This site uses cookies to improve your experience and deliver personalised advertising. You can opt out at any time or find out more by reading our cookie policy. Neon lights in London's red light district photographed in Sex worker rights groups have expressed concern about what they perceive as a steady march toward legislation against online advertising.
The pressure applied to the Home Office during a debate in the House of Commons stopped short of demanding an outright ban on ads for sexual services on Vivastreet and Adultwork β both of which are registered outside of the UK and dominate the online prostitution marketplace.
But sex worker rights groups have expressed concern about what they perceive as a steady march toward legislation. Criminalisation, she argues, would drive prostitution underground and undermine the safety of sex workers, some of whom have shifted from the streets to the web.
I keep every penny I earn, all without the interference of an agency or other ubiquitous middle man. Another sex worker, who wishes to remain anonymous, says that if the government legislates to stop her from advertising online, she will be unable to advertise independently.
Also at the moment I use some websites for protection warning me about dangerous clients. Would they also be closed like what has happened in America? Approaches like this move us further away from decriminalisation which is what sex workers say they want, and evidence from New Zealand suggests works. In England and Wales it is not considered an offence to buy and sell sex. However, there are laws in place that are designed to protect prostitutes against exploitation and to prevent clients from buying sex from someone who has been a victim of trafficking.
