PART 1/3

“During the Second World War, my parents went to live in Morocco for a few years. And that’s where I was born, in Meknes. When I was born, they had a bit of a surprise: I was a hermaphrodite! That means, I was both a girl and a boy. I started to realise that I was different from the others around 5-6 years old. I was a bit confused. Am I a girl or a boy? And I remember asking my mother, “Mum, what am I going to be?” She said, “Don’t worry about that, you’ll decide later what you want to be”. And that moves me every time I think about it. I was lucky to have parents who accepted me as I was. I had a loving relationship with them.

We lived in Oujda and Algiers, my father was involved in the construction of the desert train as an engineer. Life there was total freedom, extraordinary fruits, and from January the whole country was blooming with flowers. Every weekend, my father took us to the most beautiful beach in Morocco, Saïdia beach. 14km of fine sand, it was paradise! Then in Algeria I discovered violence for the first time. The bombings, the sirens, the buildings collapsing, the burning boats of Operation Torch. When I was 15, I experienced the riots in Oujda. I was walking through the city and suddenly people started running. I saw a Jewish doctor holding his stomach, all red. I saw a lady on the ground, her stomach open and the embryo next to her. Oh, I’ve seen a lot! And it left huge marks on me.

Soon after, my life took another turn. I met a family friend, Carmen. An extraordinary woman, 8 years older than me. With her I discovered love and experienced very strong sensations. After a while, as I had to leave Oujda to go to high school, I followed her to Tangier. At that time, Tangier was a little paradise, an international zone where many people passed through. It created a cultural buzz. There, we didn’t need to hide anymore and we had a wonderful time. Carmen always thought that I was made for making love. And I was very curious, very sensitive. She wanted me to meet a man, then two, then three. I found it pleasant but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I preferred female relationships.

Then one day she said to me: “Listen Claudette, I have to teach you a trade”. She knew a lady who ran a nice brothel. She told me: “Whatever happens to you in your life, with this you’ll always have a way out. But if you don’t agree, nothing changes between us”. And I agreed, out of curiosity, because I liked sex, and because I didn’t want to disappoint her. I was 16 years old, but I knew what I was getting into. In the southern countries, the fire smoulders under the embers as they say (laughs)! And that’s how I started working in a brothel at 16. First I was trained by a tester who taught me the different positions, how to make the client come quickly or slowly depending on the time he had paid. And hygiene issues. I stayed there for about 3 years.

At the same time, I continued my studies. I went to school from 9am to 4pm and then I went to the brothel until midnight, and on weekends. With school, I had a certain balance in ordinary life. And through the brothel I had extraordinary experiences and met all kinds of people. In the early 1950s, tensions against the French protectorate in Morocco increased and my parents decided to return to Switzerland. Carmen and I cried for a month. Shortly before I left, she said to me: “Come, we still have something to do”. She took me to the Banque de France and withdrew all the money I had earned at the brothel. She hadn’t touched a penny! And it was with this money that I was later able to pay for my federal masters degree.

In Switzerland, we arrived in Porrentruy, in the Jura. I was 19 years old and at that time the Jura was: the priest, the mayor, the prefect, full stop. After Tangier and the brothel… it was a big shock! A violent change of scenery! I was uncomfortable, destabilised. I didn’t have Carmen anymore, I had no sexuality anymore. It was very hard. On top of that, my family in Switzerland expected me to be a man. As my parents had to make a choice, they had announced a boy. And to go and explain to them now that I am a hermaphrodite… I would have been treated as a beast! It was unthinkable for them. So I stopped wearing dresses and skirts. I always wore tracksuits and hid my breasts. I spent my life juggling like this. But I always felt like a woman and I can’t change who I am.

Despite this radical change, I adapted well. I did a five-year degree in architecture, with a federal master’s degree in Lausanne. At the same time, I developed an intense passion for cycling. I used to race for Peugeot, as an amateur. It was 11 months of sport per year! I was Jura champion, and a few years ago I was 15th in France in the over 40s. At the time, I was a member of a cycling club with which I often did races. One day, a friend of the club asked me to meet his sisters after a race. I arrived at their table, and I will never forget that moment. A few metres away from me, I see a beautiful young girl, Andrée, and I say to myself: “That’s who I want to marry!” As clear as that! And she thought exactly the same thing!

