Sex Work 101

This video, made by members of Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) Chicago, is specifically about the legal situation in Chicago and is not made by lawyers – it’s made by and for sex workers. That said, it’s a really great tool for teaching sex workers how to handle themselves if they get arrested.

Though there are plenty of jobs in the sex industry that are perfectly legal to do – stripping (though degree of nudity depends on local laws), phone sex, and porn in some states are just a few examples – the act of exchanging sex for money (definitions of “sex” vary) is illegal in most places in the United States.

Online resources for women who work as escorts and the men who hire them often promote the idea of “money for companionship” as a way around the illegality of “money for sex.” This is why smart escorts advertise hourly rates, but don’t structure their rates around sex acts – ie there is no public evidence that they charge for specific sex acts (often referred to as “extras”).

However, just because a sex worker uses this clear language and doesn’t discuss sex acts with a client, the reality is that this does not make him or her immune to arrest.

This video is about what to do in that awful reality: what to say, what tactics police use to get a sex worker to admit his or her guilt, what a sex worker’s rights are, and some of the myths that are perpetuated by escorts, like the idea that a cop has to tell you he’s a cop if you ask him point blank (he doesn’t, and in fact some cops may go through with the sex act before arresting a sex worker).

This video was made by Red Light District Chicago.