around.
GN: What are the things that you love about the business?
Mistress Envy: Freedom, I can do what I want when I want. It’s not like a desk job where you have to do things over and over again – it would drive me crazy to do that.
GN: Do you think that you could do this for a long time?
Mistress Envy: No, not forever. I don’t think mentally I could do it cuz it takes a lot out of you. And the stress – some days you could make a lot of money and the next your broke. Cuz you couldn’t care about your bills or you had a shopping spree. It’s stressful but always a thrill. Especially when the guy comes and he has a Maserati and 5 grand in his pocket and he’s all coked up and doesn’t care about anything – that’s fun, you know? But it’s not always like that.
I give myself two years and then I’ll go back to school. At least I’ll have money in the bank and be stable and not have to worry about loans. I would have to finish high school since I dropped out.
From the age of 16 – 20, I dated a drug dealer so I didn’t have to do a thing. Lived in a beautiful house and everything was perfect so I didn’t think I needed school anymore cuz I had the world. Reality hit when I left him because of drugs – heroin and coke. SO I was like hmmm, what to do now? Escort!
GN: Does your family know that you do this?
Mistress Envy: My Grandma knows. I’m close to her since my mom and dad were never in my life…I had a mental breakdown and I felt like I had to tell her…I would ask her to hold like 10 grand and she would ask where the money came from. Her reaction was “at least she’s not hooked on drugs – at least she’s doing something.” My mom thinks I own an escort agency.
GN: So your mom accepted it?
Mistress Envy: She just gave me this sour look.
GN: What does your mom do?
Mistress Envy: Her and her husband own a heating company in the states. It’s bullshit work.
GN: They probably make some money though – Does she help you out?
Mistress Envy: My mom’s cheap. She doesn’t help me or my sister.
GN: Ok so I’m wondering, how do you see the average girl next door whose looking for love and marriage and eternal commitment and happiness? Do you that they have a naïve view of men?
Mistress Envy: Yeah, cuz this job, it basically made me hate men. Cuz a guy could be in the car with his wife and a car full of kids and he’ll still look at me like he wants to have sex with me, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. And these girls want to be with that? These family men cheat and treat them like shit and have lots of mistresses – like – what is that?
GN: What kind of man are we talking about here – lower middle class? Middle class? Wealthy?
Mistress Envy: All men. All. From 17 to 100, they are all dirty men. I don’t care what they preach.
GN: So you think most men cheat?
Mistress Envy: Yeah – cuz you know, everybody wants something a bit different or extra and if your not open in the bedroom, they will go looking somewhere else. And there’s so many ways to find it now, like the internet and sex clubs – they will find it. And some girls just have sex with strangers for fun and not even ask money – so they will find it. The girls who want the perfect life, they are the ones who are conservative in bed and don’t think outside the box (in bed). They are the ones who should be worried . I don’t want to be like that “oh my husband is cheating on me!”
GN: I was wondering if you knew about any immigrant sex trade workers who perhaps don’t speak French or English
Mistress Envy: I don’t know any personally but I do know what’s going on – there are ads on craigslist that offer 10 girls at once and alot don’t speak English. I’m like “You poor thing! Your just literally being raped” If they can’t speak the language they can’t sat “Stop” or “Help”. I feel so bad for them because they really are being exploited. You can actually buy an Asian girl for 10 000 dollars – what you do with
her is whatever you want, it’s crazy. People buy like 10 of them and put them in a room and the guys just go and f*ck them all day. And at dirt cheap prices. That’s why I left Toronto – there’s like a billion Asian girls at like 50 an hour (I’m 250 an hour) – I can’t compete with that. So I figured there’d be less Asian girls in Montreal – yeah right! Was I wrong. Sometimes I want to help these girls and call the police but I don’t want the Chinese mob or the Hell’s angels on my back.
GN: So they don’t do it for the same reasons?
No, they are illegals. I heard that once they get bought, they can buy themselves out for the same price (10 grand) but with interest. So make them work for years and years – wow, what a life. It’s kind f like memoirs of a geisha.
GN: So a pimp literally owns these girls?
Mistress Envy: Yes. And you have to buy your freedom. Yeah and there are some guys that won’t even give them that option. And they are made to do WHATEVER under the sun – it’s very unsafe. If you look on craigslist you’ll see a ton of listings for Asians. 99% of them don’t speak English or French. And it’s not a question of Asian preference – when they see how dirt cheap the price is, they just go. Why pay 200$ for a white girl when you can get an Asian for 50$ – and two of them for 50$! These girls are not helped when they are being abused. It’s really sad.
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