There is a good piece on sexwork by Melissa Farley the American Psychology Association member, (sorry former APA member- she got kicked out following a complaint) that explains why women go into sexwork.
I became a prostitute because . . .
- I saw Pretty Baby and it reminded me of my stepfather and I thought I could get paid for it.
- I saw Pretty Woman and I liked the clothes.
- I saw a Demi Moore movie and I thought, Wow, what an easy and fun way to make a million dollars.
- I like getting fucked by the football team, the fraternity brothers, and law students at graduation parties. I realized that gang rape could be a transcendental experience.
- I figured that laying on my back and getting fucked by hundreds of men, and getting on my knees and sucking thousands of dicks, was the most profound empowerment a woman could have.
- My vocational counselor and I discussed a whole lot of possibilities: doctor, lawyer, women's-studies teacher, legal secretary. I was offered a four-year scholarship at Stanford, but frankly, prostitution seemed the most rewarding job option available.
- I worship the goddess and she told me, "Fuck mankind." I misunderstood her spiritual message and found myself in lifetime sexual servitude instead.
- I came to appreciate the depth of Hugh Hefner's, Larry Flynt's, and Bob Guccione's understanding of my sexuality.
- My boyfriend wanted me to do it. He said that being part of a stable of whores who worked for him could help me learn how to get along with other women.
10. My father wanted me to do it.
11. I met a nice man on alt.sex.prostitution.
12. Camille Paglia told me it was the feminist thing to do.
13. I felt coerced by my landlord, the day-care center, the utility companies, the grocer, my dealer and my plastic surgeons to pay my bills every month.
14. I didn't want to work at Red Lobster.
15. I wanted to be treated like a lady.
16. I went to COYOTE's Halloween extravaganza, the Hookers' Ball, and found out just how glamorous prostitution could be.
17. It's complicated, but I thought that working in the sex industry would increase my self-esteem. It's sort of like saying to the world, "I am the best Grade A ground beef" and being the cow.
18. And then, ya know, even though it all sounded really good, and selling fucks and blow jobs sounded really empowering, I realized that talking about it and writing books defending it would be even more empowering.