COVID-19 impact: Will coronavirus eliminate prostitution?

Numerous workers are facing challenges due to the current coronavirus pandemic, such as job losses and financial difficulties. For an industry involving human contact, the effect has been unavoidable. Many prostitutes stopped taking clients and went home to their families until the end of the pandemic. Some sex workers tried to move online to earn their livelihood. According to feminist organisations, the epidemic can provide an opportunity to enforce women’s rights and help prostitutes to start a new life in which they are not victims.

Brigitta Csikász, a journalist, and Gyula Stotz, a criminologist, conducted a research in Hungary entitled Prostitution at the time of the great pandemic, 24 reported. Their questionnaire was available for five days from March 26 in which they asked adult female and male Facebook users in Hungary about the present and future of prostitution. 52.2% of the respondents said that coronavirus will have a negative impact on the sex industry and will cause a relapse. According to 28.2%, prostitution will stagnate in the following period. 19.6% of the respondents argued that it will flourish regardless of the coronavirus. People were rather unsure about the extent to which the monetary value of sex work will change, but most of them agreed that it will decrease.

The decline had already started before the pandemic exploded in Hungary, but the relapse is getting more and more significant. Sex workers and clients are both afraid of catching the virus.

“I expect to accumulate debt, which I will have to work off after the pandemic. Currently, my monthly income has fallen by three quarters, which is not enough for my livelihood,”

said Gizus, a Hungarian prostitute in her thirties.

The woman, who has been working in the sex industry for ten years, travelled to the countryside due to the decline in clientele and tried to find a job. Having previously worked in a shop, she wanted to get a job primarily in commerce. However, she had to return to Budapest because companies do not want to hire new people under present circumstances.

Webcamming

Gizus mentioned that some prostitutes became ‘cam girls’ to adapt to the changing circumstance. Pati became a prostitute of her own volition after reading a book about the lives of prostitutes and their wages. Instead of learning a profession, she moved to Budapest and rented a flat. Since the pandemic reached Hungary, her income has dropped to zero, so she decided to switch to webcam services.

Webcamming seems an accessible market to enter. Many webcam models operate from their homes, but there are studios designed for this purpose. Although a certain percentage of the income has to be submitted to the camming website as a commission, the working hours are flexible, and the working environment is safe compared to the offline sex work options. After logging into the site, webcam models start chatting with clients and choose a customer with whom they go to a so-called private chatroom.