Skip navigation! Story from Politics. This story was originally published on May 18, Working mothers are employed in every field and industry, and in Denmark, that includes sex work. Bonnie, a single mother of three, has been working in Denmark's legal sex trade since she was 18 years old. Four days a week, Bonnie sees clients from 9 a.
In her small town in Sealand, Denmark, everybody knows who she is β and what she does. Photojournalist Marie Hald documented Bonnie, then 39, for two years, taking photos as she saw clients or spent time with her children. For Hald, it was a mission to portray the whole story of making a living in the sex industry, and not just part.
Hald became interested in telling the story of a sex worker after an experience that hit close to home: She was living in a trendy neighborhood in Copenhagen when she discovered that her downstairs neighbor was running a small brothel out of her apartment. Her neighbor didn't exactly fit the stereotype. She found Bonnie through the industry network, and Bonnie agreed to let her document her life. In , the Nordic nation considered reinstating a ban on the purchase of sex, though lawmakers eventually voted it down.
According to a U. Department of State report , there were an estimated 5, legal sex workers in Denmark. Over the years, Hald slowly moved from the role of photographer to friend.
Sometimes, she would help Bonnie clean the apartment between clients, getting ready for the next visitor. Click through to see the powerful images of everyday life as a legal sex worker. In the sit-down, which will air in full on Satu. In August, year-old Thomas Griffiths pleaded guilty to murdering his year-old ex-girlfriend, Ellie Gould, in her Wiltshire home in southwest England.
