An Amsterdam sex worker shares 3 things that surprised her most about starting the job

• Brenda, a sex worker from the Netherlands, told Insider about what it's like to be an escort.
• She said she works for an agency which caters to clients with disabilities or medical issues.

Brenda, a 57-year-old woman from the Netherlands, told Insider that she quit her job as a nurse to become a sex worker eight years ago.

She is one of 600 licensed escorts in Amsterdam, according to figures shown in the Red Light Secrets Museum. She said she is employed by an escort agency (the name of which she wouldn't disclose for privacy reasons), which caters to clients with disabilities and health issues.

The agency Brenda works for takes note of any disabilities or health issues clients may have so that escorts are aware of "how to handle certain medical things," she said. For example, she said if you have a client who is in a wheelchair you must be aware of the correct way to help them out of the chair and into bed.

Brenda shared the three things that surprised her most when she started working for the agency.

Some clients don't require an icebreaker, while others want to start a romantic relationship

Brenda said that working for an agency is different from working in the windows of the Red Light District because the agency charges an hourly rate, whereas the average visit to a window is between seven and 10 minutes.

She added that the starting rate for her clients is €140, or around $162, for one hour. The agency takes around €45, or about $52, and Brenda takes the rest after deducting tax.

When Brenda first started the job, she said some clients tried to build a rapport before engaging in sex — so she was surprised when other clients didn't require an icebreaker.

"Sometimes I've been there hardly five minutes and a hand is under my skirt," Brenda said.

Brenda says one client paid her to go on a date to the zoo

However, Brenda said she was also surprised when some clients tried to engage in an emotional relationship. She said one client asked to take her on a date to the zoo, which she said she was allowed to do as long as they were aware that it wasn't romantic — "I am not your girlfriend, this is business," she said.

"It may sound harsh, as if you are only in it for the money, but if you don't you make it confusing for them. If one client wants to take you to the zoo — which has happened to me — they can do that, but they have to pay," she said.

Men who become regular clients of sex workers often develop feelings of romance or love, according to a study published in Men and Masculinities and cited by HuffPost in 2012.

Melissa Petro, a freelance writer and former sex worker who worked as a call girl on Craigslist, told Time that she knew of women who had gotten into a relationship or even married their former clients. She said she once dated a former client "who took me on an all expense paid trip to Paris" and compared him to Richard Gere's character in "Pretty Woman," a 1990 film about a sex worker who falls in love with her wealthy client.

Most of Brenda's clients have been men

Brenda said she is surprised that she has only had one female client after working in the industry for eight years.

More than 2,000 men visit a sex worker in the Red Light District every day, according to figures shown in the Red Light Secrets Museum.

The museum added that women can visit the windows, and that it is not uncommon for a man and woman to visit a sex worker together. However, there were no figures to indicate how many solo women visit a sex worker each year.