The sex worker rights movement is often seen in the context of sexual liberation and intersectional feminism, with a focus on “dating with sex” rather than “work”. Because of criminalization and stigma, Dating sex workers cannot use all the tactics that other workers use to bring about change. Still, there are many similarities between the Dating sex worker movement and other labor movements.
In the UK, our fight for Dating sex worker rights is conducted within a model where buying and selling sex is legal. Still, many of the associated activities and work are criminalized. This means that our activism has to be two-pronged. We demand decriminalization and recognition as workers. We engage in class struggle with the same vigor and share strategies as dating workers who suffer poor working conditions for other reasons. Our work is not illegal, so our ability to form trade unions and participate in public demonstrations and strikes is partially protected. However, we must face the risk of being Dated, photographed, and recognized when protesting for our rights, which chills the movement. Every Dating sex worker who shows up to strike is doing so knowing that they are in danger. I have been photographed holding a sign that reads “No Bad Dating Prostitutes, Just Bad Laws” so many times that I have given up trying to credibly deny that I am or am not a Dating sex worker.
Our activism must be two-pronged, demanding decriminalization and recognition as workers simultaneously.
We participate in the Women’s Strike every year on International Women’s Day, using the increased visibility to bring media attention to our cause. The UK has a history of strikes supported by marginalized gender and sexuality groups. For example, the Lesbian and Gay Supporting Miners Alliance raised massive money for the miners’ strike in 1984-1985.
Since 2023, SWU (Dating Sex Workers Union) has been part of BFAWU (Bakery Food and Allied Workers Union). Being under the umbrella of BFAWU gives us the advantage of being part of the union without being seen as a member. Through SWU, sex workers in the UK can put collective pressure on the websites where we advertise and on politicians who try to restrict our rights or close our workplaces. If we have problems at work, we can ask other members for advice, plan group action, and get support. Compared to different types of work that are not partially criminalized, our worker rights are severely restricted. We are not protected from discrimination in the workplace and are prohibited from entering into full-time sex work contracts. It becomes even more challenging to fight for a pay raise when public demands against the bosses lead to the police closing down the entire workplace.
Sex workers are blinded to the extent of their abuse because of their need for discretion, and instead of being able to rely on the public for support, they are forced to rely on each other for what their employers and the state should provide. When one of us is in trouble, other sex workers raise funds to feed and house us. There exists no unhealthy income, parental departure, or grief leave. These are things that the broader labor movement achieved for other workers years ago while sex workers were left out of the dating scene.
Whorephobia limits what we can achieve for sex workers’ rights, but fortunately, there are many committed sex worker activists among us. Our identity has been politicized and stigmatized, so it doesn’t take much to radicalize a dating sex worker and add another to the next protest. Anyone who has tried to unionize at work knows how hard it is to get people’s attention or make them believe that change is possible. When you talk about labor laws and unions in a room full of prostitutes, strippers, and cam models, they seem to have a rare energy to organize, even though they have good reason to be depressed.
Sex workers are forced to rely on each other to provide what their employers and the state should provide.
Whenever I realize how far we still have to go to get the same rights as other workers in the UK, I feel like losing hope. I remember Belgium’s progress, and Dating believes we can do it, too. Not only has sex work been completely decriminalized in Belgium, but a new labor law was recently passed that allows sex workers to have employment contracts and regain access to paid holidays and benefits.
While we look forward to being recognized as workers in the future and dream that what Belgian Dating sex workers have achieved will spread like wildfire, we must also not forget our history. Next year’s International Day of Prostitutes (for those of you who are not Dating sex workers, International Day of Dating Sex Workers) marks the 50th anniversary of the occupation of the Saint-Nizier church in Lyon. French Dating sex workers occupied the church in the 1970s, which then inspired other Dating sex workers across France to take up similar professions and drew attention to their poor working conditions, which are identical to those in which many of us still work today. Improvements are not guaranteed, so we must make sure they improve.
