LOS ANGELES—Last week, Grammy-nominated singer Kehlani released a new video in which she celebrates sex workers, portraying herself in the video watching online performances by a group of cam models.
This week, another Grammy nominee — British singer and dancer FKA Twigs — has done her one better, releasing a new music video in which she, herself, portrays a cam model. And Twigs has accompanied the video with a GoFundMe campaign to benefit sex workers in the United Kingdom, many of whom have been devastated economically by the coronavirus pandemic, and its health-related restrictions that have prevented them from earning income.
Sex workers the world over have struggled badly during the pandemic, and in the U.K, one-third have reported seeing clients anyway, despite the health risks, simply to avoid becoming financially destitute.
“i feel like now is the time for me to step forward, pay respect, and shine a light on the challenges facing sex workers, especially during these uncertain times,” Twigs wrote on her Instagram account Tuesday. “Sex workers I know and have met have discipline, craft, talent and work ethic — not only do they deserve better long-term, but their income has been wiped out by the lockdown and many are invisible to the financial aid available to others.”
Watch FKA Twigs new video, with rapper 645AR, titled “Sum Bout U” below.
Her GoFundMe campaign, which may be accessed at this link, will benefit three major U.K. groups that provide aid to the country’s sex workers: Lysistrata , the SWARM collective, and East London Strippers Collective.
In her Instagram post, Twigs wrote that she once worked “as a hostess in a gentleman’s club,” explaining that the job entailed “when one person pays another person for their time, anything from a conversation over dinner to sex work, and the club gets a cut of the fee.”
She said that her experiences have “not only informed the strong and formidable woman that I am today, but also a lot of my work as a music and visual artist.”
The GoFundMe campaign has set a goal of £30,000 (roughly $40,000), and as of Wednesday had raised £15,180 (approximately $20,000) toward that goal.
Photo By Foraggio Photographic / Wikimedia Commons
