Jessica, 22: Science graduate by day, sex worker by night ... while her mum is out

HAVING completed an undergraduate degree, Jessica decided the best way to forge a career in science would be a two-year Masters course at one of Scotland’s most prestigious universities.

Yet after taking out a loan of more than £10,000 to pay for her studies, she found she couldn’t make ends meet.

Even with a job in a supermarket – she could only manage part-time hours because of her classes, tutorials, and essays – she still struggled with repayments, rent, and living expenses.

While her fellow students enjoyed nights out, Jessica was struggling to afford proper food; night after night, dinner was packet noodles and bread.

In the end, it was an indecent proposal shouted by a lecherous stranger in a park that brought her to the grim realisation that selling sex might be the only way to solve her financial troubles.

While she was out for a run, a middleaged man called out: ‘I’ll give you £50 if you...” before ending the sentence with a proposition which Jessica would ordinarily have considered too repellent to even consider.

But as she carried on running – disgusted – the economic realities of her situation hit home: the money he’d just offered was the equivalent of her pay from an eight hour shift in the supermarket.

That night, desperate and tired, she looked on the internet and found dozens of posts from anonymous people offering sexual services in return for money.

The next day, she put up her first post – and began to fund the course she hopes will propel her into a career in science by secretly working as a prostitute.

Astonishingly, Jessica – who is only 22 – offers sexual services from the semidetached suburban home she shares with her mother.

She has never told anyone – her family, her friends, even her boyfriend – about her double life as a sex worker.

But when contacted by the Scottish Mail on Sunday she revealed the bleak arithmetic behind her reluctant decision. Jessica explained: ‘I work secretly from the home I share with my mum. I know this seems strange, and people may think it is very shallow, like it is all about the money, but it isn’t.

‘It’s about me being able to make money whilst I’m studying long hours, and about me being able to earn enough to live off without it interfering with my

I don’t enjoy it. Sometimes I try to block out what is happening

university work. I constantly spend extra hours in the university labs and hours in the evenings meeting assignment deadlines, and I have to find time to pay off £310 of my bank loan each month – which I took out to pay my course fees – on top of £130 in rent to my mum, plus food and petrol.

‘I have done the slaving away in a supermarket and bar, where I had no social life or extra money just to go for a coffee with friends, and I have known what it’s like to struggle each month just to buy basic food.

‘I am not willing to do that again, and I’m not going to ask my mum for money. I would never do that – so this is what I have chosen to do instead. And now, I make more than triple the money I was making in retail, in far less time.’

Jessica, who has natural blonde hair, green eyes and a slender, athletic build, posts adverts online and arranges to meet men when her mum is working late.

She then discusses details with her ‘clients’ via email, where she tells them her address, her price, what time they can arrive – and sets out her terms and conditions. She is prepared to satisfy most of her customers’ sexual demands – but makes it clear, right from the first contact, that she is not prepared to have full sex.

She said: ‘I organise when men can come over via email, and set out all of my terms before telling them where I live.

‘I charge a £30 base charge for an hour, and if men want ‘extras’ they pay £10 for each additional service. I see men around three times a week – they come around when my mum is out working late. I can’t do it seven days a week, because she has days off when she’ll be home. And I wouldn’t want to do that anyway, it would be far too much for me.

‘This isn’t something I enjoy, it can be really unpleasant, actually. Sometimes I think during it that I wish I wasn’t there, with that particular man, and try and block out what’s happening.

‘But it is the choice I have made to put myself through university and get a good degree. I am a strong person, and it is purely business. And when I graduate and am in a stable job, of course I won’t be doing this and it will all be behind me. This is temporary, to set me up for a good future.’

So far, luckily, men have respected her boundaries – but Jessica is fully aware of the dangers involved in the work she does, and the vulnerable positions she puts herself in.

But despite this, she is adamant that nobody ever finds out about her work – even if it would grant her more protection.

She said: ‘It has to be completely secret – I will never tell anyone what I do, it would ruin my future.

‘It’s mainly married men and men with families or girlfriends I see, and I don’t think it is in their best interest to cause me harm. This is a quick release for them, and a thrill.

‘I know it sounds dangerous, but I have never been threatened or hurt yet. The most uncomfortable thing is when men like to cuddle or talk afterwards, and I don’t want that. I just want to do it and then for them to leave.

‘Right now, as it’s the holidays, I am working in a store to make extra money as I don’t have university work to do, so I can work regular hours in a regular job. So for a few weeks, I won’t be putting up adverts or anything, I’ll just be working in retail, until I’m back doing my university hours again.

‘I’d obviously rather be working like this in a normal job, but there isn’t enough time during the semester, and I need to pay off my degree loan. I just have to hope it will all be worth it in the end.’ * All names have been changed.