08 / 11 / 2025
8 Minute Read

The use of abbreviations for escort services in Europe: a real turn-off for clients.

 

I don't know if you noticed, but it immediately caught my eye. Within the European Union, the largest escort sites no longer explicitly display the services offered by the escort girls advertising on them. We are in November 2025, and this summer everything still seemed normal. Now, abbreviations have taken over. In the best cases, these erotic ads have been transformed into real word decoding. In the worst cases, the page dedicated to describing the services has completely disappeared. But what is going on? Why so many abbreviations? What are the consequences? Will this phenomenon also affect Switzerland? In this article, I share my observations and opinion on the recent use of abbreviations in the sex industry in Europe, with the aim of shedding light on this trend for all those who feel concerned.

 

What is an abbreviation?

To ensure we are all on the same page throughout this article, let's first define what an abbreviation is. An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or group of words, used to write more quickly or save space while retaining the meaning. When choosing to use an abbreviation, it is important to ensure that it is used correctly so that it remains understandable and allows the reader to easily deduce what it means. If your abbreviation is not understandable to the person encountering it, then you will not be able to convey your message correctly. 

Sometimes, in certain sectors (such as the adult industry, for example), there is terminology that belongs to a specific jargon. When this jargon is well understood by its community, the use of abbreviations is not a problem. Otherwise, it is better to avoid abbreviations, which, paradoxically, instead of simplifying communication, will complicate it to the point of making it undesirable...

 

Why are more and more websites in Europe using abbreviations?

That's the mystery question in this article... Why are we suddenly seeing more and more escort sites completely removing their services pages, using abbreviations instead of writing out the full service, or even inserting an asterisk in the middle of a word (for example: pr*state massage)? What do these sudden puns mean? Why are the biggest websites in Germany, France, Spain, and Eastern Europe playing along?

Because, let's face it, having to decode something for a client is an extra effort (without being sure of success) that negatively affects the customer experience, especially when it comes to websites that are in multiple languages. In fact, the abbreviation used in German will often not be the same in English or French. Why make things even more difficult for clients and escorts in a European sex market that has never been so competitive?

Nothing official has been communicated about this change, but the systematic use of abbreviations on more and more escort sites in Europe should make us sit up and take notice. I didn't have to look far to find some of the answers we're looking for. With just one click, a European directive allowed me to quickly understand the direction in which prostitution in Europe is heading. It even affects countries where this profession is legal and regulated. Why? Because for the European Union, there is no such thing as voluntary prostitution. Because, for the European Union, prostitution, by assigning a monetary value to an intimate act, reduces sexuality to a commodity and implies that a person—and their consent—can be bought, which constitutes a serious violation of human dignity, particularly that of women.

I invite you to carefully read this directive on prostitution (available in all languages of the EU), drafted and adopted by Brussels in 2023.  Pay particular attention to Articles C, F, L, W, AG, and AJ : https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2023-0328_EN.html .

The aim is therefore to reduce demand in order to reduce the number of people being exploited. That is why, as specified in Article 19 of this directive, the European Parliament: " calls on the Member States to take urgent measures to tackle online advertisement and contact facilitation that directly or indirectly encourage prostitution or seek to attract buyers in order to prevent the exploitation of the prostitution of others also online, including the prostitution of students, in particular of young women, and the sexual exploitation of minors by wealthier and more influential men, also known as ‘sugar daddyism’;."

Hence the increasing number of abbreviations for services or escort profiles with no services at all... 

 

Abbreviations: the consequences of their use.

This position taken by the European Union (EU) will therefore logically have very predictable consequences in the coming years, for which we must prepare ourselves. Indeed, unless the EU ceases to exist, the landscape of prostitution will change enormously in the coming years.

The use of abbreviations for terms and services will make clients less spontaneous, more suspicious, and also more fearful, particularly in countries where legislation is repressive towards them. Since they will have to constantly ask the girl what exactly she offers (by text message, WhatsApp, or phone), they will expose themselves more because in these jurisdictions, you never know who is really on the other end of the line. As for those who take the risk of going to see a girl without knowing in advance what she offers (because it doesn't appear anywhere on her profile), it will be a bit like playing roulette: they will never know what they will get for the money they have to spend. Some girls will, of course, take advantage of the situation to offer the minimum service at the maximum price... This will therefore increase the negative experiences that men will have with the purchase of sexual services and gradually reduce demand or redirect it to more legitimate sites and/or profiles where there is no ambiguity about the services offered. 

Because too many clients will have been duped, the market—already highly competitive—will become even tougher for girls working as escorts. If the reduction in services becomes widespread (and this seems to be happening in the EU), they will face lower demand because the behavior of the average client will have changed. They will have become much more cautious and will favor escorts they already know, or erotic studios (where these are legal in their country) that they have already visited, because they know exactly what type of service they will receive. While more and more women are deciding to become escorts, this European directive will make access to this industry increasingly difficult and competitive. The use of abbreviations to describe services will not necessarily have an impact on escort rates (which are falling sharply in Europe), but it will create a great deal of uncertainty among a large number of clients and reduce the number of attempts they make to contact escorts. Whether they have to pay 150 EUR or 300 EUR, escort clients will always want to know exactly what services they are getting for their money.

Girls who choose websites that still allow them to describe their services, those who include it in their description, or those who clearly share it on their own website will inevitably stand out from those who are forced to display only abbreviations or, worse still, who will not even have the opportunity to list their services (because the website does not offer this option).    

 

Abbreviations for escort services: coming soon to Switzerland?

Although this phenomenon has not yet been observed on escort websites in Switzerland, I do not believe that the country is completely immune to a change in this direction. Indeed, prostitution is legal and regulated in Switzerland. This is also the case in Germany and Belgium, and yet the largest websites in these countries have already begun to apply this European directive (under the authority of their respective governments, as we can imagine that they probably had no choice).

So, yes, when I say “DFK or CIM,” you certainly understand these abbreviations. But what will you understand if even writing these terms becomes prohibited on most websites? 

Even though Switzerland is not part of the EU, it is clear that in recent years, the Swiss Confederation has been aligning itself with many European directives that directly or indirectly affect Swiss citizens...

 

The use of abbreviations: What should we keep in mind?

If online advertising for erotic services is gradually disappearing, you might think that's good news for print newspapers, right? Not really... While 10 years ago, many newspapers accepted erotic ads, today they have almost disappeared. In the German-speaking part of Switzerland, for instance, you can count them on one hand... and the rates they charge the sex industry are exorbitant.

The key takeaway from this article is that the landscape of purchasing sexual services is becoming more complex in Europe, both for clients and escorts. Independent sex workers will now have to professionalize (in all aspects of their work) in order to stand out from the crowd and attract a loyal and generous clientele. As for clients, the use of abbreviations and the disappearance of services on certain sites only complicates their task. Between girls using fake photos or retouched selfies, others playing yo-yo with their rates or using artificial intelligence in their advertising, it is becoming increasingly difficult for a client to decide to visit an escort they don't already know... 

The consequences? We will certainly witness a general decline in escort rates in the EU, caused by a decrease in demand, which can also be explained by a decline in purchasing power in the EU and national budget restrictions that will be seriously felt between now and 2028. This will inevitably increase competition in Switzerland and push even more girls to come and sell their charms in this country, which, although very rich, also seems to be seeing its prostitution industry gradually run out of steam...

 

Janet – The Velvet Rooms

 

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