FKA Twigs has launched a GoFundMe online campaign to raise funds for sex workers facing financial issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The singer has partnered with several sex worker-led organisations, including Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement (SWARM) and the East London Strippers Collective to kickstart the initiative and donated $13,000 (£10,000) of her own cash to get the fund going.
It has since hit the halfway point of its $39,000 (£30,000) goal.
"I was 19 when I learned my first pole move; I learned a back hook spin from a stripper when I was working as a hostess in a gentleman’s (sic) club," FKA Twigs wrote on Instagram.
"For those of you who don’t know, hostessing is when one person pays another person for their time, anything from a conversation over dinner to sex work, and the club gets a cut of the fee," she explained.
The hitmaker went on: "My lived experience as a very young woman in these environments has not only informed the strong and formidable woman that I am today, but also a lot of my work as a music and visual artist."
She added: "I feel like now is the time for me to step forward, pay respect and shine a light on the challenges facing sex workers, especially during these uncertain times. Sex workers I know and have met have discipline, craft, talent and work ethic... but their income has been wiped out by the lockdown and many are invisible to the financial aid available to others."
