In a new blog post, “COVID-19 Could be Uniquely Serious for Sex Workers,” Slixa.com is addressing the worldwide financial impact the coronavirus outbreak is wreaking on every level of sex work.
Sex worker rights activist and advocate Kate D’Adamo writes that “with the world’s first global pandemic in more than 10 years, sex workers are responding to a situation already cloaked in health fears, hysteria, insufficient institutional response… for people who operate in a non-essential services market, which often includes intimate physical contact, the impact has been broad.
“In efforts to limit physical spread of the virus, many companies, including Twitter, Google and Facebook (as well as the federal government), have all restricted employee travel in various ways. For areas of the adult entertainment industry, who are often reliant on conferences and travelers, these cancellations are really starting to add up,” D'Adamo continued.
But for this inadequately serviced industry that still operates in the shadows of big business, quarantine isn’t an option when the bills have to be paid. “My bottom line has taken the hit too, you just won’t see it in Forbes,” notes one New York-based provider.
Above all, the workers’ health remains their top priority. “I’m forgiving all last-minute cancellations… I don’t want to get sick, so I’ll say, ‘[if you’re not feeling well] please stay home,’” says Seattle-based provider Solana Sparks.
Community outreach programs such as HIPS in Washington, D.C., “have already been feeling the challenges, especially in how rapidly things are changing,” writes D’Adamo. HIPS’ Alexandra Bradley adds that "in terms of outreach, we're operating on an 'everything is changing every couple of hours' basis … there's no real barrier, so everybody's trying to do their very best for everybody to stay safe."
D’Adamo concluded that “in the end, the two most resilient things are always going to be sex workers and the desire for sex, especially in times of crisis,” referring to Sparks’ hopeful observation: “As things get stressed out, we can be a lot of peoples’ outlets.”
Read blog post in full at Slixa.com/blog/experience/coronavirus-impacts-sex-work.
