This study applies a scholar-activist and intersectional approach, and involves a thorough literature review of both academic and activist materials. 15 qualitative semi-structured long-form interviews with current and former sex workers were carried out, and what follows are significant findings which uncover the extent of stigma and the effects of criminalisation in personal and familial relationships, the importance and the holistic work of sex worker outreach projects, and the power of narratives and discourses in how sex workers understand and articulate their experiences of violence.