Naked truth of sex cam mums

How the cost-of-living crisis is driving desperate women into the online sex trade to feed and clothe their families

- LUCY ROBINSON

Fans of EastEnders saw Stacey Slater turning to sex work to make ends meet this year. The mum-of-three, played by Lacey Turner, started secretly selling raunchy snaps of herself on OnlyFans-style platform “Secret Cam” to put food on the table.

But Stacey’s storyline isn’t that unusual in the real world, either. With the cost-of-living crisis putting pressure on families, and with 14.4 million Britons living in relative poverty after covering housing costs, more people are posting sexual content online for money.

Campaign group the English Collective of Prostitutes has received an increasing number of calls from people taking up sex work in a bid to combat increasing prices and costs.

“From the beginning of austerity we’ve noticed more people going into it and that’s increased during the latest cost-of-living crisis,” the group’s Laura Watson told new.

“Recently we’ve seen women doing sex work to deal with rising bills, food shops or rent increases. Some have nine-to-five jobs and do it on the side to make ends meet.”

She said that increasing financial pressures meant mothers like Stacey can find themselves turning to camera work – and broader sex work – to support their children, and fit it in around the demands of parenting.

“It’s often mothers, particularly single mothers, whose priority is their children, especially when they have to fit earning money around school hours. Calls to our helpline increased by one-third last summer. It’s indicative that people are having to make a hard decision about going into the industry,” she added.