Why online advertising matters for sex worker safety
26 February 2026

Adult services websites are a central part of how many sex workers in the UK work safely and independently. Yet they are frequently misunderstood in public and policy debate, often portrayed solely as spaces of exploitation.

The reality is more complex.

As the UK’s national sex worker safety charity, National Ugly Mugs (NUM) works with thousands of sex workers each year and circulates close to one million safety alerts annually warning of individuals linked to violence or harm. From this frontline position, we see clearly how online visibility enables safety and what happens when it is reduced.

Why online visibility matters for safety

Most sex workers in the UK now work off-street and use online advertising to connect with clients. This shift has enabled many to move away from more dangerous working environments and to work independently.

Online communication allows sex workers to:

• screen and vet clients

• negotiate boundaries and services in advance

• share information about dangerous individuals

• avoid isolated or unsafe situations

Research consistently shows that when sex workers are able to screen and communicate with clients beforehand, the likelihood of violence is significantly reduced compared to situations where this is not possible.

Visibility and safety go hand in hand. When visibility drops, risk increases.

What people often misunderstand about adult services websites

Public debate often assumes that most advertising on adult services websites is linked to organised exploitation. Evidence and frontline experience do not support this.

The majority of adverts are placed by independent sex workers managing their own work. Multiple adverts may appear for a single individual due to touring, safety practices such as using pseudonyms, or platform algorithms that promote visibility.

This does not mean exploitation does not exist. It does and must be taken seriously. But conflating all online advertising with trafficking risks obscuring where real harm is occurring and makes it harder to identify those who need support.

Sex workers themselves are often the first to notice patterns of coercion or concerning behaviour but only if they feel safe enough to report it.

The role of community-led safety infrastructure

National Ugly Mugs operates the UK’s largest sex worker safety and reporting system. As a community-led charity, we provide a trusted space for sex workers to report violence, share safety information and access support.

Information shared with NUM is returned directly to the community through real-time alerts, helping to prevent harm before it occurs. This system relies on workers being able to remain visible and connected.

Some adult services websites choose to work in partnership with NUM to strengthen user safety, recognising the value of independent, community-led safeguarding and intelligence. These collaborations can improve both harm prevention and the identification of exploitation.

Adult services websites are not a perfect system

Online platforms are not without problems. Sex workers themselves have raised concerns about:

• inconsistent moderation and sudden account closures

• loss of income without warning

• data privacy risks

• financial discrimination linked to platform use

• lack of labour protections

Sex workers are not asking for a lack of regulation. They are asking for proportionate, evidence-based regulation that improves safety and accountability without removing the tools that allow them to work more safely.

Acknowledging these challenges is essential. Removing visibility does not resolve them, it can make them worse.

What happens when visibility is removed

International evidence shows that when online advertising platforms are removed or heavily restricted, sex work does not disappear. Instead, it shifts into less visible and less regulated spaces such as private messaging groups, offshore platforms or street-based work.

This fragmentation reduces transparency and makes it harder for support services and law enforcement to identify and respond to exploitation or violence.

Policies that unintentionally push sex workers further underground risk increasing isolation, reducing access to support, and weakening safeguarding systems.

Removing platforms does not remove harm, but it can make it harder to detect.

A safety-led approach

Effective responses to exploitation must prioritise safety, trust and visibility.
This includes:

• proportionate regulation of online platforms

• collaboration with specialist support organisations

• safeguarding systems that sex workers trust

• clear routes for reporting harm without fear of punishment

The Online Safety Act provides an opportunity to strengthen oversight and cooperation without removing visibility. Building on this framework is likely to be more effective than approaches that drive activity into less visible spaces.

Online advertising is now central to how many sex workers maintain independence and manage risk. Policy discussions about adult services websites must be grounded in evidence and the lived realities of those who rely on them.

Reducing visibility does not eliminate exploitation. It risks increasing harm and making it harder to identify those who need support.

National Ugly Mugs will continue working with sex workers, policymakers and partners to ensure that safety, autonomy and access to support remain at the centre of any future regulation.

Read our full parliamentary briefing on Adult Services Websites here – Adult Services Websites, February 2026

IASC Investigation

The Independent Anti Slavery Commissioner has released a review of the role adult service websites play in enabling sexual exploitation and trafficking which can be read in full here – Behind the Profile: Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking through Adult Services Websites

A quote from our CEO –

” No one should be subjected to online exploitation, and adult services websites should maintain high safety standards, to prevent the kind of abuses set out in this report. It is important to remember, however, that ASWs help sex workers stay safer, enabling them to work away from the streets, screen clients before meeting, and access support services.

Removing access to safer online working environments would not prevent exploitation; it would risk pushing people into less visible and more dangerous situations, making it harder to identify abuse and harder for those experiencing it to seek help – making their lives more difficult and dangerous.

We remain committed to working with policymakers, regulators and survivors of exploitation to ensure that efforts to tackle harm genuinely improve safety for everyone affected. “