[News X] Golden Escorts: Her name was Yola

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A view over East Los Santos

 

Golden Escorts: Her name was Yola

The overdoses of two escorts working with the agency 'Golden Escorts' highlights the facelessness of those in the sex work industry as the sex work legalization bill finds itself back on the Senate floor

By PHOEBE HOLTER

 

LOS SANTOS - “She overdosed on my sofa”, an anonymous source explained as they described the passing of one of their customers following a heroin overdose. “My 15 year old worker was there, he was the one that sold her it.”

 

She, in this case, was Yola. A young woman in her mid-twenties and a resident of Strawberry who had, like so many in South Los Santos, fallen into the familiar cycle of drug abuse and prostitution. But to the clients of the online escort agency Golden Escorts, Yola was little more than a number. “1 [Yola] and 2 recently passed away, the middle one is available however”, a representative of the agency wrote to a Facebrowser user they believed was a potential customer. “The rate is $11,500 per hour for the full experience”.

 

“They both OD'ed together, out of our control. We don't own the girls, we work with them to find them clients, and take a 10% cut. That's as far as our interaction with them goes” - Golden Escorts, via Facebrowser

 

 

Number 1 (Yola) left, Number 2 (unidentified), right

 

The impersonal delivery of the statement that almost half of Golden Escort’s roster (5 at the time of initial contact with their believed customer) had died from overdoses in a period of less than a week reflects a cold truth about life in Los Santos. The lives of many of those who find themselves suffering from substance addiction or find themselves in the illegal, unregulated world of sex work are often deemed to be little more than expendable. The anonymous source who claimed to be an associate of Yola summed this up bluntly when asked about the identity of the woman identified only as ‘2’: “I don’t know, could be anyone though, most hookers be overdosing (sic).”

 

“Could be [fentanyl]. I saw my ‘lil nigga give her 3 grams, she was heating it up on a spoon when I walked out and he calls me and says she OD'ed” - Anonymous source an associate of Yola

 

Drug addiction and overdoses are overrepresented in certain portions of society, with those involved in sex work being in those of those groups where problem is most pronounced. But while the impacts may be disproportionate, they are ever-present to those from all walks of life in Los Santos. Easy access across the border from Mexico has made the state a hotspot for drug trafficking and domestic production is also taking off. The evidence for are both visible from the widespread proliferation of cocaine in the glitzy nightclubs of Vinewood to the methamphetamine trade working its way through ‘The Valley’ of East Los Santos. Yola and her colleague only make up a small part of the tapestry of Los Santos’ troubled history with addiction and substance abuse. 

 

Shared screenshot of a conversation with Golden Escorts, Facebrowser

 

“Mostly methamphetamine, they got labs all over the valley” - LSSD OSS Sergeant Jonathan Medina, speaking about the proliferation of methamphetamines in East Los Santos

 

Effort is being made on this front, with local health providers such as Hope Health Group offering rehabilitation services to those suffering from addiction. Preventative efforts are also made by local law enforcement agencies such as the LSSD working in conjunction with federal agencies such as the DEA in specific anti-drug task forces, such as the SSA-DTF (Southern San Andreas Drug Task Force). The SSA-DTF’s purpose, according to Sgt. Medina of the LSSD is “to curb the manufacturing, sale, trafficking, and residual violence related to narcotics in the state” by “identifying, targeting, and distributing Drug-Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) through the means of identifying subjects, residences, and places of businesses that are used as front locations for southern San Andreas DTOs”. 

 

The sex industry however manages to consistently fly under the radar of enforcement despite operating almost in plain sight. The paper-thin ambiguity many state escorting agencies operate under seems to provide enough window-dressing to avoid legal attention, yet escort advertisements and online prostitution through agencies such as Golden Escorts are so common-place that they make the websites of local news networks on a regular basis. The absence of meaningful regulation often means that escort agencies operate as little more than fronts for organized crime and enterprising gangs, with the women working for them often trafficked and trapped in cycles of addiction and abuse. 

 

The LSSD operates several specialized task forces

 

Preventative measures by local law enforcement seem to be centred around tackling human trafficking on a broader scale. Task forces such as the LSSD’s LS-RHTTF (LS Regional Human Trafficking Task Force) which operates with the goal of “through direct and indirect proliferation of intelligence and actionable reports, effectively combat[ing] any and all forms of human trafficking”, according to  Sgt. Medina of the LSSD OSS. “This will most often be done through controlling and interacting with venues, establishments and congregations of peoples that are most commonly associated with human trafficking; be it labor or sex trafficking.“

 

 

“Increasing early identification of victims of all forms of human trafficking within Los Santos County, to strengthen investigation and prosecution of labor and sex trafficking cases in Los Santos County, and to address the individualized needs of trafficking victims through provision of comprehensive services.” - LSSD OSS Sgt. Medina on the goals of the LS-RHTTF 

 

State Senators in the Senate chamber

 

Those who believe in the legalization/regulation approach to addressing the issues raised by sex work argue a different route to solving this issue than stricter enforcement and last week’s reintroduction of the State Legalization of Sex Work Bill of 2021 by Senator Reyes (D) provides fresh hope for their cause. Despite a narrow defeat in the Senate earlier in the session the last time the bill was proposed, activists presumably are hoping with the Republican Senate roster having changed (with a new female Republican State Senator in Millicent Monroe and the imminent replacement for the newly appointed Secretary of State Noah Wade soon to be announced), the bill may have a different fate this time around if a swing vote can be found. 

 

But for Yola and for the forgotten others who shared her story, it’s a case of: too little, too late. The sex industry is alive and well in Los Santos, even if those who are themselves who find themselves entangled in it are left treated as little more than numbers. Be that via an online catalogue like that of Golden Escorts or in government statistics.

 

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[GambloTwitch]

Username: blamethem

Comment: Nobody forced them. They wanted easy money? That’s the price to pay!

[Zani]

Username: Ayzee

Comment: I like the article, Miss Holter. We shall see what the future holds. Kudos to our law enforcement agencies for their efforts in combating human trafficking.