University of Leicester ‘sex worker’ Toolkit and policy 

Luba Fein from FiLiA in conversation with Nicole.

Luba Fein: In December 2020, 8 months ago, some unusual troublesome event happened in the University of Leicester. This event turned out to upset many sex trade survivors. The event I'm talking about was the launch at University of Leicester, student sex worker policy and toolkit. Before we delve into the details, we must clarify something. We sex trade survivors tend to be suspicious of the terms ‘sex work’ and ‘sex worker’. The reason is that after seeing the sex industry with all its inhumane cruelty from inside we know very well that prostitution is neither sex nor work, it is more like sexual abuse. However, the University of Leicester claimed that the motivation behind delivering this toolkit is supporting the students in prostitution.

Okay, this is definitely worth the goal Today, I invited Nicole to talk with us about the student sex worker toolkit to understand the project better. 

Nicole is a sex trade survivor and feminist activist from the UK who can offer valuable insights on this issue. So thank you for joining us today Nicole, could you please elaborate a little bit more on the University of Leicester students’ sex worker policy and toolkit?

How was it decided and how it is expected to assist the students in prostitution? 

Nicole: Hi Luba, can I just say thank you very much for inviting me to speak today? So the University of Leicester has introduced the student sex work policy and two toolkits. One of the toolkits is for staff and the other one is for students.

And they've obtained funding to do this from the ESRC and the ESRC is the Economic and Social Research Council. 

I need to point out here as well that they've also received funding to roll the toolkits and the policies out to other universities too. So this is not just something that is affecting the University of Leicester.

First of all, if we look at the policy, it begins by explaining that the purpose is to ensure that any students, who are sex workers, are positively supported with their personal wellbeing and safety being considered as a priority. So obviously that's a good thing. And I would agree with that, that students who are involved in the sex trade should be supported and their safety and wellbeing prioritised, but as a sex trade and sex trafficking survivor, I am concerned that the policy doesn't take all the relevant issues into account.

If we look at the toolkit for students that does give lots of advice about how to keep themselves safe and really that safety advice just highlights how dangerous it really is to work in the sex trade.

 One example from the safety advice says that they recommend choosing a position during sexual intercourse where you are on top, because this is safer and you're more in control.

But then further advice to avoid COVID transmission says that it's safer to have sex in a doggy style position. And also it encourages a face down position to be taken, to avoid transmission of COVID, which is actually really dangerous for someone who's working in the sex trade and at risk of a violence.

So in the toolkit there's also advice on how to access counselling services. And there's a list of organizations that offer support to anyone working in the sex trade. But as far as I can see, none of those services listed have identified how they can support women who want to leave the sex trade. 

Luba Fein: How ubiquitous in your opinion is the phenomenon of students and prostitution?

Nicole: There was some research that was undertaken prior to the development of the policy and the toolkit. And that suggested that 5% of students have been involved in the sex trade with 20% having thought about it. But these figures also include the porn industry, strip clubs and webcamming as well as prostitution.

But this research was undertaken in 2015 and the figures may have changed now due to the sharp rise in costs for students. 

Luba Fein: Quite high percentage of students in prostitution, in various domains of the sex trade because porn and strip clubs and webcamming are not different from prostitution in my perception. They are also demands of the sex trade.

How many women in prostitution can acquire higher education? I mean, in your opinion, and based on your experience, how many women will be able to complete the studies while being in the sex trade? 

Nicole: This is a hard question to answer. I actually left prostitution so that I could pursue higher education.

And my experience was that the two weren't compatible. But I do recognise that is my personal experience and that would be different for other women, but women who are involved in prostitution and that who are also being coerced or pimped and women who have problems with addiction, would find it practically impossible to pursue higher education without a high level of support.

Luba Fein: Okay. So probably different women have different experiences. It was based on my experience and experience of many other women, not all of them, obviously your experience count, but many women weren’t able to complete higher studies and even the secondary school due to the prostitution trauma.

Nicole: It's extremely stressful being involved in prostitution and the sex trade. 

Luba Fein: I think that the fact the prostitution might traumatise a woman and make her unable to continue her studies. This fact should be mentioned. 

Nicole: Absolutely. 

 Luba Fein: In your opinion, so we have this toolkit and they just designed to assist students in prostitution, but in your opinion, what are the most urgent needs of the students in prostitution? It must be addressed by this toolkit. 

