Decriminalisation of Student Sex Worker Policy
The cost-of-living crisis, along with high tuition fees and poor maintenance support from our government, has meant that more and more students have gone into sex work to support themselves. One in five students have considered doing some form of sex work, and of those, 2/3 would do so in order to support their studies. As per UK government regulations, international students can work a maximum of 20 hours per week- at minimum wage. This results in a monthly income of £872. With the overall cost of living increasing, international students endure significant challenges in meeting their financial needs. International students are therefore more likely to be pushed into informal/criminalised work, which includes but is not limited to sex work. This puts them at increased risk of criminalisation and deportation as a result.
While neither buying nor selling sex is currently illegal in the UK, various offences like “loitering and soliciting” and “brothel keeping” are. In practice, this means that sex workers, forced to work alone, are less able to keep themselves safe putting them at greater risk of rape and other violence and depriving them of resources and compensation. The fear of discrimination and the stigma that often surrounds sex work is isolating, and is forcing student sex workers to keep their job hidden from peers, family and university staff. In an educational environment, discrimination against sex working students can lead to students being kicked off study courses, being evicted from student housing, and having private information disclosed by support staff without consent.
Therefore, the Guild of Students should commit to:
• Demonstrate its support for the full decriminalisation of sex work, as advocated for by sex-worker led organisations like the English Collective of Prostitutes, Decrim Now and International organisations such as UNAIDS, The Global Alliance against Traffic in Women, Amnesty International and the World Health Organization. New Zealand decriminalised in 2003 with verifiable improvements in sex workers’ health and safety.
• Oppose an increase in criminalisation including the so-called Nordic Model (in which buyers are criminalised), which has been shown to increase exploitation and violence.
• Recognise sex work as an economic rather than moral issue and commit to protecting student sex workers from discriminatory and stigmatising disciplinary actions and morality clauses. This includes a commitment to help to fight any issues with access to housing and employment that student sex workers can face on the basis of their current or previous work.
• Train support staff in responding to student sex workers who disclose and be prepared to provide well-informed, confidential and tailored support, counselling and signposting to student sex workers.
• Make disclosure by a student or staff member of someone’s sex worker status without their consent, a breach of the Union and/or University’s disciplinary code. Disclosing someone’s status without their consent risks their safety, wellbeing and relationships within and outside the university.
• Deliver a review of hardship funds with a view to making them more accessible to students engaged in sex work, without necessitating disclosure by students of their sex-working status.