Revoke Leicester University’s ‘Student Sex Work Toolkit’

The University of Leicester has established a policy on student sex and two toolkits for staff and students. They have received funding from the ESRC for their expansion to other universities in the UK.

These documents claim to support "students who sex workers", but they read more like a guide for getting into the sex trade, and do not provide much support for students in difficulty.

Imagine this: A young woman is coerced by her boyfriend into entering the sex business to help him fund his drug habit. The toolkit is her only source of advice. However, there's no information about how to protect herself against coercion or pimping. They are very common in the sex industry.

What about a young woman who realizes she has made a terrible error and wants to make amends? There is no help. There is not one organization whose main focus is to help women quit the sex industry, as mentioned in the toolkits. None of the organizations listed consider prostitution a form gender-based violence. They see it as both a cause or consequence of the enduring inequalities between the sexes. All of them support the decriminalization of the entire industry.

Prostitution is a well-known cause of psychological and physical harm. Complete silence. Are you looking for guidance about budgeting, grants and hardship loans, or other employment options? Absolutely nothing. Nada. Zilch.

How is this possible?

What would it say about students who use drugs? It would not mention support for quitting drugs. Does it include only organizations that lobby for full decriminalization of all drugs in its list? It is not.

Although the documents do not explicitly encourage prostitution as an acceptable response to students who are struggling to pay tuition and halls of residence fees or their tuition, this is the implied message. The documents use the term "sex work" to describe prostitution, which is a normal work form and not a violation of international human rights.

Freedom of Information requests revealed that the university had a narrow view of the possible impact of the policy and toolkits. They only considered the effects on people already involved in the sex business. They didn't consider that vulnerable female students could interpret the advice as the university approving their participation in the sex business as a positive way to pay their university residence fees. This could have the potential to lead to more young women being involved in the sex trade and potentially further disadvantaged.

The university didn't consider the possible side effects of framing sex as a positive option. This could mean that male staff and students might think the university is approving of the buying of sex. This could result in men buying more sex or even starting to buy sex. This didn't take into account how it might impact men's understanding of consent, their relationships with women and their intimate partners. This is unacceptable, particularly considering the current epidemic of male violence against females and girls in colleges and universities.

The university failed to fulfill its equality law obligations to address the discrimination, harassment, and disadvantage of women. It also neglected to promote equality between men and women. We believe they did not ask the right questions to fulfill their educational responsibilities or consult with a wide range of representatives. This led to a narrow, unrepresentative view on the sex trade as well as its implications for students.

We ask the university to cancel the policy and its toolkits, and to go back to the drawing board. This time, we will be focusing on women's human rights to not be dehumanised, prostituted, tiny tits pictures archive and objectified and the role of the sex industry in promoting sexist behaviours, practices, and dehumanizing.

We call upon the ESRC not to fund the project in order to transfer the policy and toolkits to other institutions.