SEX for sale aside, all is not what it seems in one of the city's brothels.
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Gypsy turned to prostitution about 10 years ago out of desperation. She fled a broken and abusive household with her two children and no means to support them.
Married women, university students and teenagers alike, they all to turn to the business for one reason: money.
"I fled 18 years of domestic violence."
- Gypsy
"I fled 18 years of domestic violence," Gypsy said, the owner of Riedell Gypsy's.
"I never wanted my kids to know or my family or friends.
"They don't ever need to know what I do or what choices I make to earn a living."
Take the road to the end of Riedell Street and there sits the modest brick building out of place in the industrial heartland that surrounds it.
The brick building is a Mecca for the growing number of lonely hearts in Wagga.
"While you've got men, there will always be a demand for working girls," Gypsy said.
"But it's when our job becomes so fulfilling when you see someone who has been so starved of affection."
Gypsy's story of how she entered the sex industry is not uncommon - it largely reflects the fractured backgrounds of most who work at the brothel.
In a week, Gypsy said her employees have the potential to earn up to $3000 if they work long hours.
Paid on commission, and depending on their client base, they can have sex sometimes up to 10 times a day.
The brothel charges their clients $150 per half-hour and $250 for the full hour.
"The sex probably only lasts about five to 10 minutes. It's not an hour's worth of sex," Gypsy said.
"It's so much more than a sexual service."
The people Gypsy speaks of being "starved of affection" are the clients who are disabled, the elderly, isolated farmers and even married men.
"It's an escapism. They love their wife and their family and just because sex is the only thing that doesn't happen, they will still go home to the woman they love," she said.
Jade, 38, earns about $2000 in one week, but said the money is only one aspect of the job.
"I'm not ashamed of what I do," she said.
"It's not just about the money any more. I have carers who will bring disabled clients - a lot of people don't understand that everyone has a sexual need.
"It just makes me so happy to see the smile on their faces.
"This is the oldest industry in the world."
