Volunteer work β Student of literature Victor Skov Jeppesen is on duty at a red van where sex workers service their customers. It's tough, in the biting cold, when you have to pick up condoms from the street, and when angry men shout at him β but he knows that he's making a difference. I work as a volunteer in The Red Van.
It is an organisation that goes out with a red van on the red-light Istedgade street, and offers street-based sex workers free of charge the option of using the bed we have in the van. This is instead of going somewhere the customer wants. It is not an ideal solution, but it is the only one for the sex workers right now. They know the place, and it is safer than the alternatives. It is called damage reduction. I usually have one or two shifts a month, and they stretch from around midnight until four in the morning.
I stand guard over the van, clean it after it has been used, and I also offer coffee, tea, and condoms β sometimes soft drinks.
This is not that glamorous. If we are at least four on duty, we go stroll up Istedgade, try and sense what the atmosphere is on the street, and ask whether there is anyone that needs anything.
We have no bodyguards looking after us, or any place that we can retreat to. It may feel unsafe. But I learn how to act in stressful situations, when I have to get into character and de-escalate conflicts, and when to withdraw. The job is in contrast to my comparative literature study, which is very theoretical.
