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Wednesday, March 25, 2020

ANALYSIS: Life under lockdown ups precarity for France's prostitutes

Issued on: 25/03/2020 - 11:58Modified: 25/03/2020 - 14:56 GMT/ZULU

Sex workers in France are struggling as the novel coronavirus threatens their livelihoods -- and there is no safety net in sight CHARLY TRIBALLEAU AFP/File

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Paris

by Natalie de Vallieres and Biodun Iginla, France24 News Analysts

With their health in jeopardy and customers evaporating, sex workers in France are struggling as the novel coronavirus threatens their livelihoods -- and there is no safety net in sight.

Many are being forced onto the streets as they lose their incomes, at a time when police are enforcing government orders for people to stay at home.

France has been in lockdown for a week, with only essential trips outside allowed, in a bid to halt the acceleration of the virus' spread.

"I have no choice since I work on the street and I travel to people's homes," said Pamela, a 46-year-old prostitute from the southwestern city of Toulouse who stopped working when the lockdown was announced.

Solicitations have not completely dried up, she said, but she has decided to ignore them: "Pay a fine of 135 euros ($145) for a client at 50 euros, no…"

However, if the lockdown continues, her meagre savings will no longer be enough, she added.

"I will have to take risks. Even if I have two clients a week, it would at least pay for food," she said.

Her name, and those of the other prostitutes quoted have been changed for this story.

"The situation is dramatic," worries Sarah-Marie Maffesoli, a programme coordinator at the human rights organisation Doctors of the World.

"There are almost no more customers. How long will they be able to stop working?" she said.

"Being healthy without being able to eat or feed one's children is complicated."

- Fundraising initiatives -

Prostitution itself is not illegal in France, though a law introduced in 2016 did make it illegal to buy sex, shifting the criminal responsibility to clients who can be fined if caught.

But sex workers, few of whom have a self-employed work status, will not be able to claim the 1,500 euros in aid promised by the French government to independent workers to compensate for a drop in their activity due to the virus outbreak.

To make up for gaps in support, the tight-knit sex worker community has launched several fundraising initiatives online.

On one Instagram page called "tapotepute" ("your whore friend"), more than 10,000 euros was raised.

"We hope to help about 30 sex workers," says Judith, 22, a Paris-based escort who created the page.

For those who continue to work "to ensure their survival", the sex workers' union Strass has published a series of recommendations on its website such as to "avoid contact with saliva" or "any face-to-face sexual position" .

Many associations which have had to suspend their in-person outreach programmes are also worried that sex workers will end up homeless if they can't pay the rent or their accommodation is shut.

"With the lockdown, many hotels have closed and sex workers have found themselves on the street," Antoine Baudry, of the Lyon-based Cabiria association for community health, said.

Migrants who work as prostitutes are in the most precarious situation, particularly those who are undocumented and do not speak French.

"For them, it is not easy to know what they have the right to do and not to do," said June Charlot, a health mediator at Griselidis, a Toulouse association distributing financial aid, prevention kits and travel certificates.

- Webcams -

"The people we had on the phone are completely distraught," she added.

The coronavirus health crisis does not only affect street prostitution, but also escorts.

"My clients are quite wealthy. They are aware of the risks, they no longer ask for me," said Charlie, a 28-year-old Parisian who says she can normally earn 2,000 euros a month "without working much".

"I have a bit of money set aside, but I can't last more than a month," she added.

With movement and social contact heavily restricted under the lockdown, webcam sites could be the solution -- for those who can afford it and are tech savvy.

"I don't trust the internet and online payments, I don't know how to do it," Nathalie, a 48-year-old Toulouse escort, said.

Charlie, whose parents are unaware of her activity, fears being subjected to blackmail or revenge porn, or online harassment if her videos are stolen which is common.

"The platforms lack security and confidentiality. Anyone can take a screenshot and then share it," she said.

Above all, "it requires resources, a good connection and a computer," says Eva Vocz, a "camgirl" from Marseille, who charges 50 euros for 20 minutes.

"It's a job that can be learned, to develop a technique, communicate on social networks to build a fan base. It takes time," she said.

The free access offered by several major pornography platforms during the lockdown has also dried up the customer base.

"They buy a good image, generate clicks and advertising revenue but nothing will be redistributed to us," Eva said.

Saturday, March 14, 2020

ANALYSIS: Italy's health workers on edge of exhaustion in virus fight

Issued on: 14/03/2020 - 18:32Modified: 14/03/2020 - 21:31 GMT/ZULU

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Rome

by Elodie Bagnol and Biodun Iginla, France24 News Analysts

A worn-out nurse slumps over her keyboard in a widely shared image symbolic of the extreme fatigue that Italian healthcare workers are facing as they battle Europe's worse outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The picture is of Elena Pagliarini, a nurse in the northern region of Lombardy which has been worst hit by the disease.

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Nationwide Italy has more than 1,400 deaths from the virus and 21,000 infections, with a quarter of the country's intensive care beds taken up by those with the illness.

In normal times Lombardy is the economic heart of Italy, equipped with one of the world's best health systems.

But those who staff it -- like Pagliarini -- have been put under enormous strain.

"On one hand I was annoyed to see my photo everywhere, I was ashamed of showing my weakness," Pagliarini told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

"But then I was happy because I got beautiful messages from people who empathised with my story," she said.

"I actually don't feel physically tired, I can work for 24 hours straight if it's necessary but I won't hide the fact that right now I'm anxious because I'm fighting an enemy that I don't know," she added.

She's just one of many healthcare workers who have expressed their concern at the toll that the outbreak is taking, on facilities and personnel alike.

"It's almost two weeks since I've seen my son or my family because I'm worried about infecting them," Daniele Macchini, a hospital doctor in the northern city of Bergamo, (also in Lombardy) wrote in a widely-shared Facebook post.

"I settle for some photos of my son which I look at through my tears, and a few video calls," he says.

- 'Psychologically tired' -

Further south in Tuscany, the health system is also starting to feel the pressure.

A nurse in the Tuscan town of Grossetto, Alessia Bonari, posted an image on Instagram of her face bearing marks from a long day of wearing a surgical mask.

"I'm worried because the mask might not be fitting right on my face, I might touch myself accidentally with dirty gloves, the glasses might not totally cover my eyes," she wrote in the caption.

She said that the protective gear staff had to wear meant that she couldn't drink or go to the toilet for six hours at a time.

To add to the physical fatigue she said she and all her colleagues had been "psychologically tired" for weeks from the workload.

The San Giovanni Bosco hospital in the northern city of Turin this week put a mental health team in place to help its staff counter the stress of the current situation, above all for those working in emergency departments and in intensive care.

"All those who need it can come forward, we're there for everyone," Monica Agnesone, one of the 20 psychologists in the team, told the La Stampa newspaper.

She explained that other doctors and hospital staff were suffering from the "fear of making mistakes, of being infected, of not being able to carry on in these conditions".

On Thursday Italian media reported that in the northern town of Bergamo alone around 50 doctors had tested positive for the virus.

Further south in a hospital in the Puglia region,local media reported that 76 employees had to go into quarantine after being in contact with patients who tested positive for the virus.

Six of them had to be admitted to hospital, with one needing intensive care.

Agnesone's strategies for coping with the stress will no doubt be increasingly called on in the weeks to come.

She recommends "carving out moments where you can detach, re-centre yourself, lowering the level of tension by using breathing exercises and focusing on other things."

Otherwise, she warns, "stress ends up wearing out your energy".