EU migrant sex work in the UK post-referendum

Connelly, LJ; English Collective of Prostitutes, (ECP)

Abstract

Over recent decades, UK governments have implemented increasingly repressive immigration controls. Stricter conditions of entry have been accompanied by an expanding immigration detention estate, the increased use of criminal penalties for so-called immigration ‘offences’, and an increasingly hostile environment for people who have migrated to the UK. The UK can be particularly hostile for migrant sex workers, with the quasi-criminalised and stigmatised nature of the sex industry compounding the negative effects of ‘migrant’ status. It is in this socio-political context that we set out to explore: 1) what impact, if any, the EU Referendum result had on EU migrant sex workers; and 2) what strategies EU migrant sex workers have adopted to navigate sex work post-Referendum. The findings included in this report draw on the views and experiences of 41 EU migrant sex workers. We show that violence and xenophobia have increased post-Referendum. However, far from being able to rely on the police for support, migrant sex workers are facing harm at the hands of the police, increased criminalisation and - via close working between the police and immigration agencies - an increased risk of deportation. We make a number of evidence-informed recommendations to redress the negative experiences of migrant sex workers in the post-Referendum context.

Citation

Connelly, L., & English Collective of Prostitutes, (. (2021). EU migrant sex work in the UK post-referendum

• Report Type: Project Report
• Online Publication Date: May 20, 2021
• Publication Date: May 20, 2021
• Deposit Date: May 24, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: May 24, 2021
• Publisher URL: https://prostitutescollective.net/eu-migrant-sex-work-in-the-uk-post-referendum/
• Related Public URLs: https://prostitutescollective.net/