Many student prostitutes working and studying in Bucharest say a lack of money is what led them to their trade. ''Having no money makes you capable of doing this. Everything on the face of the Earth depends on it, everything, everything,'' Larisa, a 23-year old economics student says.

She and her girlfriend posted an ad on the Internet several months ago. It said: ''Girlfriends, students, looking for pleasure seekers. Call us!''

Larisa says they only accept 'quality people.' ''Not just anyone can afford to come to prostitutes,'' she says. ''I wouldn't take anything less either. There are many things you can find out from these people, advice you wouldn't get from anywhere else.''

However, advice is not all she gets. She says she makes up to 1,000 euros each month. ''Those who say they make more are probably working on the moon,'' Larisa says sarcastically.

She comes from a big family. Her parents live far away from Bucharest and could not support her through college because they have five other children to take care of. ''If I'm going to make it, maybe I can help them,'' says Larisa .

Adrian also comes from a large family, a family of nine children. He says his parents cannot support him either. ''They were workers under Ceausescu; they are extremely modest and poor,'' he says. ''They think I earn all this money giving massages.''

Adrian, a third year chiropractics student, has been a gigolo and an actor in pornographic films for about nine months and says he makes about 2,500 euros a month, more than 50 times the grant of a student with higher grades. He has a golden ring on one finger, a thick, gold bracelet and a mobile phone worth about 10 million lei.

The money he makes will help him get through college, he says. He is doing his second degree, as he attended psychology courses also. He says his psychology studies helped him establish good relations with his customers, and got him through some difficult situation he had to face.

He says he often has to be careful in choosing his clientele and he refuses those who appear more perverted than he can accept. Adrian says he knows where to draw the line and tries to keep his job as respectable as possible. ''I actually don't like being called a gigolo, I prefer being referred to as a freelancer,'' he says.

Some ads for student prostitutes

''Female student, with no preconceived ideas, selling pleasure to generous clients.''

''Young male student, sexually gifted, offering intimate moments to ladies, gentlemen and couples.''

''Students, girlfriends, we make funky ideas come true. Call us 24/7!''

He got the idea of being a gigolo from an ad in a newspaper. This type of advertisement is very common in newspapers and on the Internet, as there isn't a law prohibiting them. Adrian initially teamed up with another girl and they started to offer shows, ''with or without customer involvement.'' Now Adrian has three girls for partners, one in law school, another studying psychology and the other studying international economic relations.

Dana is a Politehnica student who put her phone number into a newspaper just below an ad

saying ''Young woman, 19, elegant, discreet, offering company, own apartment, attractive price.''

She says she earns 600,000 lei an hour, and has been plying her trade for about a year now, ''not necessarily for the money''. She says she likes it, too. She does it even though her friends who know about it don't call her any more and, for the same reason, she doesn't have a good relationship with her parents.

Prostitution is illegal, but police do nothing about it, Adrian says. He had a few problems himself, but says ''it's been taken care of' by offering bribes or services to the officers.''

On the other hand, police say they have the situation under control. Commander Claudiu Flamanzeanu, from the General Police Department says street prostitution has been reduced by 60 per cent, and his team are working on putting illegal brothels in Bucharest out of business, especially those that employ minors.

''I can find no justification for those girls who choose to sell themselves rather than work. I pity them for getting there, but it is our job to eradicate the practice and guide them on the right track,'' he reckons.

Many students take up prostitution because they cannot provide for themselves otherwise. Larisa says she considers her job to be tolerable, not only because she chooses her customers, but also because she earns enough money for a decent living. She is considering giving it up, but only when she has a strong social position that ''only money can give me,'' she says.

Women's associations try to prevent young women from resorting to prostitution and offer free advice on the issue. ''We want prostitution controlled,'' says Liliana Pagu, president of the Association of Women in Romania .

Health authorities and the government in general have been reluctant to work with women's associations to solve the problem, says Ms Pagu. ''Those who should come together in preventing it don't do as much as they should,'' she says.

Meanwhile, Adrian and people like him don't see what they do as a problem, but as the only way to achieve their goals. Adrian dreams of his own massage salon and Larisa wants to open a hairdressing studio. Unlike her current trade, her hairstyling business ''won't be open exclusively to people with money,'' she says.

Ruxandra Gubernat is a final year student of journalism.