Soho Sex Workers Face Escalating Harassment from Social Media-Driven Gangs
In the heart of London's Soho district, a disturbing social media trend has left sex workers living in fear for their lives and livelihoods. Groups of youths, some as young as ten years old, have been filming themselves harassing and intimidating workers in their flats, then posting the videos on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube for online notoriety.
A Sudden Shift from Safety to Terror
Sally, a 29-year-old London sex worker using a pseudonym for protection, describes how Soho had long been considered "a fairly safe place" for people in her profession. Her workplace, hidden behind an unassuming door in a terraced house, featured basic but comfortable fixtures, CCTV security, and a supportive network of fellow workers and maids monitoring for trouble.
"We've got CCTV and all the workers have each other," Sally explains. "Girls are safe inside the flats, and a maid is usually outside listening for any trouble inside the rooms." For seven years, she arrived each morning to find everything "pretty quiet," with the area gradually filling with tourists and delivery lorries serving nearby Chinese restaurants.
However, over the past five weeks, that sense of security has shattered. Groups of up to forty young people, aged 10 to 20, have begun systematically targeting Sally and other sex workers, creating what she describes as a constant state of anxiety.
The Harassment Tactics Captured for Social Media
The youths engage in coordinated harassment designed to generate dramatic content for social media. "They creep up the stairs, giggling and laughing," Sally recounts. "They get their cameras out, like it's a big joke. They knock, knock, knock on our door. Then they start kicking on our door, hitting the door with sticks, smashing bottles just outside the door."
Verbal abuse accompanies the physical intimidation, with shouts of "suck my cock" and calls of "dirty" echoing through the halls. The hooded youths have thrown glasses at doors, ripped down hallway signs, attempted to disable CCTV cameras, and bashed walls with metal poles.
Outside the buildings, they corner potential customers, asking invasive questions about prices and the women inside. While some workers would confront the gangs, they restrain themselves, fearing being filmed or physically attacked by older members of the groups.
Inadequate Police Response and Legal Vulnerabilities
Niki Adams, spokesperson for the English Collective of Prostitutes, confirms the attacks are escalating in both frequency and danger, affecting both British and migrant workers. "The women are extremely upset and frightened," Adams states. "They feel trapped and fearful of further attacks. At the same time, they are angry and frustrated."
Reporting incidents to police requires significant courage, Adams explains, because sex workers risk being criminalized for working together in what authorities might consider an illegal setting. "There is clearly a major concern that police priorities could shift if called by sex workers," she notes, highlighting how current prostitution laws prevent women from working together safely.
Sally echoes this frustration with law enforcement. "The police have been useless," she insists. "We're scared what they're going to do or say, so we normally just try and fly under the radar. But we can't really do that now. We need help, because someone's going to end up getting hurt badly with these kids."
Financial and Privacy Consequences
Beyond physical safety concerns, workers fear the social and financial repercussions of the harassment. Sally worries about videos or photos being posted online, potentially revealing her profession to friends and family. "I've had my privacy for so many years," she says. "I don't want my face on the internet, so that all my friends and child know what I'm doing."
Bella, another Soho sex worker using a pseudonym, reports that the harassment has significantly impacted her income, as frightened customers avoid the premises. "I'm so stressed with finances," the 36-year-old explains. "Customers aren't coming as much now because of these groups of young kids and young men."
She describes receiving empty assurances from police, including an officer who provided his personal number but never answered her three calls for help. When police do appear, Bella says they typically remain only briefly without confronting the youths. Only community officers have taken meaningful action, directly telling groups to "bugger off."
Root Causes and Broader Implications
Both workers and advocates point to social media notoriety as the primary motivation behind the attacks. Bella has seen videos from outside the flats circulating on TikTok and believes the behavior stems from chasing views and likes. Sally wonders if the youths are attempting to get the flats "closed down" by falsely claiming the women have been trafficked, positioning themselves as amateur investigators exposing wrongdoing.
Niki Adams worries that young people are "picking up on a general hostility towards sex workers" fueled by political misinformation. "Certain politicians have promoted the idea that all sex workers are trafficked," she observes, "and focus on crackdowns that close flats like the ones in Soho. This is dangerous and can encourage young people to adopt hostile attitudes and act on them."
This treatment reflects persistent stigma surrounding sex work, Adams adds. "When they are portrayed as undeserving of rights or protection, it can legitimize abusive behavior in the eyes of some young people."
Calls for Action and Systemic Change
Adams demands immediate police action to take harassment reports seriously and provide proper protection. "They should recognize that sex workers' lives matter and that they deserve safety and protection like anyone else," she argues. "It's hard to believe this level of intimidation would be tolerated if it were a royal residence or an ambassador's home under threat."
More broadly, she emphasizes the urgency of decriminalizing sex work to allow women to work together safely from premises and report violence without fear of criminalization.
The Metropolitan Police acknowledge awareness of "a social media trend that has seen young people going into businesses and private properties then posting the videos online." A spokesperson states they take reports seriously and have used policing powers to move on those involved, issuing Community Protection Warnings and considering Criminal Behaviour Orders for persistent offenders.
While noting the trend doesn't exclusively impact sex workers, police urge victims to contact them via 101 or 999 in emergencies. They emphasize working with NHS, local authorities, and third-sector organizations to support vulnerable women, with priorities including identifying criminal exploitation and modern slavery, and using closure orders for brothels and venues as necessary.
For now, Soho's sex workers navigate their shifts in heightened fear, with Bella running to the railway station after work to avoid potential attacks. The social media trend has transformed their workplaces from spaces of relative safety to environments of constant threat, highlighting systemic vulnerabilities in both legal protections and law enforcement responses.