We started dating, but that was back in the days! We dated for 6 years without doing anything! One day, her dad asked her: “Who is that boy? Is he at least Swiss? – Yes, he is. – Catholic or Protestant? – Catholic. – Does he go to mass every Sunday? – Yes, he does! – Well okay then, you can go with him.” It was a different time (laughs)! Andrée had always had a doubt about my identity, but we had never talked about it and I was dreading our wedding night. On our wedding night, a cousin came to explain what was expected of me. I didn’t say anything, but I wanted to tell her: “You poor thing! If only you knew what I saw (laughs)!” Finally, the wedding night went very naturally. Andrée asked me a few questions, but that didn’t change anything between us. She already loved me long before.”

PART 2/3

“Twenty years passed, a normal family life. Andrée and I had two children and adopted a third from Madagascar. I was working for a large American company. Everything was going well. Then, in 1974, started the story of the Front de Libération du Jura (FLJ). The Jura had gained its independence, which was extraordinary, but the town of Moutier didn’t go along with it. And I said to Andrée: “Let’s go and fight for Moutier.” And we fought very hard. There were terrible riots every Saturday for almost four years. During the first riot, we held off the cops for 6 hours to prevent them from arriving at the train station. There were 2000 of us! We had French navy alarm pistols, and we used them at gunpoint… On both sides people lost legs, eyes, some lost their lives.

After four years, I got tired of it. It was a lot to bear and my professional life had taken a turn for the worse. So we went to live in France. A few years went by, a normal family life again. Then one fine day in May, I was about 45 years old, I crossed the Swiss border by car with my children. The customs officer comes up to the car and asks me for my papers. Then he comes back with a gun and says: “You are under arrest! Get out!” They take my fingerprints and take me to Bern. The stairs of the old Geneva station, the yellow railings on either side… I see them as if it were yesterday. My little wife and children were given no news. I ask the cops what’s going on, but they say they can’t tell me anything. I thought it was a mistake.

They put me in the prison on the fifth floor. The bed fixed, the seat fixed, the table fixed. A blanket and that’s it! No light, no hot water. I had nothing to shower with. I washed my underwear in cold water, when I put them back on they were still damp. The automatic shutters that closed at 5pm with a terrible noise… CLACK! And I waited there for 1 day… 2 days… 1 week. The days went by. No news. Nothing. Just the little hatch that opened for the food. Swiss-German food in prison… Damn me! After 15 days I was sent to Hindelbank. I asked to see the director, and I asked her why I was there. She said, “I can’t tell you, but you’re right where you belong.” And this sentence echoed in my head for a long time.

I was able to phone a lawyer friend and he discovered that it was because of the Jura story. The customs officer was pro-Bernois and he had recognized my name, Plumey. The judge was also pro-Bernois, and he had given me 15 months in prison without any trial! Finally, my lawyer broke the case and after 10 months I was able to get out. When I got out of prison, I had nothing. My children were independent, and Andrée was living with one of them near Geneva. But I was without work, without housing, without anything. And as I was classified as a terrorist by the State, I was not entitled to any social assistance. What could I do? That’s when I remembered what Carmen had told me. Many women enter prostitution out of poverty, and that’s what happened to me. When I was 46, I went to work the streets on the Boulevard Helvétique.

But I could handle it. With everything I had seen, it didn’t bother me. I knew that it was that or nothing. Andrée knew about it, of course. She knew all about my past and understood my decision. I quickly rented a studio on rue de Menthoux, and stopped working the streets. I’d publish ads in the newspaper “La Suisse”. It was still the good old days. Sometimes I’d make 15,000 francs in a month! And I wouldn’t work for less than 100-150. Thanks to this work, I was able to get back on my feet. Of course it’s not always easy. I’ve experienced violence, like almost all girls. But it was rare. In Geneva we’re well protected.

Over the years, I have realised that prostitution is also a question of love. In life, you know, whether it’s the sweeper or the factory manager, the givers win and the takers lose. And I definitely felt like a giver in my job. I try to make sure that the customer have a good time. And that’s why I’ve always had many requests. And even to this day, the clients ask for me. They tell me: “You’re passionate! We can talk about everything with you: money, philosophy, sports, etc.” It’s the conversation they prefer with me. It’s not just about the sex.

