During the summer of 2017, I experienced a trauma that shattered my sense of safety and trust. My life split into a “before” and an “after.” What happened to me that summer was traumatic, disorienting, and deeply violating. I remember the fear, the confusion, the shame, and the two gruelling years of navigating a justice system that felt cold and clinical at a time when I needed humanity the most. I also remember the silence.

Stigma often leads therapists to view sex work as inherently harmful, framing it as the source of a client’s distress rather than examining the systemic and societal issues at play. Decolonising psychotherapy involves affirming sex workers’ agency and dismantling biases, recognising that their challenges are often rooted in the environments and systems they navigate, not the work itself.