I’m a manager of a legal brothel — I’m not a pimp, I empower women

Brothel manager Catherine De Noire shares all (Picture: Supplied/Metro)

As Catherine De Noire perches on a plush brown leather sofa in her cream dress, she looks like she belongs in a board room, not a brothel.

Yet that’s where she’s worked for the past nine years, as manager of a classy European brothel, featuring swanky bars, a tasteful reception area, and 100 rooms rented out by female sex workers.

Catherine began working there at just 22 years old, after coming across a news article about the previous manager.

‘I didn’t know this business could be done ethically, but he spoke about how they treat the sex workers and how they don’t take any percentages of their earnings,’ Catherine, 31, tells Metro.

‘All the women have the freedom to choose what they’ll do, with who, and for how much.’

Catherine’s job is to make sure men are sober enough to enter and that the sex workers are emotionally supported (Picture: Catherine De Noire)

She also noted that managers are required to have a psychology degree, in order to provide emotional support for the sex workers. As luck would have it, Catherine had just graduated with one.

So, she contacted the brothel herself and, after an interview, was offered a job.

Now, she’s worked there for almost a decade. Her family know about her job, although they have very different careers themselves. Catherine’s father is a nuclear physicist, while her mum is a language teacher.

‘My father has always supported my life choices,’ she says. ‘When I explained to him what I wanted to do in the brothel, and that it’s not a shady place, and that I can combine both practical insights and my research career, he was actually pretty cool about it.

‘For my mum, it was a bit shocking, since she kind of hoped I’d follow a more ‘normal’ life path. But she got used to it as well.’ 

Currently single, while Catherine’s never engaged in sex work herself, she does have an OnlyFans account, where she shares funny, shocking – and sometimes spicy – stories from her time in the industry.

How can a brothel ever truly be safe for women?

The brothel, which can’t be named for safety reasons, is open 19 hours a day, seven days a week, even on Christmas. The way it works is simple: sex workers pay £173 for a room for a day, and this is the only money the brothel makes from them. Then, the women charge whatever price they please for whatever services they choose.

‘It doesn’t matter if she makes €2000 a day, or if she makes €500 a day, the room is still the same,’ Catherine says.

The women are told to set their own boundaries regarding sex acts they want to partake in, and they can refuse a client for whatever reason.

If they feel unsafe or uncomfortable at any point, each room has an alarm they can sound, and security guards are given monthly drills to ensure they can reach any room within eight seconds.

Women decide how much they charge in the brothel and which services they offer (Picture: Getty Images)

But Catherine says not all women do well with this autonomy in the sex industry, despite it giving them complete control over their own body.

‘It’s a good system, because all sex workers should decide about their bodies and about their services,’ Catherine explains. ‘But not every woman can handle this.

‘A lot of the girls come to us and say “you need to tell me what to do”, because they’re coming from the clubs where management say “there’s a client, you need to go and do this with him for this amount of money”.

‘With us, she needs to speak with the customer, she needs to set the boundaries, she needs to do all the talking, because management will never tell her what to do, or bring her any customers.’

To advertise their services, the sex workers simply stand in front of their rented room while men, who’ve paid a €20 entry fee, approach them if they desire.

There’s no vetting process for the men who enter the brothel, although they’re spoken to by reception staff to ensure they’re sober enough to enter. A blacklist also exists for men who behave inappropriately.

‘It’s filled with men who have tried to pick fights with other customers,’ Catherine says. ‘A lot of people think they can do anything in a brothel which isn’t true. So far though, nothing has happened to our sex workers.

Sex work is a legitimate form of work in Catherine’s eyes (Picture: Getty Images)

‘I think if you want to harm a sex worker you don’t come to a club like this because there’s security and we will call the police. There’s always someone in that hallway.’

Catherine explains that the brothel is frequented by up to 600 men per night on Fridays and Saturdays. And, sex workers clearly want to work here, evident by the fact they’ve rented out every room on these days for the next three months.

British men are among the brothel’s biggest clients

‘We have guys coming in that are virgins and lose their virginity,’ Catherine explains. ‘We have widows, guys that are separated from their wives, married men, rich men, and men who have saved for their visit.’

While the client pool is diverse, Catherine says British men are easily identifiable and big customers, with 9% of UK men admitting to having paid for sex.

‘They come here for their stag parties and they aren’t very popular because they get so drunk,’ she explains. ‘They often wear penis costumes or dress as women, and find it hilarious.

‘After many years, I don’t find it so funny anymore. They’re wild and like to drink and party.’

Catherine loves her job but isn’t the biggest fan of the British men that visit (Picture: Catherine De Noire)

If they’re sober enough to enter the brothel, the manager says their British bravado doesn’t continue when they’re alone with the sex workers.

‘In the rooms, they’re pretty calm and super shy,’ Catherine laughs. ‘They come in here saying “I’m going to f**k everyone” and “I’m so good in bed”, but I hear their version of the story and the sex workers’.

‘The British guys will say “I destroyed her, she was screaming” and then I’ll speak to the sex worker and she’ll say he lasted one minute – they just like to show off.’

Despite the rise of more extreme pornography from the likes of Lily Phillips and Bonnie Blue, Catherine says this hasn’t had an impact on the behaviours of men who frequent the brothel.

In fact, one of the most common requests from men isn’t rough sex, but pegging. ‘A lot of guys want to try anal sex and be penetrated,’ Catherine explains.

‘They’re usually married and too scared to tell their fantasy to their wives because they don’t want to be judged, so they seek out a professional service instead.’

An argument for safe sex work

The worlds oldest profession is a controversial one, with 75% of Brits saying there’s a great deal of stigma around it, although 57% of Brits think selling sex in a private location should be permitted, according to YouGov.

And it’s certainly lucrative, with the highest earning sex workers taking home around £42,250 each month.

Sex work is something more than half of Brits would see legalised (Picture: Getty Images)

‘Sex work is legitimate work,’ she explains. ‘There are women coming to us saying, “I need money, I tried being a cashier but it’s awful”. I’m not in a position to judge them because we all work for money.

‘It’s valid motivation and indoor sex work is very different from street prostitution, it’s rare we see women who have been pushed into this line of work.

‘A lot of the women here have university degrees, can speak different languages, and have different options, but they still decide to come here, make fast money and be their own boss.’

She adds that some women work just one or two days every month and then don’t need to worry about money for weeks.

‘It gives them huge freedom,’ Catherine says. ‘They believe their time is valuable, so this idea that sex work is a last resort often isn’t true.’

These women are typically around 30 years old, although she does have the occasional 18-year-old coming to her to rent a room.

‘I’m really careful with them and tell them “if you want to do this, I can’t stop you, but you really need to be able to communicate your boundaries”,’ Catherine says.

‘The last thing I want if for them to be exploited by these guys, they need to really know that no means no, and that they’re in charge.’

The brothel even has a few women in their sixties who have made sex work a lifelong career. But whoever the client is, Catherine sees herself as someone whose duty it is to support them.

‘If they want to speak to me about anything then I’m here for them, but if they don’t want to speak at all, that’s okay too,’ she says.

‘This business is tough and there’s huge competition between the girls. A lot of them are foreign too, so we help them if they don’t know how to get certain documents, or know their way to the hospital for a check up.

‘If people want to see me as a bad pimp, I won’t argue, because I know that’s not what I do. I’m not pushing anyone to do anything, they have a right to decide what they do with their own body.’

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