Scarlet Alliance, Australian Sex Workers Association, the national peak body for sex workers, and Vixen, Victoria’s peer sex worker organisation, are responding to media reports concerning an alleged sexual assault at a Melbourne hotel involving Sydney Swans players, where adult entertainers had been booked to work.
The matter is the subject of an ongoing Victoria Police investigation and we will not comment on the specifics of the allegations. Our first concern is the safety, wellbeing and privacy of the workers involved.
“All workers, including adult entertainment workers and sex workers, deserve to be safe at work. When workers are booked to perform at a hotel, that room is a workplace, and the same expectations of safety and respect apply as in any other workplace,” said Mish Pony, Chief Executive Officer, Scarlet Alliance.
“Like all workers, we deserve to be safe at work, to set and maintain our boundaries, and to have those boundaries respected.”
“Consent is specific and ongoing. Consent to one act is not consent to any other act. A booking for a performance or a service is agreement to that performance or service only. Every further act requires its own free agreement, and consent can be withdrawn at any time.”
Sex work is decriminalised in Victoria. Sex workers have access to the same general workplace health and safety protections as other workers and can report crimes committed against them without being criminalised for doing their jobs.
“Decriminalisation recognises that sex work is work and that sex workers should be able to seek safety, support and justice without fear of being criminalised for our work,” said Gia Green, Manager at Vixen.
“Sex workers should be able to report violence or other crimes and expect to be treated with the same dignity and respect as any other worker. Vixen provides peer support by and for sex workers, and any worker affected who would like support can reach out to us.”
Booking adult entertainers is lawful, and adult entertainment is work. Workers doing our jobs are not a scandal.
We urge media reporting on this matter to respect the privacy of the workers involved, to avoid stigmatising language, and to keep the focus on workers’ right to safety and to have our consent respected.