A CHARITY has painted a stark picture of the reality of life for sex workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

There are no figures for the number of people in Basingstoke and North Hampshire who work in the sex industry, but the government estimates there are around 72,800 people working nationally while one in eight men in the UK are have said to pay for sex.

Organisation Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement (SWARM) campaigns for the rights and safety of everyone who sells sexual services.

Speaking to The Gazette about the life of its members of the past five months, a spokesman said: “Sex workers’ particular vulnerbility stems not only from the inevitable bodily contact involved in face-to-face sex work but from the fact that our work is partially criminalised and hugely stigmatised.

“Our fears during the pandemic are the same as those found in all sectors of the gig economy. Many of us live job-to-job with no real savings. Our industry is immediately impacted by social distancing and by disruption in other sectors which means that those who pay for our services are tight on cash themselves.

“However for sex workers these fears are compounded by legal structures which make our job criminal. Selling and paying for sex isn’t against the law butworking with a friend, soliciting sex on the street and brothel keeping - a brothel, by the way, may simply be two sex workers working together from the same premesis - are all illegal.

“While some sex workers have qualified for government support, the criminalisation and stigma associated with sex work pose huge problems. As many of us become reliant on Universal Credit, explaining our work is fraught and, for many, impossible. Meanwhile, loopholes in the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) have left many of us stranded.

Migrant sex workers share vulnerability with precarious workers across all survival, cash-in-hand sectors (eg, cleaners, babysitters, car wash workers, shop workers, pub workers). Those of us with visa restrictions and those whose immigration status gives us no recourse to public funds (NRPF) cannot claim for support.

“Like other workers, we are being forced to choose between earning an income and risking our and our loved ones’ health. Contact with health professionals is hindered by criminalisation because many sex workers, especially migrant sex workers, won’t access support for fear of arrest, deportation or discrimination. Many sex workers fear disclosing to health professionals, and those who are using drugs, are homeless or who do not have fixed residency status will face even greater challenges.”

Working during the pandemic means increased community surveilling and an increase in police

powers. SWARM has heard reports from around the country of street based sex workers being

shouted at, spat at and reported to the police. There has been an increase in local news stories

of brothel raids prompted by neighbours reporting workers under “Covid 19 concerns”.

Undocumented workers face no protection from the state, while trans sex workers and workers

of colour face heightened discimination and violence.

We stand with The English Collective of Prostitutes, x:talk, Scot-PEP and Umbrella Lane in

calling for the full decriminalisation of sex work, and an immediate end to brothel closures, raids

and arrests of people who are sex working. We demand the immediate and appropriate access

to financial and housing support. If supporters would like to help, we urge them to write to their

MPs.