I have read it briefly and that one of its primary things was social isolation. As a survivor myself, I can relate to that. Leaving with a dark secret is horrible. Barely the only problem, not even the main problem. So is it enough to focus on social isolation? What was lacking in the toolkit in your opinion?

Nicole: Yeah, absolutely right. It's not the only by any means the only concern. I think the dangers are really under emphasised in the toolkit. The risk to mental health is greatly under emphasised as well as the high risk of exploitation, the risk to physical health and increased likelihood of turning to alcohol and drugs as a coping strategy.

 And the risk of developing complex trauma PTSD is higher for those in the sex trade or those who have exited the sex trade than it is for those who have left the armed forces and the dangers of being involved in the sex trade are so well known. And I just wonder why these have been omitted from the existing toolkit.

Luba Fein: Yeah. So speaking of PTSD and prostitution induced trauma. Are there any phone numbers or addresses of trauma focused care services or exit services or psychiatric help or psychological health? 

Nicole: Yeah. So it does list some support services and counselling services.

But as far as I'm aware, none of the services listed offer a clear exit strategy for anyone who wants to leave the sex trade. It seems to be more about supporting them while they're in the sex trade.

Luba Fein: I don’t understand how you can support a woman in prostitution psychologically while ignoring the fact that prostitution is the main source of trauma. Anyway, the other question is the explicit target audience of the toolkit is the students who are already in prostitution, but obviously the University cannot deliberately spare the students who are not in prostitution, everyone can access and get this toolkit. 

So in your opinion, if a young woman who has never been prostituted or reads the toolkit, what perception of the sex trade will she have? 

Nicole: So when I've read the toolkit and I just feel like it really normalises the sex trade and it offers it as a reasonable solution to anyone who is experiencing financial hardship.

Luba Fein: So according to the toolkit, how it is different from any other blue collar job?

Nicole: It doesn't really offer that. It doesn't really offer that it's any different apart from some of the safety issues that, in terms of it gives some advice on how to keep themselves safe. So for example, one of the bits of advice it gives is don't wear anything around your neck. So obviously that's to prevent someone from strangling you. 

So in an ordinary job, for example, somebody working in a supermarket or an office, would not be advised not to wear something around their neck to avoid being strangled. This isn't normal, it's not a normal job. 

Luba Fein: No it’s not a normal job, sounds like a military training.

Nicole: Exactly. And it's not a reasonable solution for someone who is experiencing problems with money and finance.

Luba Fein: Of what I understand from you is: the toolkit doesn't glamorise prostitution, but in some way it normalises it.

Nicole: Definitely. I think it's a good thing that it lists and gives advice on how students involved in prostitution can keep themselves safe, but actually by giving that advice it just demonstrates how dangerous it actually is.

But by promoting the toolkit, that is really normalising the sex trade as a reasonable option. 

Luba Fein: Yes. And another problem is that the toolkit can be accessed, not just by students in prostitution and not only by female students who are not in prostitution, but also male students, male students can read the toolkit too.

So let's imagine a young student, a young man who has never paid for sex before. What perception of prostitution will he develop after reading the toolkit? 

Nicole: So again, you know, it's promoting the idea that buying sex is acceptable and okay. And again, normalising the objectification and commodification of women's bodies and it normalises the buying of sex.

So the other thing that I feel it does is that it emboldens the sense of entitlement that men, many men already have over women. And they may even excuse the behaviour of sex buyers by saying that they're helping someone in financial hardship. 

Luba Fein: I'm familiar with this male perception, many men, many sex buyers, if you ask them, they will say ‘I help her to make a living I finance her children. I help her to manage some luxury or reasonable lifestyle. So now we have one more idea for them. I pay for her higher education. 

Nicole: Yeah, exactly. But, actually if they really cared about the woman and they were concerned that her opportunities to education were limited because of financial reasons, then surely they would just give them the money without asking them to perform sex acts.

Luba Fein: That's true. They never have an answer to that. 

While reading the tool kit, I have noticed that a great deal of it was dedicated to, not just psychological support, but there was also support of the decriminalisation model of the sex trade regulation.

