Report – ‘No Viable Option: Career Goals, Motivations, and Barriers Faced in Sex Work & Mainstream Work’
4 September 2024
This report is a summary of the many surveys and interviews conducted by our project researchers, as well as focus groups hosted by the ECP. The Leaving the Game project explored the interactions between sex work and mainstream work with London’s sex workers. Using the insights and expertise of the community, our researchers developed Vocational Support workshops helping members to progress and achieve their goals.
The report concludes with recommended actions for the following:
- Employers and Job Seeker Platforms
- Banking and Financial Institutions
- National Government
- And ourselves, National Ugly Mugs, as a dedicated support service
31% of those surveyed felt they could not tell employers about the skills gained through sex work.
“I have certain skills that I learned from my sex work, I made my own bookings and I was my own secretary, I organised my photo shoots, I did my social media you know, there’s endless things you can say about it, but because you can’t…I had a massive gap on my CV“
30% cited low wages in mainstream as a barrier to leaving sex work.
“I just thought, you know, this is less money and I’m getting sexually harassed, I may as well deal with sexual attention and earn a fortune.”
67% would not disclose their sex work to financial institutions
“If it wasn’t for the community around me I would have been absolutely lost.”
Click here for the full report.
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