Women from Africa face racism, violent attacks and bitter cold winter temperatures to work as prostitutes on the streets of Helsinki. So what motivates them to come to Finland, and how do they conduct business without falling foul of the law? One sex worker tells her story. After approaching a woman standing in a central Helsinki street, a man headed to an ATM with her on a weekend night in December.
Kuva: Joonas Brandt. As you settle down for a Saturday evening in front of the television with your family, Pamela prepares herself for another night selling sex to strangers. A slick of plum-coloured lipstick, and powder blue eye shadow on her dark brown skin, black hair falling around her shoulders.
Pamela knows she has to look respectable if she wants to earn money. As you enjoy a night on the town with friends, going from restaurant to bar, Pamela settled herself into a doorway opposite the name-brand store, around the corner from the luxury hotel. This is the stretch of street she'll work this evening. If she's very lucky someone will pay her for the whole night. Pamela is one of the hidden foreigners of Helsinki.
Out of sight and out of mind. You probably don't notice her at first, but she sees you. She sees the men who pause a fraction too long on her street, or pass in one direction, then walk back again a few minutes later. Would you like to go somewhere? The Thai women have their massage parlours. The Finns, Russians and other East Europeans are online. But the few African girls in the Finnish capital stick to an old fashioned business model, walking the streets, and propositioning men: sex for cash.
Under Finnish law, you can be considered a pimp if you knowingly take part at any stage of prostitution, and profit from it. You could be buying phone credits for a friend or letting them use your bank account; renting an apartment for one or more girls to live in; placing an advert in the newspaper, or taking any cut of her earnings.
