Why aren't Sex Workers used as Tools for Good?

Here’s the million-dollar question—and it says more about society’s deep-seated stigma than it ever will about the capability, wisdom, or contributions of sex workers and sex worker rights activists: Why aren’t sex workers being recognized and utilized as powerful tools in the fight for good and evil? It’s a question that should make everyone uncomfortable, because the answer isn’t rooted in a lack of experience, insight, or leadership from sex workers—it’s rooted in bias. Despite being frontline experts in resilience, harm reduction, crisis navigation, and community care, sex workers are often excluded from policy tables, media narratives, and social justice movements. And yet, no one understands the complexities of exploitation, survival, consent, and systemic violence more intimately than those who have lived it. The real issue isn’t whether sex workers are qualified to lead—it’s why society still refuses to listen.

Here’s the thing: sex workers already are tools for good. They’re just systemically denied recognition, funding, safety, and platforms. This isn’t a matter of potential—it’s a matter of deliberate exclusion. While nonprofits scramble to build “trusted messengers” and “equity frameworks,” sex workers have been quietly (and sometimes loudly) doing the work with no safety net and no applause.