Breaking the Silence: Recognizing the Humanity of Sex Workers

By Anagha Singh

She walks through the cities and neighborhoods we live in – unseen, unheard, judged before a single word is uttered. The label ‘sex worker’ has long been wielded almost like a weapon, a prism distorting every nuance of countless women’s lives into caricature and shame. But their stories should not remain shadows; they should be recognised as the vivid lives they are, marked by resilience and struggle, hope and hardship, to levels that exceed our imagination. To dismantle the stigma behind this word that feels odd for the tongue to say is to confront the uncomfortable gaps between public perception and a woman's everyday reality. It’s time we got comfortable with being uncomfortable, especially when millions of women are trapped in such vicious cycles of prostitution against their will. Our silence could be the reason recognition without prejudice is denied to these women.

Stigma and Global Impact

Sex workers globally are victims of deep-rooted stigma, derived primarily from moral, cultural, and legal frameworks that isolate and marginalize them. This stigma and sense of ignorance reduce individuals to stereotypes, stripping them of their identities and contributing to social exclusion, when, like all women, they too are a voice worth being heard.

It is exacerbated where sex work is criminalized, cultivating fear, invisibility, and vulnerability, which is ironic because prostitutes and sex workers are some of the strongest women known to mankind. Global studies show that stigma leads to poor mental health outcomes, discrimination, and limited access to services, such as healthcare, education, and more.

Whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere, sex workers often face dangers like violence, health risks, and social isolation - and yet they display strength and resilience.

Worldwide, an estimated 40 million women engage in sex work (UNAIDS., 2023), out of which 4-6 million are victims of sex trafficking or forced sexual exploitation. In reality, however, this figure could be larger as stigma around prostitution leads to limited discussion and even limited data, because those women remain shrouded by silence. Children account for roughly 20-40% of trafficking victims globally, with many forced into sexual exploitation due to poverty, conflict, and displacement. Despite all this, we remain silent, and the affected girls and women remain silenced.

Yet an intriguing question arises – what impacts could we make to ease these women’s lives if we dared to break the silence? Studies show that communities implementing stigma reduction decrease cases of violence and exploitation against sex workers by approximately 30-50% (Multiple sources 2022-2025).

Lives Behind the Label

Sex workers most of the time inhabit a world punctuated by paradoxes – survival without security, strength shadowed by vulnerability, and resilience amid social rejection. Consider the story of a female sex worker from Gulu City, Northern Uganda, who, at 28 years old, balances the brutal realities of violence with the enduring intuition to protect her own dignity for once. A staggering 70.7% of sex workers in this study reported experiencing client violence, showcasing a harsh global pattern where about half of all sex workers face intimate partner or client abuse.

Social rejection often compounds their peril: around 75% report some form of societal exclusion, with many internalizing the weight of this stigma as diminished self-worth and shame. The internal battles they fight daily limit their ability to seek healthcare or report violence in a system where their presence often does not have any mark on records. While over 82% reported condom use in their last encounter, only about 21% maintain consistent use, putting them at heightened risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Globally, only 12% of sex workers have access to regular, stigma-free healthcare, a figure bitterly low, given the elevated HIV prevalence around 12% in this population. In Hong Kong, the place many of us call home, despite the legality of prostitution, ambiguity in associated laws, and pervasive stigma, remains an obstacle to be overcome. This implies that over 80% of sex workers encounter discrimination from health and law enforcement authorities, curtailing access to vital services, despite being citizens whose rights are often overlooked.

In addition to sexually transmitted infections, the mental health toll is profound, with nearly half of sex workers worldwide exhibiting symptoms of depression and anxiety, often aggravated by violence and social exclusion. Many resort to substance use and addiction based on recent trends, estimated as high as 60% among the community, acting as coping mechanisms for trauma and discrimination.

Despite this severe state, sex workers demonstrate remarkable strength, forming peer networks, advocating for rights when feeling brave, and adopting harm reduction strategies, wherever possible. Yet their ability to thrive is tragically curtailed by societal neglect, ignorance, and condemnation.

A Call for Change

This unfortunate reality demands change. Empowering sex workers through stigma reduction can transform the lives of a community of countless women who also have voices. Communities that embrace dignity and rights witness a 30-50% reduction in violence and exploitation, but the urgency to humanize sex workers transcends figures or statistics. It calls for a sense of realisation, a shedding of judgment and ignorance to confront the full complexity of their daily lives. To be able to overcome this stigma means to give sex workers and prostitutes a chance to utilize their rights to education, healthcare, and all the facilities they have been deprived of, as well as prevent the trapping of women in the business of sex trafficking.

The journey toward recognition without prejudice begins with engagement in uncomfortable discussions and unflinching honesty during dinner table conversations. It is a call, not only to compassion but to action - for millions unseen among us, whose lives deserve dignity, safety, and respect that defines true empowerment, because like us, they too have voices worth being heard.