Financially, Paramour has faced extreme obstacles so far. Most of us don’t have savings to fall back on. We launched ourselves into this full-force with no resources. So far, we are extremely grateful to have received over 10,000 euros in donations from the sex worker, client, and ally communities. However, our orga team is still working without being paid.

Sex work business propose multiple financial obstacles:

• Many banks won’t open accounts for sex work businesses

• Due to continuous political rhetoric about criminalization (including the Nordic Model), sex work businesses are generally not considered good investments

• Most of our members were not economically stable when we began this process, which has required a lot of time that we have not been able to spend earning money

• We specifically reject the standard model for agencies, in which the worker must pay 30-50% of their earnings to the company, as well as a huge fee for their initial photo shoot. We charge a booking fee to the client and no initial fee to the worker. It is important to us that there is no financial barrier to entry to Paramour and it’s safer working conditions.

• Most grants for socially beneficial projects only apply to nonprofit businesses

• Companies such as Google and Meta overtly forbid content relating to sex work, even when completely legal. We face very restricted advertising opportunities and shadow-banning, and we must self-censor our online speech

• Our founders are all women and gender-diverse people who face systemic discrimination in the context of business

• We are doing something no one has every done before. There is no roadmap