What to know
- Erobella estimates about 9,000 European sex workers are planning to travel to North America for the World Cup, while another 22,000 are considering making the trip.
- More than 1,100 respondents from the U.K. and Germany alone said they intend to travel, reflecting expectations that major sporting events can boost demand for adult services.
- The survey also highlights potential immigration risks for sex workers entering the United States, where past involvement in certain sex work can affect admissibility even when the work was legal elsewhere.
Thousands of sex workers are coming to North America for the World Cup.
The World Cup kicks off today in Mexico, with Canada’s first game slated for Friday, June 12 in Toronto. With the tournament set to draw millions of visitors to the host cities, a new survey of European sex workers found that many are planning on making a trip to North America to capitalize on the increase in visitors.
The survey, conducted by European sex worker platform Erobella, found that 2 per cent of sex workers already plan to travel to the event, which is co-hosted by Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, while another 5 per cent are considering making the trip. That works out to about 9,000 planning to make the trip, while 22,000 others are considering it.
The study found that over 1,100 sex workers are planning to go from the U.K. and Germany alone, while even more are thinking about it. In the United Kingdom, 634 workers reported plans to cross the pond for the tournament, with 1,585 considering the trip. Meanwhile, 515 German workers say they are going, while another 1,289 are weighing their options.
In addition to serving as a platform for workers, Erobella is also committed to combatting stigma around sex work, providing education, and improving the living and working conditions of these workers.
The platform, which has over 88,000 users in Europe, shared that major sporting events like the World Cup have historically been really lucrative periods for the sex industry, with the increase in demand for adult services going hand in hand with wider tourism spending. Erobella shared that some sex workers stateside are charging premium rates, with reports of $800-an-hour sessions and bookings of up to $10,000 for a full day.
Meanwhile, the platform highlights that many workers travelling to the U.S. risk being denied entry, as anyone who has engaged in certain kinds of sex work in the previous decade can be barred from entering the states.
“Even when that work was entirely legal where it took place, and even with no intention of working while in the country,” the survey reads.
Canadian escort Lucy Huxley told Erobella that while previously trying to visit the U.S., she was pulled into secondary questioning, interrogated for hours and had her phone and luggage searched before being deported and banned for five years.
Methodology
The Europe-wide totals are modelled estimates based on survey info, which was collected solely in the U.K. and Germany, and scaled based on several factors, including income. Considering that both of the countries where data are collected are high-income, researchers say that many workers would be able to afford a transatlantic jaunt, compared to a lower-income country where workers may have less cash to finance their trip.
To determine final outcomes, the study used a base of around one million sex workers, applying a travel-affordability coefficient of 0.45, which they explain is lower than the raw income gap. They used this number as access to intercontinental travel rises steeply with income and a large portion of sex workers live in lower-income countries. Erobella says that plans vary by person and country, and remain subject to travel costs, visa requirements and local demand.
