Abuse and violence in the context of selling or exchanging sexual activity

The risks that women face when selling or exchanging sex and the trauma they may carry can impact on their needs, the level of support required and whether they access support. Read on to find out the issues affecting the safety of women who sell or exchange sex.

Practice points

​In this section you can find some key steps you can take to improve how you support women involved in selling or exchanging sex who present to your service with safety needs.

​A worker's perspective: Another way​
​

In this interview, Zara Wynn of Edinburgh-based service Another Way discusses the risks and harms that women selling sex can face in different settings, their support needs and what her service does to remove barriers for women to disclose the abuse they’ve experienced and get the support they need.

​Safety webinar

On July 2022 we held a webinar for workers exploring the links between safety, violence against women and selling or exchanging sex. The webinar featured expert voices from workers and practical case studies. 

Safety resources

​​In this section you will find links to training resources, research around women's experiences of abuse and violence in Scotland and the UK, reports on the needs of women and leaflets for women to reduce harm and plan around their safety when selling or exchanging sex.​