The coronavirus has thrown millions of people into crisis. For sex workers, forced by criminalisation, stigma and discrimination to live in the shadows, that crisis is more hidden.
Sex workers are denied the rights and entitlements other workers may have and are forced to choose between earning an income and risking ours and our loved ones health.
We must have access to emergency money and worker status. See our full statement here and action alert to raise these issues with your MP.
Red-light districts in Soho and Mayfair’s Shepherd Market are facing financial crises following the pandemic, an action group for sex workers has told The Londoner.Laura Watson of the English Collective of Prostitutes said: “Some places have had to shut because they can’t make enough money. Clients just weren’t coming in.”In Soho “three flats in one […]
The sex industry has suffered job losses like every other industry as a result of COVID-19 but it specifically has led to some of the most vulnerable women in society losing their incomes overnight. They have “fallen through the cracks”, according to one spokeswoman, leading to some sex workers taking increased risks with violent clients […]
The sex industry is still ‘far from normal’ according to campaigners who claim the trade should be legalised. The demand for sex workers is not what it was before Covid-19 Britain’s sex industry is still “far from normal” as prostitutes slowly start to work the streets again and brothels begin reopening in the wake of […]
As sex clubs reopen across Europe, sex workers worry about their earnings and also whether they can stay safe. Niki Adams, a spokesperson with English Collective of Prostitutes, says the pandemic and lack of state support shows how far the industry still has to go to gain legal recognition. Lotte Alberg, who owns two sex […]
Summary Sex workers, many of whom are mothers, have been left without an income by the coronavirus crisis and lockdown and are facing destitution, debt and homelessness. But because sex work is criminalised, sex workers are being deprived of the support, payments and protections available to others. Migrant sex workers subject to No Recourse to […]
With social distancing rules in place and strip clubs and brothels closed, sex workers around the world have seen their incomes disappear almost overnight as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Fearing for their livelihoods, as well as their health, some are offering services online to keep their business going, while others are turning to […]
Destitute sex workers are working through the pandemic. It doesn’t have to be that way In the coronavirus pandemic, few professions are as hazardous as sex work. The disease spreads through close physical contact, and sex work is an activity with a high risk of transmitting the virus. But, unlike almost all other professions, sex […]
“The virus comes on top of a crisis of poverty, especially among women. Most sex workers are mothers, mainly single mothers, who have been made poorer by austerity cuts. One and a half million people have been made deliberately destitute by government policies and four million children are living in poverty. That means that 100,000s of families […]
Calls have been made for an emergency fund to support sex workers whose earnings have fallen during the coronavirus crisis. A third of escorts have been continuing to offer face-to-face meetings, estimated one sex worker. The English Collective of Prostitutes said there was precedent for a support fund and without one many had to choose […]
Agencies have criticised the lack of action to protect the health needs of sex workers during the pandemic, with the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) warning of a “ticking time bomb of health problems.”Sex workers are at heightened risk of ill health,1 and violence,2 said the ECP, and unless the services they rely on resume normal […]