I've been researching regarding best business practices for sex work industry websites.

As you may have gathered if you read my previous post on Tech Stacks, the leading escort directories almost all have a terrible track record for customer service, security and privacy.

I very much intend for Sex Worker Search to be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.

VISA does not explicitly ban escort websites from using their products as far as I can tell.

Within VISA's Merchant Data Standards Manual, Escort services are given the Merchant Category Code 7273. Merchants classified with this MCC provide dating and escort services, including online services.

Escort Services under Merchant Category Code 7273 are not prohibited from accepting VISA card payments however they are categorised as high risk.

Merchants categorized under high-risk must register and pay higher fees, which include $950 per year for registration and additional transaction fees. This ensures that Visa can maintain oversight and manage risks associated with high-risk categories​​.

In addition, high risk merchants are subject to audit in order to ensure that they are complying with all relevant rules and regulations.

For example this post on the Xbiz website is about the Visa Integrity Risk Program (VIRP) for maintaining proper controls and oversight to prevent illegal transactions from entering the Visa payment system.

I believe the recommended guidelines for compliance with VIRP are well worth understanding considering I have been working hard to try to find a payment portal provider so I can accept credit card payments for premium listings and because I think following the rules and regulations relevant to our industry is the right thing to do.

The following are examples of rules within VIRP which the owners of websites related to sex work need to adhere to.

Content Compliance

Merchants must ensure that their sites do not host CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material), bestiality, incest, or non-consensual content.

These types of content are all banned from Sex Worker Search. Sites that mention any of these types of content cannot be indexed in search results.

Content Moderation

Merchants are required to have strict content moderation policies in place, which include monitoring user-generated content, blocking inappropriate material, and employing both human and automated tools for these tasks​.

Sex Worker Search is committed to keeping search results clear of any content that is not allowed under our terms. We do have people working to ensure that this is the case.

Proactive Policies Against Exploitation

Merchants need to have detailed policies to prevent human trafficking, sex trafficking, and exploitation, including rigorous age verification, content monitoring, and reporting mechanisms for suspicious activity​​.

I'm in the process of drafting a Terms and Conditions page that will outline in detail what Sex Worker Search is doing to ensure that none of the sites indexed here are involved in prevent human trafficking, sex trafficking, or exploitation.

I have manually read through every site currently indexed and I am confident that none of them are in any way involved in any of the above criminal activities.

There is nothing wrong with consenting adults having sex. There is nothing wrong with sex work.

Sex Work is not inherently exploitative and I will continue to work hard to ensure that any website that does show evidence that someone may have been coerced or exploited in any way is not indexed. I will also alert the relevant authorities.

Marketing

Merchants are prohibited from marketing based on non-compliant search terms or engaging in noncompliant affiliate marketing promotions.

Sex Worker Search is not connected with any affiliate marketing promotions.

Human Trafficking

Merchants must have effective policies in place that prohibit the use of their websites to promote or facilitate human trafficking, sex trafficking, or abuse. Participation in an anti-trafficking organization is highly recommended.

I have contacted National Ugly Mugs to ask how I can support NUM. I asked them for permission to add a banner for NUM to my footer and encourage people to use the NUM checker tool and contact NUM to make incident reports, access information, support and resources when we are victims of crime and to request assistance when dealing with the police.

I also plan to set up a monthly donation via the NUM donations page.

Takedown Requests

Merchants must enable users to report noncompliant content and allow models to request the removal of content depicting them. Additionally, merchants must provide monthly reports to their payment service provider.

Sex Worker Search does not host any images, videos or media of any kind. The Site titles and meta descriptions that appear in search results are the meta data that those websites are telling search engines to index. However, I understand that people may have reasons for wanting their site removed from search results eg if they've retired or are on hiatus, and I am more than happy to do so. As per the FAQ page, welcome to email [email protected] and I will remove your site from search results within 24 hours.