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"I wanted to make a living"/ The ESCORT who became a member of parliament confesses: I'm not ashamed, the past shaped me!

2025-09-09 08:52:35Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Anna Kontula

Finnish MP Anna Kontula , one of the most prominent left-wing figures in Finland's Parliament, has publicly confessed for the first time that she worked as an escort for almost two decades before entering politics.

In an interview with the prestigious newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, published this Saturday, the 48-year-old said that she feels no shame about her past, calling this experience a fundamental part of her personal and political journey.

Kontula said she started working as an escort at the age of 16, while living in a student dormitory. She described the decision as motivated by economic hardship, but also by youthful curiosity.

"I wanted to make a living and this was a very rational solution in the circumstances I was in," she told HS.

For almost 20 years, she had occasional breaks from working in the sex industry, but she always remained committed to the rights of sex workers, an issue that would later make her one of the strongest voices in Finnish politics.

In 2002, Kontula co-founded the organization SALLI, a trade union for sex workers, while publishing essays and writings that challenged taboos and public prejudices against the industry.

When Finland passed a new law in 2006 that partially restricted the purchase of sexual services – including a ban on purchases by trafficking victims and minors – Kontula called it a “partial victory,” as it included protective elements for victims for the first time.

She was first elected to the Finnish Parliament in 2011 and is currently serving her fourth term. Throughout these years, she has remained a staunch activist for sex workers' rights and social policy reform.

Asked why she decided to share this part of her life publicly now, Kontula said: “Talking about this topic now can bring real benefits to the social debate on sex work and the direction that social policy should take.”

She also confirmed that she will not run for a fifth term, as she intends to engage in the profession of social worker, with a focus on safe sex education and social protection.

Kontula's confession has sparked widespread reactions in Finland. Forensic psychologist Pia Puolakka, in an opinion piece published in Helsingin Sanomat, expressed her concern about the MP's approach.

“It is dangerous to present sex work as a profession 'like all others.' Normalizing it does not make society freer or more just,” Puolakka writes.

According to her, the state should create living conditions that do not force anyone to sell their privacy to survive.

In Finland, prostitution is legal, with some exceptions.

The 2006 law prohibits the purchase of sexual services from minors, those involved in trafficking, or criminal networks.

When Kontula began working as an escort as a teenager, she was not breaking the law of the time, although that would be different today.


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