When Samantha’s waters broke she wasn’t rushed to hospital by her loved ones, she was having sex with a client as her violent pimp watched over her, refusing to let her leave until she finished the job.

“He [her pimp, who is also her relative] fathered two of my children and even when pregnant he forced me to work. This went on till the end of the pregnancy, because a client pays more for pregnant women,” Samantha, 30, said.

She explained how she was forced to escape from her pimp and only made it to hospital to give birth thanks to the client she had just been with.

But that was far from the end of her ordeal. Just days after giving birth in hospital, Samantha was dragged back to work on the streets, where she remains today.

Her harrowing story is part of a recent research dissertation published through the University of Malta’s Faculty for Social Wellbeing.

Author Maria Claire Cauchi said the research, entitled ‘Behind Closed Doors: The Creation and Experience of the Maltese Prostitute’, was intended to shed light on a local subculture seldom glimpsed by much of society.

The qualitative study, conducted in collaboration with senior lecturer Albert Bell, is based on five in-depth interviews with Maltese prostitutes and will be among the matters discussed at a workshop being organised by Willingness, a social welfare organisation, tomorrow.

Samantha’s journey into the world of prostitution began at the tender age of 13, a few months after being expelled from school for attacking a student with a pair of scissors. She, like most of the other women interviewed for the study, came from a broken home. She was pregnant with her first of six children, born of two fathers, soon after leaving school.

Her mother Jane is also a prostitute and forms part of the research too.

The research shines a spotlight on the ‘family legacy’ prostitutes often find it difficult to escape from.

“There were participants who explained that knowing that their mother was already in prostitution made it easier to follow her trade. Being aquatinted to someone who is already involved in sex work is unquestionably the easiest passageway into prostitution,” Ms Cauchi said.

In the research Samantha also illustrates her difficult relationship with her pimp.

“He used to take me down at eight in the morning and at five he picked me up, took me back home, and gave me just enough time to eat some toast, shower, and then he’d drop me off again,” she said.

Samantha recounted how she worked under close scrutiny of her pimp.

“He always wanted me to leave my mobile on so that he could hear whatever I did or said with the client. And if I stayed longer than he expected, I used to find him waiting for me and when the client would drop me off, he would hit me.”

This was not the only violent experience highlighted in the research. Leanne, 52, recalled an incident where she was approached by two other men while she was already in a car with a client. They were his friends and eventually ended up having sex with her as well.

Apart from refusing to use protection, they were violent and threw her out of the car when they were done. She was left injured on the side of the road in the middle of the night.

Ms Cauchi will discuss her research at length during tomorrow’s event which will delve into prostitution from a myriad of perspectives. Speakers include lawyer Roberta Lepre, who will discuss the legal aspect of prostitution, as well as Joanne Farrugia who will be addressing the health implications of sex work. The event is being held at the Willingness Clinic, Triq Mikiel Ang Sapiano, Żebbuġ.

Profiles of the profession

Leanne, 52, mother of two.

After finishing school Leanne suffered from depression and eventually started abusing drugs which led to her involvement in prostitution as a way to finance her habit.

Leanne has since desisted from sex work after overcoming her drug addiction. She has been reunited with her daughters and is currently working and living independently.

Jane, 49, mother of five and grandmother of 10.

She left school early and found a job as a cleaner but turned to sex work after being introduced by a friend. Jane is Samantha’s mother.

Samantha, 33, mother of six.

She had her first child at the age of 13 and she eventually married her foreign boyfriend with whom she had four children. After he became abusive Samantha left him and started taking drugs.

Her cousin, who had then became her boyfriend, forced her into prostitution. They have two children together.

Elena, 33.

Her father committed suicide when she was still young. She describes her mother as a very exemplary person who dedicated her life to her daughter. Elena’s experience at school was very positive and she has a good level of education. As she grew older she started meeting a group of friends whom she describes as ‘the wrong crowd’. She eventually started abusing drugs and this led to the onset of prostitution.

Ritienne, 36, mother of three.

Her father died when she was six and she was brought up by her mother with whom she does not have a good relationship. She left school when she was 12.

She eventually started working as a maid but had to quit soon after because she got pregnant.

She started using drugs and turned to prostitution to finance her addiction.

‘A crowd of their own’

When asked about their relationship with other prostitutes, the participants said that even though they often clashed with one another over clients and street territory, they still looked out for one another – they were a subculture of their own, a minority.

Ms Cauchi said the women felt they stood out from the rest of society, “they are a crowd of their own”.

In the research Samantha says: “After all we are a group of our own. Different from the others, we cannot be difficult amongst ourselves.”  They had to look out for one another as no one else would, she added.

‘My career’

Ms Cauchi said that throughout the interviews it became clear that prostitution became their “work career”. While some were forced into this line of work, others “turned to prostitution only sporadically when extra income was needed,” she said.

Jane, Samantha’s mother, meanwhile said: “I had got used to it, it’s normal, that was my work. Instead of a secretary I became a prostitute, right!”

Ritienne, who turned to prostitution at the age of 17 to substantiate her drug addiction, shared the sentiment. She insisted that prostitution was her work.

Elena meanwhile, had a more complex view: while prostitution was her job it was also impacting her sexual life. Introduced to prostitution in her teens by a friend as a way to make extra money, she said: “This is not work I enjoy doing, because even when I have sex with my boyfriend, it’s not the same, sex is my work.”