Image-based sexual abuse, such as ‘revenge porn’ and ‘deepfakes’, has entered mainstream discussions of digital safety, with governments introducing laws aimed at protecting the public online. Yet sex workers, many of whom confront online harms daily, remain excluded from these conversations. ‘Sex workers are often talked about but not talked to,’ says Yigit Aydinalp of the European Sex Worker Alliance (ESWA), a network of organizations advocating for the human and labour rights of sex workers.
Sex workers using digital platforms are at particular risk from unscrupulous porn sites that fail to crack down on abuse and clients sharing content without consent. But criminalization and social demonization mean that these workers are not granted the same victimhood when it comes to online harms. A sex worker going by the name of Rose explains: ‘When someone Photoshops the head of a famous person onto a porn actress’s body, it’s always about the face. But that body also belongs to a person who has had their image stolen.’
