Red Light Carnival Returns!

In November 2024, we hosted the Red Light Carnival at the Inigo Rooms in Somerset House. This exhibition was codeveloped with sex workers through workshops run by Decrim Now. Now we are rerunning the exhibition with wider participation through talks from community members.

Our first run of the Red Light Carnival at Somerset House was a great success, with many people feeding back that they learnt a lot of new information about the lived experience of sex workers, with many of the myths and stigma surrounding sex work debunked. We are partnering with The People’s Letters, a co-operative bookshop and community hub in London, to bring the exhibition to spaces that are more inviting to those not familiar with academic spaces.

Your guide to the Red Light Carnival:

“Hallway” - learn about the different legal frameworks, the definitions of different terms around sex work and decriminalisation, and look at collections of educational materials from our partner organisations.

“Within Criminalisation” - an installation including video clips built from real experiences of sex workers, which speaks to the everyday violence of a criminalised existence which weighs upon sex workers through surveillance, policing, stigma and more.

“The Arcade” - A room of interactive and informative games, all metaphors for challenges commonly faced by sex workers in a stigmatised, criminalised Britain. Attendees collect tickets for playing games and trade for prizes!

Plus talks throughout the day:

1pm TALK: "Decrim What Why How" 

3pm WORKSHOP: “Menstrual Sponges", 

6pm PANEL DISCUSSION: After "Sex Work Is Work"

Performances from 7pm

The event is co-produced by Decrim Now, supported by a team of King’s College London PhD students. Decrim Now are an alliance of workers who sell sexual services, sex workers’ rights collectives, politicians, feminists, human rights and student organisations who are dedicated to improving the lives and working conditions of sex workers in the UK.

We are hosting the exhibition within The People’s Letters, a worker-led, co-operatively run bookshop. We will be inviting speakers from the movement for decriminalisation and workers’ rights.

This exhibition is open to people of all ages and walks of life.

We invite those already aligned to the fight for sex worker's rights, and those who are new to the topic. We want to engage people who may have questions or concerns about the lived reality of sex work, to start conversations about what might improve working conditions for those in the sex industry, centring the voices of those on the frontline first and foremost.

Just show up! Keep an eye on the Decrim Now Instagram account @decrimnow for updates on talk schedule.