TheExecutioner:
Sex workers demand government bailout as coronavirus pandemic hits their takings

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The English Collective of Prostitutes, based in London, want the government to recognise thousands of sex workers across the country as employees affected by Coronavirus.

Sex workers are demanding a bailout from the government after seeing their income plummet because of the coronavirus crisis.

The English Collective of Prostitutes, based in Kentish Town, London, want the government to recognise thousands of sex workers across the country as employees.

The organisation wants sex workers to be able to access the financial support offered to other employees affected by the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping across the world, Birmingham Live reports.

In a statement seen by the website, the group says: "Much sex work involves personal contact – exactly what we are being warned against if the virus is to be contained.

"The virus comes on top of a crisis of poverty, especially among women.

"Most sex workers are mothers, mainly single mothers, who have been made poorer by austerity cuts."

Figures show one and a half million people have been made destitute by government policies and four million children are living in poverty.

And thousands of families in the UK rely on the income from sex work to survive.

The group continues: "Sex workers’ income is down and for some women it has almost disappeared.

"Some women are turning to non-contact forms of sex work like camming where possible.

"Women working on the street, migrant and trans workers, who already have the highest rates of poverty, arrest and violence, are particularly suffering.

"Like other workers, we are being forced to choose between earning an income and risking ours and our loved ones’ health.

"Contact with health professionals and contact tracing measures are hindered by criminalisation because we can’t say what we do or who we know for fear of arrest and discrimination.

"We must have access to emergency money. Sex workers are denied status as workers so we are denied the rights and entitlements other workers may have.

"Many of us, and the families who depend on our income, will face destitution if we can’t access whatever emergency money workers win from the government. If sex workers’ contribution to the survival and welfare of people was more visible, our status would rise, and our demands would be seen to be more valid.

"We need rent, mortgage, utility bill relief and emergency housing for homeless sex workers."

The group has been at the heart of a long-running campaign calling for the decriminalisation of sex work and an immediate moratorium on raids, arrests and prosecutions.

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