Students and Sex Work

Four hours into a long drive last night we stumbled across Radio 1's programme about student sex workers. What was said to be exploring claims that rising university costs has gone hand-in-hand with an increase in students working in the sex industry, the programme committed a school-kid error (and something a number of my students are guilty of)...it concluded in the introduction. It was pretty clear from the start that the programme was positioning itself with the argument that a rise in tuition fees has been responsible for this employment pattern and what followed focused on money as the driving factor. The programme cited research and so intrigued I did delve a little deeper this morning. In particular there is the The Student Sex Work Project but I also came across a research report from Durham University which considered attitudes towards sex work amongst university students. It was clear from this that financial factors are not perhaps the main reason behind an increase in student sex workers and that there are cultural factors at play. This was completely missing from the Radio 1 programme. Why is it, for example, that students in contemporary society feel that sex work is an acceptable substitute for other part-time employment routes? Why is it that statistics show predominantly it is female students engaging in such work? I'm suggesting an examination of the wider cultural beliefs and practices (as I'm sure others might also), rather than dismissing this as a 'sign of the economic times'.