Editor's note: This post contains discussion of themes involving sexual exploitation and sexual violence. During the research for this article, 15 dancers and 4 full-service sex workers were interviewed. The research helped provide a fuller picture of how legislation does and would operate for them and the unique struggles they face.
The sex work industry is diverse, and there are many sex workers operating within the United Kingdom UK. The University of Bristol published a report on the nature and prevalence of sex work in the UK in , [1] which identified 14 settings and services of sex work such as brothels and glamour modelling.
The report made it clear that sex work involves a wide variety of jobs, including independent and agency escorting β referred to here as prostitution to reflect the use of the term in legislation β lap-dancing, and webcamming. Additionally, the report estimated that there are 85, individuals operating as street-based and indoor sex workers within the UK.
The large numbers of sex workers and the variety of areas that they operate in make it clear that sex work cannot be ignored, and ways must be found to support the individuals who work in this industry.
Within the UK, some forms of sex work such as lap-dancing are legal, whilst prostitution is partially decriminalised. This means that although it is not a criminal activity to exchange sex for money, many of the activities surrounding prostitution are criminalised.
