Why is Listening to Sex Workers so Hard?

The anti-trafficking movement has faced significant criticism over the years, and for good reason. The reliance on law enforcement’s “arrest-and-sort-it-out-later” approach to exploitation is riddled with systemic flaws. Rooted in biases, inequalities, and a lack of trauma-informed care, this strategy often exacerbates harm rather than offering solutions. Instead of addressing the needs of survivors and sex workers, it perpetuates cycles of poverty, criminalization, and marginalization, leaving the very individuals it claims to protect even more vulnerable.