Punternet said the women are offering a service and publicity helps them make a living. Picture: Ellena Cruse - Credit: Archant. Trishna has started a petition for the sex worker review website to be taken down. Picture: Trishna Datta - Credit: Archant.
But as my cursor scrolls down the page, it becomes abundantly clear with every click, that the subject of the feedback is of a somewhat more insalubrious nature. Sex workers from all corners of the borough, including Ilford, South Woodford and Goodmayes are analysed and compared in detailed accounts.
Ricocheting between obscenely graphic descriptions of sexual acts and almost superfluous, clinical overviews, the women are seen as disposal playthings β there to perform and meet the most nichest of requests. Locations and working hours are posted on the website and some of the women didn't even know they were on there.
It is accounts like this that inspired Trishna Datta, 27, of Newbury Park, to launch a petition to have the website taken down. She performed outreach work in Ilford Lane and witnessed first hand the violence and harassment some of the women received.
Used condoms are a common sight in some parts of Ilford. She said she respects the right for women to work how they want, but Punternet is not set up by the sex workers and lacks significant safety measures. One sex worker, who wants to remain anonomous, said she finds the website really demeaning and degrading. However, another sex worker, based in Ilford, said she likes the website and it generates lots of bookings. A spokesman from Punternet said the website does not treat women like commodities and objects, however the service the ladies provide is a commodity.
