Sex industry

V Sailakshmi, 39, says sex work helped pay for her sister's wedding and for her father's funeral

‘We are demanding full decriminalization’: Sex workers in India rally for labor rights

June 10, 2022Women & Gender

Sex work is technically legal in India, but workers say they face stigma, harassment and violence — especially by the police. In recent years, sex worker collectives have formed to demand full decriminalization of sex work and recognition of their labor as worthy of protections and rights.

The economics of risk taking in the workplace

August 2, 2019Business, Economics and Jobs

a sign in amsterdam that says you can't drink in the street

Overtourism in Amsterdam’s red-light district provokes local outrage

June 12, 2019Culture

A woman holds a sign that says "Sex workers and residents against police raids and closures."

This English collective says Brexit unfairly targets sex workers for deportation

May 2, 2019Women & Gender

This Israeli Facebook group is a lifeline for women caught in a cycle of prostitution

January 31, 2019Women & Gender

Nuria at My Red Light, a social project in the form of a brothel in Amsterdam. Nuria plans to retire from sex work later this year and work full-time in an administrative role at My Red Light.

A Dutch brothel where women work for themselves

May 28, 2018Women & Gender

My Red Light in Amsterdam is almost entirely run by former or current sex workers. And it’s designed to ensure that those who rent rooms there aren’t being trafficked or exploited. But some maintain that the work itself is inherently exploitative.

She was forced into sex work. Now that she’s left that behind, she dreams of being a doctor.

February 13, 2018Education

Durga Chauhan, 19, was once forced into prostitution after her marriage ended. Chauhan belongs to the Bacchara caste, a community in Madhya Pradesh, a state in central India, where women are the primary breadwinners in their families and often work as prostitutes. Today, she’s in school and is helping other women opt out of sex work.

A former sex buyer, now in recovery, revisits Boston's Chinatown where he sometimes frequented erotic massage parlors. He says such establishments are all over the state.

Across the US, many illicit massage parlors avoid police detection

January 24, 2018Economics

Prosecutors from Massachusetts to Minnesota detail cases where mostly foreign-born women work seven days a week, 12-24 hours a day, sleeping in parlors or nearby flophouses, and are managed by a network of interstate traffickers and business people.

Breaking it down: The economics of a sex worker in Thailand

May 8, 2015Economics

Nam has a dream to open her own produce store someday. But it will take her at least four more years in Thailand’s sex industry to make it happen. Here’s why.

This Thai woman says she’s a sex worker to support her family. Don’t judge.

May 1, 2015Justice

It’s easy to say sex workers are in the wrong line of work in Thailand. But what if there are no better options?