Sebastian Shehadi

Technology reporter

"The virus is a disaster for client-facing businesses - and sex work is no different," says Goddess Cleo, a dominatrix from London.

"Most of my income is generated from one-on-one sessions and events. I [normally] only make a bit of money through online avenues."

But like many others, Cleo has switched focus to digital since the lockdown came into effect.

But for many client-facing sex workers, moving online is not a simple solution.

"It's not about flashing ya nipple and earning big bucks", wrote UK sex worker Gracey on Twitter.

"It takes ages to gain an online following and even longer for [them] to buy your content."

Using the online platforms means having to give them a cut of earnings.

And there is a need to invest in equipment, including "tripod, decent lighting, sex toys, et cetera", which can be challenging to acquire during the lockdown.

StripChat, for example, is handing out hundreds of free tokens to new viewers worldwide, enough for each recipient to pay a sex worker for a 10-minute private session.

"By acting as a central bank, we can increase the money supply and help the new wave of performers survive the crisis," Max says.

"We've also doubled our payouts to our Italian models.

"As a social network of over 60 million people a month, we have a tremendous platform to [help] keep users off the streets."

No choice

But for some sex workers, the costs and challenges of moving online are simply too large.

"There are sex workers still meeting clients in person because they don't have a choice," Lizzy says.

"That anyone has to choose between having enough money to live on and risking their and others' health during a pandemic is ridiculous."

Some support is available to these workers.

For example, Butterfly - an Asian and migrant sex worker support network - has published a Covid-19 guide that recommends sexual positions that minimise face-to-face contact, among other precautions.

But the nature of the industry makes it difficult for workers to tap into government schemes to compensate self-employed workers for lost earnings.

Prostitution itself is not illegal in England, Wales and Scotland - though it is unlawful to pay for sex in Northern Ireland - but the trade is often cash in hand and unrecorded.

In the US, the massive Covid-19 bailout bill explicitly excludes legal sex workers from protection. According to the English Collective of Prostitutes, many sex workers are single mothers already made poorer by austerity measures - and the coronavirus is now exacerbating their situation.

With these concerns in mind, hundreds of online initiatives have popped up worldwide, such as the Covid-19 hardship fund from Swarm, a UK sex worker-led collective.

It says it has already used donations to support 234 sex workers in need

The long-term solution, however, is for better government support for sex workers, says Goddess Cleo.

"When sex work is treated as actual work and fully decriminalised, sex workers will have access to the same human rights as every other worker," she says.