Nobody's business: the escort industry in Calgary

Abstract

This exploratory research investigates the escort industry in Calgary during the 1980's. Within the context of the legal, historical, social, demographic and economic milieu of the greater society, the world of off-street prostitution is examined from a micro-interactive as well as a macro-structural economic perspective. Two approaches have been suggested for entry to prostitution: personal pathology and rational choice. A supply and demand model is proposed to explain the expansion and contraction of both the cohort of individuals working in the escort business and the demand for their services. The agents of social control, the City of Calgary Licensing Department and the Calgary Police Service, and the federal and municipal legislation which regulate prostitution generally -- and the escort industry particularly -- are examined in light of the ambiguity and inherent tension between the conflicting demands of morality and legality. A cost/benefit and an economic analysis at the provincial level suggest that the state of the oil and gas industry has a profound effect on the increase or decrease in the numbers of licensed escorts through its effect on the employment of both men and women. This ground breaking project provides a base for future research into the marginalized and mysterious world of off-street prostitution -- the escort industry.