##DECRIMNOW
The most common reason for a girl going into #SexWork was the death of a parent, especially the father. Many were younger than the age of menarche at the time—15. (The age of consent was 10.) Ghosts of #WMHist still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #DecrimNow
November 4, 2026 at 2:41 PM
“She has the following ladies to entertain you: Misses Freddie, Annie, Edna, Alice, Blanch, Marie &Grace. Miss Elsie herself is an Ohio girl and will be pleased to see all visitors from home.”
HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #DecrimNow #SexWork #SexWorkIsWork
November 4, 2026 at 2:34 PM
They had to supplement skimpy wages they got for other work. Their husbands and parents often knew they were doing it. Some men even offered their wives themselves. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #DecrimNow #SexWork #SurvivalSex
November 3, 2026 at 3:57 PM
DYK 19thC brothels could be jovial places? A man could go there & release himself from the social poses he had to adopt in all other places. Many men just liked hanging out w/salty-tongued, lower-class women who wore cheap perfume. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #DecrimNow #SexWork
November 3, 2026 at 3:51 PM
As it stands, adults making consensual work here cannot safely know in advance what counts, and consensual content between adults is treated as a crime unless the worker can prove otherwise in court. #DecrimNow #OSA
October 28, 2026 at 10:37 PM
As political powers such as Tammany Hall in NYC began to control cities, they worked w/violent gangs of men who used extortion, force, & terror to take control of the female sex. Ghosts of #WmnHist still haunt.HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #DecrimNow #GenderHistory
October 28, 2026 at 4:21 PM
DYK #AlexandreDumasFils’ 1848 “Dame aux camellias”—“Lady of the Camellias” was one of the most memorable of many in the genre about sex workers? He based Marguerite Gautier on his lover, Marie Duplessis, the classic whore w/a heart of gold.
#DecrimNow #SexWork
October 28, 2026 at 4:13 PM
For most, the work was transitory & most gave up #SexWork at the age that most girls married. But many sex workers were on the lam from abusive husbands, & many women w/children went into sex work when they became widows. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #DecrimNow #SurvivalSex
October 27, 2026 at 4:26 PM
Worker w/sex infections or other diseases went to die in Cooper Alley in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Ghosts of #GenderHistory still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #DecrimNow #SexWork #SurvivalSex #WmnHist
October 26, 2026 at 2:45 PM
In the West & Northwest, they worked in small rooms in multi-storied buildings, but didn’t live there. In the South & Southwest there were rows of one-story shacks. Districts often included bars, dance halls, shops, & cheap residences for folks without means. #DecrimNow #SexWork
October 24, 2026 at 4:54 PM
“The Maryland Governor? Do it bending over, bark sometimes.”
“Christ! The praying general was brought in today by Preacher H. He is rough & brutal. After I serviced him, he dropped to his knees & asked God to forgive me for my sins!”
HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #DecrimNow #SexWork
October 24, 2026 at 4:52 PM
✨ Under The Red Umbrella: Issue Ten✨

In this issue...renters advice, new sxworker meet-up in Edinburgh, Content Removal Guide, life drawing and events, plus artwork from #sxworker creatives!

FREE TO READ: buff.ly/3vPZ85n

Cover art by @pixiesprettypictures on Insta.

#CommunityZine #DecrimNow
October 22, 2026 at 1:11 PM
By 1858, according to #WaltWhitman:
“… the plain truth is that 19 out of 20 of the mass of American young men, who live in or visit the great cities, are more or less familiar w/houses of prostitution & are customers to them.” HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #DecrimNow #SexWork #WmnHist
October 23, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Early Muslims looked down on sex workers but tolerated them. Like Christians, they believed that men needed sexual release, & for many, especially the young & unmarried, sex workers were the only choice. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #DecrimNow #HistSex
October 16, 2026 at 4:32 PM
DYK 19thC men who went to brothels could pay for #AnalSex, #GroupSex, #masochism, #OralSex, #sadism, or #voyeurism. They could also enjoy erotic shows, including women having sex w/Great Danes. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #BDSM #DecrimNow #HistSex #kink #SexWork #Zoophilia
October 13, 2026 at 3:10 PM
DYK about #EdwardVII’s "machina d'amour"? He had them built so #SexWorkers could more easily please him & handle his girth. #Victoria’s son depended on #SexWork! Why do we still stigmatize it as his mother did? Ghosts of #HistSex still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #DecrimNow
October 13, 2026 at 3:08 PM
But #SexWork in NYC & other towns remained on the fringes of city life until 1820. All in all, there was little commercial sex in the colonies & early republic. Compared to Europe, it was quite rare. Ghosts of #WmnHist still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #DecrimNow
September 28, 2026 at 5:42 PM
DYK the Catholic church profited openly from #SexWork for centuries? In 630, the Governor of Byzantium’s bishop was Imperial Inspector of Brothels. #PopeClementVI (d.1352) bought a prosperous #brothel in Avignon from Queen Johanna. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com. #DecrimNow #WmnHist
September 21, 2026 at 3:27 PM
«Celebrating Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI)»

https://www.nationaluglymugs.org/swai

> In the same week as Sex Worker Pride (14th Sept), the Sex Workers' Alliance Ireland (SWAI) archive is now proudly hosted on the NUM website, celebrating 16 years of […]

[Original post on kolektiva.social]
September 19, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Happy Sex Worker Pride Day (September 14th). It’s a great day to support sex workers by donating to sex worker-led organizations. Help me make a list of org’s donation pages below! #sexworkerpride #sexworkiswork #decrimnow
September 14, 2026 at 7:10 PM
DYK NYC police & license commissioners began to close shows for indecency in the early 1920s? But they had to prove the audience was criminal & ended up allowing “indecency” on Broadway.
#censorship #DecrimNow #SexWork
September 14, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Happy International Sex Worker Pride Day! ##DECRIMNOW
September 14, 2026 at 2:51 PM
DYK #SexWorker’s streetwalking increased at night after gas-light street lamps appeared in the 19thC? Riskier than working in a brothel, many #hookers had to take on 15 Johns a day to survive. Ghosts of #WmnHist still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #Decrimnow
September 14, 2026 at 4:22 PM
You may not think sex workers matter. You may not think that sex work is work. But one thing you should think about is countries where sex work isn’t illegal, the more freedom all their people have. Don’t miss an opportunity to expand the rights of women, the rights of the people.

#DecrimNow
September 5, 2026 at 5:17 AM
DYK feeling entitled to demand #sex w/o paying for it is medieval? During the Middle Ages the Catholic church decreed that #SexWorkers had to provide #SexPlay whether they were paid or not! Ghosts of #HistSex still haunt. HowSexGotScrewedUp.com #Decrimnow #SexWorkIsWork
September 1, 2026 at 2:52 PM