A claim regularly repeated in media reports and anti-trafficking campaigns is that “the average life expectancy of a sex worker is 34”. This figure is shocking, but it is not grounded in empirical evidence. Like the myth about the “average age of entry” being 13, this statistic has been widely circulated without credible sourcing and is frequently misused to conflate all sex work with violent exploitation.

Where Did This Claim Come From?

It appears to trace back to a 2004 statement by the U.S.-based organisation Prostitution Research and Education (founded by Melissa Farley), which cited a study (Mortality in a Long-Term Open Cohort of Prostitute Women, Potterat et al) of street-based sex workers in Colorado Springs in the 1980s and 1990s. The study followed 1,969 women from 1967 to 1999 - out of which 117 definite or probable deaths were recorded - the median age of death for those who passed during the study period, was 34. It reported a high homicide rate among a small, targeted group of street-working women, most of whom were struggling with severe poverty, addiction, and criminalisation. The original study found that leading causes of death were homicide, drug overdose, suicide, and AIDS-related complications (all apparently from injection drug use, not sexually transmitted). These causes were linked more to marginalisation, poverty, substance abuse, and lack of social support than to the act of sex work itself. Melissa Farley is a controversial figure, having been accused of fabricating data in New Zealand Parliament - by her own research assistant - and thus studies and statistics attached to her name should not be seen as reliable.

Melissa Farley

What Does Credible Research Show?

Credible peer-reviewed studies of mortality and health among people in sex work paint a much more nuanced picture:

• Sex workers, especially those working outdoors or in criminalized environments, do face elevated risks of violence and health problems.
• However, there is no peer-reviewed evidence indicating that the average life expectancy for street or indoor sex workers across the U.S. or globally is 34 years.
• A 2013 systematic review in The Lancet emphasised that higher mortality risk among sex workers is primarily driven by social and structural factors: criminalisation, stigma, poverty, and lack of access to health care not simply sex work itself.
• Indoor and independently working sex workers have significantly better health and safety outcomes.
• Many adult sex workers live full-length lives, especially those working in safer, non-criminalized settings.

In other words, vulnerability is linked to marginalisation, not an inherent inevitability of sex work.

Why Does This Distinction Matter?

While there is no question that some sex workers face serious risks, exaggerated or decontextualized statistics can be harmful in multiple ways:

• They perpetuate stigma against all sex workers, including those working by choice.
• They obscure the real drivers of harm: criminalisation, poverty, lack of housing, and inadequate social services.
• They undermine evidence-based policy and public trust when such figures are debunked.

There is no credible research demonstrating that “the life expectancy of a sex worker is 34.” This claim is based on a misinterpretation of a small study of a particularly marginalized population. While we must absolutely work to reduce violence and improve health outcomes, we should do so with accurate data, not sensationalized myths. Evidence-based policy requires that we distinguish between the harms of stigma and criminalisation and the work itself and that we centre the voices and realities of sex workers rather than relying on fear-driven narratives.