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.
