In December, the government published Freedom from violence and abuse: a cross-government strategy, a long-awaited strategy to prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG). A promise to halve VAWG in a decade was part of their election campaign, and remains central to this strategy. Sex workers face some of the most disproportionate risks of violence in our society – how does the strategy work for them?

Before the strategy was published, the sex work community was initially concerned that client criminalisation laws would be introduced, much like MPs’ attempts earlier this year as part of the Crime and Policing Bill. This turned out not be the case.

Instead, sex workers are almost invisible in the VAWG strategy. There is one mention of “prostitution” as a context in which VAWG can take place, but that remains the sole reference to selling sex. Women who experience multiple disadvantages are considered as part of the strategy – defined as “combinations of homelessness and rough sleeping, poor mental health, substance use, domestic abuse and contact with the criminal justice system”. Selling sex, particularly on-street, intersects with many of these issues, yet it is not noted as part of this. It is highly concerning that a group of people who experience the most disproportionate levels of violence have been excluded entirely from the strategy, with little recognition.

Another potentially concerning aspect of the strategy is the increase in surveillance strategies. The strategy mentions increasing the capabilities of the Tackling Organised Exploitation (TOEX) programme, which will involve increased monitoring of adult services websites. While this is intended to identify victims of child sexual exploitation, it also places online sex workers under a greater microscope, and we have seen how other monitoring tools such as the STIM tool can cause greater harm to sex workers through over-identification and mis-identification of victims.

Furthermore, the strategy expresses clear concerns about the impact of pornography, describing much of it as “aggressive, coercive or misogynistic in nature”. We are wary of the impact such rhetoric can have on those who work within the porn industry, framing them as perpetrators or co-conspirators to harm, which then feeds victim-blaming narratives if people do experience violence within the industry. We are supportive of media literacy education which covers pornography and greater workers’ rights within the porn industry to reduce harms and provide protection and safety.

There are aspects of the strategy which we welcome to support sex workers. For example, the banning of online “nudification” tools will prevent sex workers’ images being used without their consent to cause harm to women more broadly. We also support the introduction of Raneem’s Law, which aims to embed domestic violence specialists in 999 control rooms, as well as plans for each police force to have a specialist rape team. However, it is vital that these professionals understand the impact of stigma on marginalised groups and actively combat this in their work, or else these services will remain inaccessible for sex workers.

The VAWG strategy recognises that services to prevent violence and to support those who experience it should be delivered by “by and for” services rooted in lived experience. However, violence against sex workers is erased from the strategy, and sex worker organisations invisible, both within the document and the wider funding and policy landscape, leaving a gaping hole in provision. It is ill-advised to have excluded one of the groups that experiences the highest levels of violence from a strategy aiming to reduce it.

There are positive aspects across the strategy, for sex workers and for people who have experienced VAWG more broadly, but there are also strong concerns about how some of the provisions may be used, directly or indirectly, to cause harm to sex workers. It is particularly worth noting that violence against women and girls, and violence against sex workers, is systemic as much as it is interpersonal.

If we are to prevent violence against sex workers, they must be included in strategy, policy, service design and delivery. We must end the violent conditions which cause women to start selling sex and end the violent conditions which prevent them from stopping. Otherwise, the strategy merely intends to end violence against the women it deems respectable enough.

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