H00kers against Hardship - mutual aid for SWers

The Hookers Against Hardship campaign is a coalition of the major sex worker-led organisations in the UK, including SWARM ; the English Collective of Prostitutes ; Scot-pep ; United Sex Workers ; Bristol Sex Workers’ Collective ; and Decrim Now .

We’re campaigning to raise awareness of the specific experiences of sex workers during, and because of, the cost of living crisis. We know this crisis will push more people into sex work, especially women and mothers, and many already precarious sex workers into poverty - and we want to ensure we aren't forgotten.

We're working to help to alleviate sex workers’ financial hardship by asking people to donate to sex worker-led organisations which support sex workers in crisis. Money raised in this GoFundMe will be distributed to sex workers in financial crisis, using the networks we built during SWer mutual aid projects during the pandemic lockdowns.

The Hookers Against Hardship Campaign

Many people go into sex work because of poverty. Right now we are facing a spiralling cost of living crisis, with many people struggling to afford food, rent, or energy. People in other industries are organising for pay rises to help combat the rise in the cost of living; but this isn’t possible for sex workers. Most sex workers are self-employed, or employed in a criminalised workplace. This makes sex workers especially vulnerable, with a lack of recourse to both workers’ rights and state or employer support.

As the cost of living goes up, sex workers can feel pushed to take more risks at work in order to keep afloat. This can lead to a greater risk of exploitation or violence from clients who know that sex workers are unable to report to the police, or unable to seek income elsewhere.

We’re asking people to donate to sex worker-led organisations through this GoFundMe if they’re able to, so that sex workers in crisis can continue to be supported.

We need the public to share information about the campaign with their family and friends so that we can raise awareness of sex workers’ specific experiences of the cost of living crisis, and the support they need.

The government must do more to support people in poverty, and to prevent people from having to go into sex work in the first place. We’re asking people to email their MP to ask them to support our demands: rent controls for the whole of the UK, and a moratorium on evictions; amnesty from arrest for sex workers; access to benefits for all, at a living wage; and an end to benefit sanctions. For those already doing sex work, we also need full decriminalisation, so that all sex workers can earn the money they need in safety.

You can find out more about the campaign on the Decrim Now website, or on Twitter at @HAHcampaign.