Online sex worker Martha blames Britain’s cost-of-living crisis for her dwindling earnings — in part due to increased competition, as rising household bills push more women to sell sex.
“People are offering more for less because they are desperate for money,” 29-year-old Martha, who asked to use a pseudonym to protect her identity, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“I’m afraid this will get worse as the purse stretches further,” she said, adding that her daily income had fallen to around £150 (S$241.8) in recent months from £250 previously.
Martha started online sex work last year after she was laid off. She has since found a job as a store clerk, but said she needs the extra income to cover the rising cost of living as she saves money to have a baby.
Charity and sex worker collectives across Britain have reported an increase in the number of people starting or returning to sex work this year as annual consumer price inflation stands at around 10 per cent – the highest in the G7 group of major advanced economies.
England’s Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), a network of current and former sex workers campaigning for decriminalisation, recorded a 30 per cent rise in callers seeking support for sex work start-ups in June, while the charity Beyond the Streets said that it had seen women returning to sex work, or doing more of it.
Manchester Action on Street Health (MASH), a charity supporting female sex workers, registered more than 100 new service users between December 2021 and April 2022, the highest number of new customers the charity has seen in four years over a three-year period months .
As more people enter the profession and clients tighten their wallets, sex workers may feel compelled to offer services they are less familiar with or take greater risks, campaigners warn.
“The more desperate you are for money, the more willing you are to provide services you wouldn’t normally want,” said ECP spokesperson Laura Watson.
Trading sex for money is legal in Britain, but support groups say they are deterred from helping sex workers by laws against inciting or facilitating prostitution, which could put first-time sex workers at risk.
“People go out as an escort for the first time without speaking to anyone… The potential security implications of that are very worrying,” said Ms Watson.
Second jobs
Rising food and energy prices continue to outpace wage increases in the world’s fifth-largest economy, sending real wages for UK workers this spring at their fastest rate since 2001 and forcing many to seek part-time jobs.
A recent survey by insurer Royal London found that more than 5 million UK workers have taken on second jobs to make ends meet.
Some choose sex work, either as a one-time or regular source of extra income drawn by the flexible hours and instant pay.
“Many women have other jobs or benefits and are trying to supplement their income,” said ECP’s Watson.
“Some women just take to the streets to get enough money to pay the bill,” she said, adding that about 70 percent of the ECP network are mothers.
Research from the Young Women’s Trust, a charity, found that the cost-of-living crisis is taking a heavier toll on women.
It found that nearly half of single mothers could not afford food or essential supplies in the past 12 months, with three in 10 young mothers skipping meals so their children could eat.
Many women do not have access to affordable childcare or flexible work options that would allow them to work extra hours in regular jobs, said Ms. Claire Reindorp, CEO of the Young Women’s Trust.
But while sex work can be flexible and pay quickly, it’s difficult for workers to raise prices during inflationary periods because they lack employment protections, said Ns Tess Herrmann, a doctoral researcher at York University’s School for Business and Society .
“Bills are going up, food prices are going up and many wages are staying the same, especially in precarious jobs and the gig economy,” she said.
Less power
Martha creates adult content for the digital content subscription service, OnlyFans, the adult website LiveJasmin, and customers who contact her directly through the social media platform Twitter.
Online sex workers have reported being offered less money by customers, who may pay sex workers directly for content they request via private message or leave tips in addition to subscribing to content or paying per view on OnlyFans.
Some adult content creators on OnlyFans say their income has dropped by 30 percent in the past two months.
According to OnlyFans’ transparency report, nearly 200,000 additional creator accounts were submitted for approval on the platform in September 2022 compared to the previous year.
“If more workers are fighting for a smaller amount of money, that means workers have much less power to negotiate with customers,” said Ms. Audrey Carradonna, a spokesman for the United Sex Workers union.
She reiterated Ms Watson’s concerns about the risks faced by first-time sex workers, saying two other measures aimed at regulating online sex trafficking could encourage novice sex workers to engage in riskier street work.
Last year, payment provider Mastercard tightened its policy on adult websites, while Britain’s online safety law seeks to ban ads for sex on digital platforms.
“If more people go to work on the streets in familiar areas, they could face more police interaction, forcing them to work in more remote areas, which in turn is much more dangerous as they will be far from help” , said Mrs. Carradonna. .
Despite such insecurities, Martha said sex work had given her some financial security during difficult times.
“I don’t think I could do without it,” she said.
@ REUTERS
