Report: Sex Workers Agree the Internet Makes Prostitution Safer

The Internet makes prostitution safer, giving so-called sex workers “more control” and reducing the risk of violence, according to a report.

In a survey of 641 internet-using prostitutes in the UK, more than 80 percent “were either satisfied or very satisfied with their working conditions, with half agreeing that their work was socially useful most or all of the time,” the Guardian reported.

“The study by academics at the universities of Leicester and Strathclyde found that the internet had given sex workers much more control over their working conditions and reduced the risk of physical attack,” they explained. “It found a high level of online abuse, but only 5% of those surveyed had experienced physical assault in the last year.”

Risk of physical attack was lowered with prostitutes able to “screen clients, avoid drugs and alcohol, choose where they work and provide peer support,” and nearly 80 percent of those surveyed claimed the Internet “had improved the quality of their working life.”

“It still doesn’t take away the dangers that sex comes with, but as a sex worker I feel a lot safer knowing that I can vet my clients,” declared sex worker Charlotte Rose. “Ten years ago it was just a phone call, whereas now it’s a phone call, it’s an email, we can research their names online. There’s an organisation called National Ugly Mugs that gives us an opportunity to check phone numbers, to see if they have been reported. This is absolutely brilliant for sex workers’ safety.”

Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington, or like his page at Facebook.