A sex worker refers to people who sell/trade their own sexual labour for resources, most commonly money. By design, it covers many different kinds of sexual labour, including stripping, porn, cam shows, & BDSM, alongside prostitution (full service sex work).Bosses and managers within the sex industry are not classed as sex workers. The term sex work is inherently political, indicating the user believes selling sex is or can be work, and consequently that sex workers deserve rights and protections afforded to all workers. Not all people who perform ‘sex work’ will use the term sex worker to identify themselves.

Our rights are very often targeted by the same people and organisations. Rallying ourselves under one umbrella term is the most efficient way for us to express our solidarity to one another, regardless of which part of the industry we work in (a lot of people do several forms of sex work simultaneously). Being united helps us have a stronger opposition to those who wish to take our rights away.

Why does the BSWC advocate for the full decriminalisation of sex work?

There are currently 4 legal models that sex workers operate under all over the world: legalisation, criminalisation, the Nordic Model/End Demand, and decriminalisation. A brief introduction to each model will help explain why our organisation advocates for this model over others.

➤ Legalisation: 

Sex work is legal in several countries, including England, Wales and Scotland. This means that buying and purchasing sex is not punishable by law, but only under certain conditions.

For example, in Germany, sex workers have to be registered since 2017. This means that their legal name has to be given out, their address, full details and they are subject to mandatory health checks.This law predominantly negatively affects migrants, trans and homeless workers who cannot or refuse to share their information. Some workers also do not want to be registered due to mistrust in the state and the police. 

Living or working with other sex workers in the same flat/house for safety is illegal. This falls under brothel keeping laws. Brothels in Germany have to be registered and licensed by local authorities (similar to strip clubs in the UK). Authorities are allowed to raid them without needing to demonstrate any probable cause.

Migrant sex workers often face more exploitation due to their inability do register themselves with the government. This can lead to them having to rely on third parties/pimps to keep themselves safe and to find clients. This makes them unable to report abusive and exploitative working conditions due to the threat of criminalisation and deportation.

Migrant workers who move to Germany for economic reasons are unable to register themselves due to immigration laws and are classed as trafficking victims. The conflation between migrant sex working and sex trafficking often fuels more restrictive laws around sex work.

In England/Wales/Scotland: brothels are illegal, working/living together for safety is illegal due to brothel-keeping laws and soliciting (street sex working) is illegal. Only indoor and independant sex work is legal. 

These laws put the most marginalised workers at risk, such as migrant and street sex workers. They are most likely to experience violence from clients and the police due to the constant threat of arrest.

Brothels are regularly raided under the guise of identifying and “saving” trafficking victims. The police systematically use a disproportionate amount of force and seizes the earnings of the workers. Migrant workers are in most cases detained and deported. Brothels get shut down.

➤ Crimininalisation:

Sex work is fully criminalised in multiple countries across the globe, such as China, South Africa, Kenya and the USA to only cite a few.

Selling and buying sex is illegal. This puts the most marginalised in society at risk from violence, arrest and deportation. It pushes the industry underground and increases the likelihood of workers having to rely on third parties/pimps for safety and to find clients. Concerns over being arrested forces workers to do very quick screenings and work in isolated places. Sex workers do not have access to justice and unions under criminalisation. It increases stigma and inequalities between workers.

The introduction of SESTA/FOSTA laws in 2018 by the US government was meant to tackle trafficking online. Many advertising sites such as Backpage had to shut down due to it. This affected users all over the world. The inability to advertise themselves online resulted in many workers having to rely on pimps to find clients, working on the streets, decrease in screening practices and loss of income. In 2021, the US Government Office released a report on the first 3 years of the law: only one case was filed.

As a result, many banking and social media platforms have introduced very restrictive laws, once again making it difficult for sex workers to have access to basic services, to advertise themselves and have access to a community.

➤ The Nordic Model/Partial criminalisation:

Many promote the Nordic Model as the “decriminalisation” of the sale of sex and criminalisation of the purchase of sexual services. The reality is that it only legalises the sale, which means some areas of the industry are still criminalised, such as working together for safety which would fall under brothel-keeping laws. This legal model has been adopted in Sweden, Norway, France, Canada, Israel, Ireland and Northern Ireland. This was brought in to “tackle prostitution and trafficking”.

In reality, it pushes the industry underground. In order to find and criminalisee clients, the police harasses sex workers. To be able to work away from the police, workers have to work in isolated area (and alone due to brothel keeping laws), street sex workers are not able to thoroughly screen clients. Due to the decrease in clients, workers often have to accept dangerous practices and expose themselves to potential STDs to make up for the financial losses. Workers also might end up having to rely on pimps to find clients and be protected.

Since the NM was introduced in Ireland in 2017, sex workers reported a 92% increase in violence and 57% felt it was due to the law change. The number of providers has not decreased. In February 2022, Amnesty International published a report condemning the disastrous effects it has had in Ireland.

In Northern Ireland, 85% of the people arrested and accused of brothel keeping in recent years were migrant women. In France, within 6 months of this law being introduced, 10 sex workers were killed.

Sex workers are also unable to be in relationships, in several countries in which the Nordic Model was implemented, there has been several occurences of  partners being arrested and accused of pimping. Landlords can also be accused of pimping for housing a sex worker and has left several workers homeless as a result.

In England/Wales/Scotland, Labour MP Diane Johnson alongside several others, has been strongly pushing for the introduction of the Nordic Model despite a massive pushback from sex worker led organisations. The last attempt was through an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. This amendment was not adopted. As it was worded, if the NM was to be introduced, the sex worker branch (United Sex Workers) of the United Voices of the World union would have to cease existing due to pimping laws. Any in-person sex work, such as stripping and and domme work would also be criminalised.

➤ Decriminalisation:

The purchase and sale of sex are not regulated.

It is often claimed by sex work abolitionists that those advocating for decriminalisation are privileged western workers, or that we are “sex trade expansionists”. This is actually the model that 273 worker-led organisations in 71 countries (including the global south) advocate for. It is also supported by Amnesty International, UNAIDS, UN Women, the World Health Organisation, Beyond Slavery, Global Alliance Against Trafficking of Women, Terrence Higgins Trust, Release Drugs and the National Aids Trust.

It is the only harm reduction policy. It gives sex workers access to justice and better labour rights. In 2020, in New Zealand (which is currently the only country in the world having decrim) a sex worker who worked in a brothel took her boss to court for sexual harassment and won a six figure payout as part of a settlement. In London, strippers at the club Browns as part of the Nowak vs Chandler group historic court case in 2020 managed to obtain the status of workers as a judge ruled that they were misclassified as self-employed. This gave them access to an hourly wage, sick pay and maternity pay whilst keeping the flexibility of their employment. This case was won by United Sex Workers due to strippers having the right to unionise because of their workplace being legal. All sex workers would be able to unionise under decrim (in Great Britain, they currently can but some cases cannot be brought to court due to the limitation the criminal laws around sex work).

In New Zealand, sex workers have reported a decrease in stigma since decriminalisation was introduced in 2003. A decrease in violence was also reported, and an improved relationship with authorities. Work still needs to be done around improving the protection of migrant sex workers who do not have access to the same rights as other workers due to their immigration status.

Decriminalising sex work is of course not a magical solution. It will not single handedly fix the material conditions, societal problems and most importantly economic needs that have led a majority of people into the industry. It will not stop exploitation, violence or fully curb trafficking, but it will lessen harm by giving sex workers more rights.