Jason Hinds, We (the sex workers) came across '40 reasons why whores are my heroes' while surfing the internet. We decided to send this to the monkey mag because it gives us sex workers a break from the usual 'slagging off' we get.

Sex workers, especially street based workers are constantly bombarded with negative reinforcements that they are bad polluted disease ridden women. Whether this is directed at them from the media, the police and criminal justice system, the communities they live and work in, or just 'family and friends', it is a very destructive and oppressive labelling process. Whore stigma impacts on women who are working, or who have worked in the sex industry at some time, affecting many areas of the woman's life. Imagine if the job you did was so 'looked down upon' that people felt they had the right to pass derogative comments every time they walked passed you at work, how would you feel?

An ex street based sex worker described her experiences of this:

“I was constantly made to feel like a pile of shit, which totally eroded any self-respect or confident I had. It was only when I got out of prostitution that I eventually realised I wasn't a pile of shit and never had been. Where do these people get off?”

Sex workers have their own way of dealing with the tirade of abuse they get while working on the streets. Here are some of the responses that women give:

"At the end of the day it's just a way to earn a living. All I ever wanted is a bit of respect, working on the streets or indoors is just like any other job"

"They say, "you're a Ho" and I say, 'your mother taught me and she's on the next street'"

“It's not degrading because I don't give it away for free, and it's my choice. We wouldn't sit around at home and moan about having no money. We go and earn our money, so therefore it's a living.”

"You're not slagging me off when you're coming paying for it"

Obviously we are all aware that the difference between 'our work' and the majority of other people's work is the small matter of the Street Offences Act 1959, which criminalizes street prostitution. And we're not saying it's the best job on the block, but in order for us to make any positive lifestyle decisions we need to feel good about ourselves, and that means "we don't need you to keep putting us down". Thank you!

40 REASONS WHY WHORES ARE MY HEROES - BY ANNIE SPRINKLE

1. Whores have the ability to share their most private, sensitive bodyparts with total strangers.
2. Whores have access to places that other people don't.
3. Whores challenge sexual mores
4. Whores are playful
5. Whores are tough
6. Whores have careers based on giving pleasure
7. Whores are creative
8. Whores are adventurous and dare to live dangerously
9. Whores teach people how to be better lovers
10. Whores are multicultural and multigendered
11. Whores give excellent advice and help people with their personal problems
12. Whores have fun
13. Whores were exciting clothes
14. Whores have patience and tolerance for people that other people could never
manager to put up with.
15. Whores make lonely people less lonely
16. Whores are independent
17. Whores teach people how to have safer sex
18. Whores are a tradition
19. Whores are hip
20. Whores have a good sense of humour
21. Whores relieve millions of people of unwanted stress and tension
22. Whores heal
23. Whores endure despite of the fact that many people have prejudice against them
24. Whores make good money
25. Whores always have a job
26. Whores are sexy and erotic
27. Whores have special talents that other people don't have. Not everyone has
what it takes to be a whore
28. Whores are interesting people with lots of exciting life stories
29. Whores get laid a lot
30. Whores help people explore their sexual desires
31. Whores explore their own sexual desires
32. Whores are not afraid of sex
33. Whores hustle
34. Whores sparkle
35. Whores are entertaining
36. Whores have the guts to wear very big wigs
37. Whores are not ashamed to be naked
38. Whores help the handicapped
39. Whores make their own hours
40. Whores are rebelling against the absurd, patriarchal, sex-negative laws against
their profession and fighting for the legal right to receive financial compensation for
their valuable work.

beatgirls@cheethamhill.com