The sexual health outcomes of sex workers within England (v1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Trends in sexual and reproductive health outcomes of people working in the sex industry within England
IRAS ID
345205
Contact name
Michelle Pearson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2024/06/71, UCL data protection registration
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
The number of people directly involved in the sex industry is difficult to establish but previous estimates have suggested the number to be over 80,000 in the UK,a third of which are based in London. In terms of health and social well-being, sex workers can experience higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (STI’s), unplanned pregnancy and abortion, as well as increased risk of violence, harassment, sexual assault, exploitation and murder. The law and policing of sex work in a country has been shown to a significant determinant on health outcomes and therefore research from other countries cannot be easily extrapolated. National surveillance annually publishes the number of new infections but it does not report on the number who tested to provide context on its significance. In the last 10 years there have been major social-political events that have impacted on the demographics of those working in the sex industry e.g. Britain leaving the EU, Covid-19 pandemic, changes in Scottish and Irish laws on sex work, increasing student fees, migration from war zones and the cost of living crisis. The increase in online adult entertainment such as OnlyFans and the cross over into in-person services has also changed the landscape of the sex industry.
The study is a descriptive cross-sectional study looking at the trends in sexual and reproductive health outcomes of sex workers over the last 5 years in those attending for sexual health care within England. Data will be retrospective and the study is expected to last 24 months starting from recruiting clinic sites, transfer of anonymised individual level data, analysis and reporting of findings. Any clinical site that provides sexual health care to sex workers will be eligible to participate and all patients who identified as a sex worker will be included for analysis.
REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/LO/0735
Date of REC Opinion
9 Oct 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion