TY - JOUR T1 - Women involved in prostitution: hidden in plain sight? JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 491 LP - 492 DO - 10.3399/bjgp21X717437 VL - 71 IS - 712 AU - Alison Scott AU - Susanne Russell Y1 - 2021/11/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/71/712/491.abstract N2 - The ‘sex industry’ in the UK generates billions of pounds of revenue every year. Most of this money ends up with those who are controlling the women involved and a small fraction is given to the women themselves. The majority of those buying sex are men and the majority of those providing are women. The term ‘sex industry’ relates to activities including: online webcamming and selling images and videos; pornography; lapdancing; stripping; indoor and outdoor prostitution; and sex trafficking. Women often start with activities that do not involve contact but then progress to having intercourse due to the increased income it provides.The discussion and debate around whether prostitution is legitimate work or exploitation rages both academically and also among groups who aim to support women.1 There are stark divisions in the feminist debate. The more radical feminist lobby indicate that since society is inherently patriarchal then men purchasing women for the purposes of their own sexual gratification is exploitative and reinforces entitlement and male privilege. This view and the focus on who takes responsibility for male behaviours has come to the forefront again in the aftermath of the murders of women going about their routine day-today activities.The sex positive feminist argument is that women should be able to make free choices as to who they have sex with and whether or not it is transactional. These arguments rage passionately, with many of the sex positive arguments originating from women involved in prostitution. In Scotland, the government’s strategy for tackling violence against women and girls cites prostitution as one of the forms of violence against women.2 There is a clear commitment by the Scottish … ER -