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Sex and the coronavirus has been a hot topic in the media and relationship advice columns since the virus went global.

The primary question raised was whether or not the virus could be sexually transmitted.

The consensus has been yes and no.

A study found that COVID-19 can persist in men’s semen even after they have begun to recover, but that isn’t the real danger because it can be dealt with by using a condom and avoiding oral sex.

The real danger should be obvious – it’s impossible to maintain the recommended physical distance between two people while they’re having sex.

For those quarantined with romantic or sexual partners, this hasn’t been a problem. For a number of people, however, a lonely lockdown has deprived them of the human contact that they need, and for some, that contact would have involved the services of a sex worker.

Sex work has been performed throughout ancient and modern culture and has been described as “the world’s oldest profession”, dating back to 2400 BCE.

Now, according to CNN, a profession that’s been largely untouched over the centuries by recessions or economic strain is at risk of fading into the history books, leaving millions without an income.

An old economics axiom claims that investments in “vice” and “sin” like gambling, alcohol, drugs and sex trades weather economic downturns well, because people turn to them whether they’re sad or happy. Some vices are even thought to be countercyclical, rising when economy takes a nosedive.

…But sex workers, aid organizations and the lawyers who work with them say that the pandemic has been devastating.

While lockdown might seem redundant for an industry that’s largely forbidden, a number of sex workers have stopped working to protect themselves and their clients.

Demand from clients has chilled too, and as unemployment in the US reaches Great Depression-levels, many Americans have less to spend on services of all kinds.

Nevertheless, every sex worker interviewed said they were still receiving requests to meet in person — if not as frequently as before.

Activist groups have issued the following safety guidelines for those who are still rendering services.

Don’t kiss. Tell clients to wash their hands before they touch you. Wear a mask. Avoid face-to-face positions. And even: Put on a nurse costume and pull out a thermometer — if his temperature is normal, make it part of the game. If he has a fever, end the session.

To give you a better idea of how markets in the industry work, here’s Scott Cunningham, a Baylor University economist who studies the sex trade in America:

“There’s the lower-end, lower-wage work where clients seem to be primarily interested in the sexual experience,” he says. “Then there’s like a higher wage rate that is sort of companionship bundled with sexual services and a lot of times those clients will become regulars, they’ll be steady work.”

While high-end workers may have been able to build a financial cushion before the crisis, many lower-end workers were already living day-to-day — and now their customers are more likely to be laid off, he says. “As you move down the wage distribution for sex workers, there’s really, really a lot of suffering that’s kind of going undetected right now,” he says.

A number of sex workers are now working remotely by offering provocative live stream shows, pictures and chats, but the communications and tech-savvy necessary to build a brand isn’t easy.

For people with careers that involve tax records and bank statements, applying for government relief is an option. This isn’t the case for most sex workers.

Will the industry survive the pandemic? You can read more on that, here.

Activists have been working for decades to decriminalise sex work in most countries, without success.

This pandemic provides more incentive and even more reasons for this to happen.

[source:cnn]