Britain’s cost-of-living crisis is pushing more of its sex workers into taking potentially dangerous risks in order to make ends meet.
Rocketing UK inflation – which remains above 10% – has forced even more vulnerable Britons into such work to pay spiraling bills, advocates for the sector say.
ECP
The English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), which campaigns to decriminalise prostitution, improve safety and help sex workers leave the profession if they want, is worried about the impact of the soaring cost of living.
Jack Parker, 24, who works as a male escort in London, told AFP that he initially avoided clientele he had a “bad feeling” about.
But that changed as the number of clients rapidly dwindled, forcing him to drum up more business. “It used to be that if a client gave me any kind of bad feeling I Growers need to adequately prepare for El Niño wouldn’t book them,” Parker said.
“But I started to see people I did have bad feelings about just because I was… not getting enough clients for me to be able to turn any down.”
The cost-of-living squeeze, which worsened dramatically last year, has also prompted cash-strapped customers to book less.
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Luxury
“For them it’s… a luxury thing that they’re cutting down on,” added Parker, who has slashed his hourly fee from £140 (about R3 000) to £110 as a result. Paying for sex is legal in the UK, apart from Northern Ireland, but many related activities such as soliciting, running a brothel, pimping and advertising sexual services are illegal.
The ECP argues that this isolates vulnerable sex workers and forces them underground. Rampant inflation has worsened the matter as workers become ever more desperate.
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