What satisfies me most is getting couples back together. I had a regular client who was the director of a big car company in Geneva. And he was always complaining about his relationship: “Oh, it’s great with you! With my wife I don’t even have time to talk. On Saturdays she vacuums with the curlers, and on Sundays I do my accounts.” I told him: “What the hell! Get a little hotel in Evian and spend a weekend with your wife, damn it!” And that’s what he did. Later he told his wife that he had come to see me. I even met her, we had dinner a few times together and we even became friends. And that’s just one story among many. You see, prostitution has many facets!”

PART 3/3

“Some time after I returned to sex work, I discovered the non-profit Aspasie, created by prostitutes to defend their own rights. It helps all sex workers without any stigmatization. And it has always retained the extraordinary vision of Grisélidis Réal and the first prostitutes who created it. I realised that I too had to fight for our rights and started to get involved 22 years ago. I am now co-president of the association and we recently celebrated 40 years of activism! In the debates on prostitution, many people who know nothing about it speak in our place. That’s why it’s important that we, the sex workers, speak out. Prostitution is a real profession. You have to get that into your head!

It’s a contract : this I do, this costs so much, this I don’t do. It is also a public service. Instead of raping young girls or annoying them after school, wouldn’t it be better to go and see a sex worker? Prostitution might as well be allowed and regulated to prevent pimping. I am proud to be a prostitute, but some people still try to eliminate it. Their message is: the body should not be a commodity. An example that has always struck me: do you see these workers making the roads under the sun in July ? Don’t you think that’s wearing their body? And how much do they get paid for it? When people decide to do this work, it’s often out of financial necessity. It’s not prostitution that needs to be eliminated, it’s poverty!

Fifteen years ago, I had another extraordinary encounter, the second great love of my life. Every year, the UN organises a film festival on human rights. “Claudette”, a documentary film about my life, was screened there and I spoke about prostitution afterwards. During the reception after the screening, I felt a presence behind me, three quarters left. I felt the same intuition I had with Andrée. Then I turned around, and my little Laura was there. I immediately wanted to spend some time with her and I asked her: “Are you free tonight?” She agreed to have dinner together. She was 26, I was 70. And from that day on we never left each other’s side.

She is an exceptional person with a good heart. She has brought a certain balance into my life, something very pure. I already shared this with Andrée, but in a different way. It’s difficult to describe our relationship. I was with Andrée and with Laura at the same time. I continued to live with Andrée in France on weekends, and during the week in Geneva in my studio. And the two were friends of course. Since she was very young, Laura was fascinated by prostitution. I’m going to send you a letter she wrote to me about how she met me, about prostitution and so on. According to her, all women are a bit whores (laughs)! Because finally, where does prostitution end? The girl who gets invited to the restaurant, the trips… it’s all the guy who pays! Isn’t that a bit like prostitution too?

Three years ago, Andrée died of cancer. I’ve never been able to mourn, I cry almost every day. We had 63 wonderful years together, we never thought of getting divorced. The secret of a couple is to be able to talk to each other, to tell each other everything and hide nothing. My whole life has followed this same thread: love. There are three kinds of love: Eros, Philia and Agape. The most important is Agape: giving without any expectations. And my pleasure lies precisely when I can please the other person. Simply giving. It feels so good to make someone happy! What is the purpose of our life if it’s not to think a little bit about our fellow human beings?

I don’t feel comfortable in this society which calls itself Christian, but which has understood nothing of Christ’s message. All the dogmas make no sense to me. For me, Christ is two things: “Love one another as I have loved you”, and “What you do to the least of them, you do to me.” In my lifetime, I think I have given many people food for thought. I don’t disavow anything I’ve done or thought. People will tell me that I am left-wing, that I’m a revolutionary. Well yes! I’m a revolutionary! Without being part of any political party. I’m 85 now, I’ve survived 5 cancers, 6 operations and a heart attack. And still, I have plenty of revolutions to lead!”

Published as part of the mini-series “90’000 things in my head“, produced in partnership with Aspasie. |