By positioning sex work as a consensual adult financial exchange, the client in sex work discourse is regarded as a legitimate customer paying for a service like any other. From the early 1980s sex work advocates argued that once the client abides by the terms of the exchange and pays the appropriate price, he is fulfilling his side of a regular commercial transaction in which both people exercise agency and negotiate power. The buyer exercises his paying power in gaining access to the bodies of women and the woman has power in her ability “to set the terms of her sexuality, and to demand substantial payment for her time and skills” (Alexander 1987: 188); “women – and whores – do not exist to be sexually used by men, but any sexual interaction, including a paid one, benefits from negotiation” (Queen 1997: 129). The claim that the clients’ objectification of the sex worker is problematic is disputed, as this is considered a normal part of any sexual interaction; sex work involves “consensual objectification” (Hartley 1997: 64). The commercial sexual contract is regarded as an equal transaction where money is given in exchange for an agreed set of sexual acts. This discourse continues to the present day. Sanders (2008) contends that the “social role of commercial sex” should be recognized and safe legal avenues provided to ensure that the relationships between sex workers and their clients “can be established with minimal harm and destruction” (414). Thus, it is argued that commercial sex “can enhance the quality of life of men who buy sex” and sex workers can engage with “safe customers who will not breach the contract through sexual misconduct, financial exploitation (e.g. not paying), abusive language, or aggressive behaviour” (ibid.: 414). Recognizing sex work as a legal occupation will encourage and enable the buyer to become “an accountable active participant who has responsibilities to himself, the sex worker, other sexual partners and a wider responsibility to respect women in all areas of society” (ibid.: 414)

THE CLIENTS’ DEMAND FOR INTIMACY

Whereas on the one hand, a business and consumer discourse are replete in sex work literature, there is also an emerging emphasis on the clients’ demand for intimacy within the indoor setting.