The number of students turning to sex work is rising as a result of the pandemic, Sky News has learned. Figures show the percentage of those considering sex or adult work in a "cash crisis" has nearly doubled compared with last year. Live coverage of the latest coronavirus news and updates. Jessica says she was turned away from support services when she was a sex worker - now she campaigns to help others. Rose, which is not her real name, turned to online sex work after she effectively lost her job in a restaurant as a result of lockdown.
She says she is also classed as high-risk in relation to COVID , so working through a subscription website was "safer" and "financially easier". The student, who is yet to graduate, says some relatives do not know about her recent venture into sex work because they would not understand. She explains that without the work, which she describes as "performing and modelling", she would be "struggling" financially. The woman, in her 20s, says she "loves" her new source of income and refers to it as "one of the best things" she has ever done.
I'm in control of my own content and of my own body and I can do whatever I want with it because you can set your own levels. Her boyfriend knows about her work and is supportive. She says she earns hundreds, sometimes thousands, of pounds a month.
Rose says she feels safe doing it "most of the time" and the website's safety features help to make her feel secure. She says that with an unencrypted website she once "had something leaked on to a very dark site Hospitality and retail sectors have been hit particularly hard by job losses, both areas where students tend to find part-time work. As a result many have been affected by a loss of income, as well as diminishing financial support from their parents due to the worsening economy.
Tom Allingham, from Save The Student, says the number turning to sex work could jump in the year ahead. He wants to see greater financial support for students from the government and also for universities to create environments where students in sex or adult work "do not feel alone". Jessica Hyer Griffin has set up what is currently the country's only student sex worker support group, Support For Student Sex Workers, based in Manchester.
