Escorting: A Matter of My Body My Choice?

Selling sex in the U.K. is not illegal, so long as the participants involve consenting adults over the age of 18 years old. The Oasis Project talks about SWOP Sussex, a sex workers outreach programme for people who live and work in the sex industry in the English county, nevertheless adds that the law around the sex industry is extremely complicated. So much so that they claim it can make working alongside other people difficult – particularly from a personal health and safety perspective.

Escort Redhottrio mentioned in an interview with Escort Rankings that, in her experience, the police often don't take any crime against a sex worker seriously enough. This is because there is often a prevailing societal attitude that sex workers must have brought violence and abuse upon themselves by taking the risks they do every time they work. The projects nevertheless emphasise the importance of reporting any violence, abuse, or any other crime to the police.

However, while there is often a concentration of news reports on sex trafficking and sexual exploitation in the mainstream media, there are escorts who – despite the risks - choose to do escorting and sex work on the basis that they wish to offer a service and believe that it's their body and therefore their choice to do the work they do. Escorts are therefore calling for them to be able to operate in a safer environment, without fear of violence or abuse.

Supporting sex workers is the English Collective of Prostitutes, which says it is “campaigning for the decriminalisation of prostitution, for sex workers' rights and safety, and for resources to enable people to get out of prostitution if they want to. Our network includes sex workers working on the street and in premises.”

My body, my choice

Social media user The Real Blue Giant says on Reddit, 'The phrase "my body, my choice" should also apply to prostitutes and drug users', arguing: “When a person decides to sell sex for money, or to do drugs, their choice is only affecting themselves. Hence, it's their body, and if they want to use it to have sex for money or to do drugs, it is their choice to do so. “

The trouble is that society has some double standards about sex. It is happy to see nude art, or to see a woman in sexy lingerie, and there are people who look down at sex workers while quietly watching porn at home. There are some clients who see escorts as just sex objects who don't deserve respect and good health, thinking they can take more risks with escorts than they do with their partners.

Escorts therefore need to look after themselves by screening their clients before there is any face-to-face interaction to ensure they are healthy and don't have any sexually transmitted diseases and aren't going to risk the safety of the escort with whom they wish to engage. They also have the right to decline performing any client request with which they aren't comfortable.

Escorts taking charge

So, My Body, My Choice isn't just about whether or not society should accept sex work as a valid profession. It's also about enabling escorts and sex workers more generally to have the power to say, “No thanks!” if they feel a client poses a risk to them. Equally, to ensure that their clients are safe, most escorts take care of their clients by getting screened for STDs regularly. Some escorts may also employ a driver, or someone to alert or protect them if they feel they are being put into danger.

My Body, My Choice is therefore about escorts taking charge of themselves and their bodies to the extent they ask: Most adults are having sex, so what's the problem? However, being an escort doesn't mean they will accept every client. So, if they don't like a potential client, they have the choice to decline any interaction.

Similarly, for most escorts it's also a choice as to whether they choose to be an escort or to work in a normal 9-5 job. Sex workers who've chosen their profession want people to accept what they do without being penalised, and without any hypocritical judgement. To them it is a case of my body, my choice to make their clients' fantasies a reality, to entertain them, or to simply provide company and an ear to listen to them because it isn't all about sex, while keeping themselves safe and in business.