The University of Leicester in the UK has unveiled a guide to help students involved in various types of sex work, including stripping, adult entertainment, webcamming, and escorting.
The guide, titled “Student Sex Work Toolkit,” is aimed at uni staffers in a bid to demonstrate that students working in the sex industry have the right to receive support without facing discrimination.
“We recognise the social stigma associated with sex work and are supportive of students who earn a living through sex work,” the guide states.
The manual cites recent research titled “The Student Sex Work Project” by the University of Swansea that highlights the fact some students resort to sex work to pay for rising uni costs and skyrocketing living expenses.
The 2015 study published in the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management concludes that one in 20 students in the UK turns to some form of sex work during their studies.
The University of Leicester believes that staffers should not “assume the student wants to leave sex work” and do not need to “discipline” pupils for “being involved.”
No students should be questioned about their potential involvement in the sex industry, the guide states, but the uni must still “ensure students are safe within their work.”
Unsurprisingly, the response to the publication, which went viral after it was unearthed by British media, has been mixed. Some media users tagged the university on Twitter, shaming the institution for offering support to sex worker students.
Unbelievably morally bankrupt stance. University of Pimpster.
— Dwindling Gravitas 🤐 #LGBS (@DwindlingGravy) March 16, 2021
We urgently need journalists to investigate @uniofleicester promoting sex work toolkit for students which is normalising pimping. This looks set to go nationwide @VictoriaPeckham @SusannaRustin @jo_bartosch @bindelj @Channel4News @BBCNewsnight @HadleyFreeman @HelenLewis https://t.co/bD2ihQ9v6E
— Conviction19c (@Conviction19c) March 16, 2021
I love to see young women empowered through education, not pimped out to cover the extortionate costs of going to university.
— Eppur si muove ♀️ (@genericfem) March 17, 2021
Shame on your 'student sex work toolkit'. I certainly won't be encouraging my daughter to go to your university if that's how poorly you regard females.
So a university (a multi-million pound corporation) sells you an education course you can’t afford, which you have to take out decades of debt for, and then publishes guidance to you as the student (customer), on how to enter prostitution to make money, we’re all okay with that?
— Dr. Jessica Taylor (@DrJessTaylor) March 17, 2021
Shame on them? For trying to ensure anyone involved in sex work don't end up dead? For providing support and care? SHAME on them?
— Shaun Lawson (@shaunjlawson) March 18, 2021
Unbelievable. https://t.co/9MQjj00wN9
No parent will allow their children to study at your university.
— Dr Audrey Laing (@audrey_laing) March 18, 2021
But others praised Leicester Uni for backing students who use their bodies to pay for their education.
“The uni should first ensure monetary help for them so that students don't have to resort to this. Also hoping that the toolkit does not glorify sex work, especially,” one person wrote.
I see the student sex work toolkit has reached a particular audience...
— Dr. Angelika Strohmayer 🇪🇺👻 (@tripsandflips_) March 17, 2021
Providing safety information for students who are (thinking about) entering the sex industry is a very good thing that reduces harm & doesn’t mean the university is encouraging students to enter the industry
If it is limited only to provide support for students who have to resort to sex work, the n no issues. My point is the uni should first ensure monetary help for them so that students don't have to resort to this. Also hoping that the toolkit does not glorify sex work, especially+
— Posterity@127.0.0.1 (@vanshika256) March 16, 2021
The university indirectly responded to some of the backlash, saying on Twitter that it is still “firmly committed to creating an inclusive learning, working and research environment for all of our students, who have the right to be protected, kept safe and free from violence, whether they are studying or working.”
This includes sex work, the university believes.
We recognise the social stigma associated with sex work and support students who choose to engage in sex work. Our policies have been put in place with student welfare at their core... 2
— University of Leicester (@uniofleicester) March 16, 2021