I will briefly explain that the discourse related to the sex trade in the UK is extremely polarised. Many voices in the UK and worldwide are calling for the Nordic Model, which is a ban on buying sex services and pimping. 

Under the Nordic model, the Governments usually fund exit services for women who escape prostitution, as well as men and children. Other people call for blanket decriminalisation for everyone involved in the sex trade, including women in prostitution, sex buyers and pimps.

Decriminalisation normally includes setting up licensed brothels with loose regulation. The toolkit offers one sided view that fully supports decriminalisation. Let me remind you as of the toolkits, purpose, helping the prostituted students. So in your opinion, why do we need to decriminalise pimps to support students in prostitution?

Nicole: Exactly. Luba, the decriminalisation of pimps can only lead to more women being exploited by pimps. I think those that support full decriminalisation would argue that it's safer for women to work together or in brothels. But those people that run brothels are still primarily concerned with making money.

They may pay lip service to the safety of women, but the safest thing for women would actually be if they didn't have to be involved in the sex trade at all. 

Luba Fein: This educational material can achieve another purpose. Maybe they didn't mean it, but students can read it in. They may start to mobilise to support and promote decriminalisation, which is a basically promotes the pimp and not students in prostitution. 

So if you were asked and assigned with the task of designing a toolkit, a toolkit for students in prostitution, in campuses. So what content would you include in it? What messages, sources of info support? 

Nicole: I think it would be really important to ensure that the toolkit content gives a true picture of the realities of being involved in the sex trade, as well as offering support. I've already mentioned the risk to physical and mental health, the high risk of being attacked and worse. So I know this is going a little bit off track in terms of what you've asked me, but I survived sex trafficking. I've survived an arson attack. I've survived, being beaten and being kidnapped at gunpoint. And I'm lucky to be here and able to speak with you today about this. Many women aren't so lucky and my heart goes out to them and their loved ones. 

Now the existing toolkit does discuss some of the legal implications, but I think this would be something that would be important to be included in a bit more detail, because I do wonder if people realise that the risks of having a criminal record with prostitution stated on it can severely limit future employment options.

And I don't feel like this can be overemphasised enough. So something else that people may not be aware of is that if they're applying for work in some government departments or the civil service, it is quite likely that police records will also be checked even where there is no criminal record. So this has implications for anyone who has reported incidents to the police.

They may not have a criminal record themselves, but there would be an account of them being involved in the sex trade if they'd reported a crime that was committed against them. 

So, one example of this I've heard about is a young woman who was doing webcam work and through this, a man somehow discovered her real identity, and began to stalk.

So she reported him to the police and now she can no longer have her real name anywhere. So on a workplace website, for example, or the stalker will find out where she is again. So how does she explain this to her employers and work colleagues? Why she can't have her name on the employer's website? How can she avoid the stigma and repercussions?

So these are the kinds of things that I think it would be important to include in the toolkit, because I think it can really help people to think things through and understand the risks involved, which might not be that obvious. So within the toolkit, I'd also really like to see an emphasis on better financial support for students who are experiencing financial hardship.

So at present it's, approximately 73% of student income goes on accommodation costs. So it's no wonder that some students feel that they've got no choice other than to enter the sex trade. 

In the toolkit, I would also really like to see more advice on how they can exit the sex trade and advice on services that can help women to exit.

Luba Fein:  Do you have any good service that you can recommend now during this conversation for our listeners? 

Nicole: I think, what I'd like to do is in the show notes, if we have that information available in the show notes, and I was also hoping to include some further advice on those services.

Luba Fein: I think that as for now the best source in the UK to obtain reliable information on the sex trade is the website Nordic Model Now. Just type it in there, you've reached the site and then maybe I'm not familiar with any option for support for in trauma-focused care.

But I have heard of You My Sister a support service for survivors is a very advisable. 

Nicole: Yeah. I've been lucky enough to work with You My Sister and I'd highly recommend them as a service. 

Luba Fein: Thank you before we finish, would you like to add something? Some personal message? 

Nicole: I would just really like to say that I hope that if there's any woman who's involved in the sex trade, I really don't want them to feel bad about their choices. My message is that really I'd like you to be able to understand that there is support and services out there to help, but I completely understand why you would get involved in the first place. That's what I'd like to say. Thank you. 

Luba Fein: Thank you so much, Nicole, for everything. Have a nice day.