History walks seem to have a somewhat daggy reputation, relegated to the nerdy and uncool. The Whore Walk: a sex history walking tour, dreamed up and meticulously researched by Adelaide-based sex worker Jane Whatshername, and delivered by the serially sarcastic sex worker duo Queenie Bon Bon and Jenna Love, wearing their hot pink and yellow ‘WHORE GUIDE’ shirts, I feel, could single (double?) handedly revive the history walk and talk.

This walk nurtured both mind and body (I trotted out 3,185 steps according to my iPhone!) as well as dishing out an equally healthy serve of pro sex work radicalism too. We sat on stoops and staircases across Adelaide’s west end being bounced along the banterous script written by Queenie. Whilst hilarious, sometimes the thick layer of sarcasm prevented me from pausing to process some of the harsher implications of what I was hearing or marvel in new information.

Changing (or unchanging) legal approaches to the criminalization of sex work was the driving force of the tour with the catchphrase the narratives that turned workers into criminals and communities into crime scenes. This was a wise lens not least because many of these laws remain in legislature and in use. A consequence of this was that at times I felt more connected with the attitudes of the police, legislators, and conservative media than the woman and peoples whose stories of resistance we were searching (walking) for. The opening segment with its vivid descriptions of Adelaide’s ‘first whores,’ very young girls and women escaping Ireland, was especially strong. I wished this characterization and ‘from below’ focus could have carried on more into the night.

The archival vigour of the script was a little dense. Overflowing with jurisdictional and print evidence, it was hard to hold onto anything for too long as we charged through time (and the streets) – nonetheless I learnt so much; sex workers were one of the key groups in reducing harm during the Australian AIDS crisis, Rosina Street used to be a string of brothels. The ways that labour and feminist movements have interacted with the sex worker movement was especially fascinating.

Ironically just existing on or walking the streets is one of the acts made criminal when done by a sex worker. On one hand our history walk was a reclamation of that act. We ‘took back the night’ so to speak, strutting around the streets, Jane wheeling a small mobile amp connected to Jenna and Queenie’s mics so they could loudly proclaim ‘whore this whore that’ to the chagrin of the general public. On the other hand, I partook in the 9 pm Thursday session, which at times felt like a group social experiment: we encountered plenty of confused men, staring us down, or yelling refreshing things like ‘I love whores!’ Cool dude…..

History can often feel like a distant story abstracted from our current lives and the cities we live in. We assume that things were very different back then or worse, never even try to imagine what it was like. Whilst ‘old-timey’ dramatic readings of newsletters or laws made us giggle, and buildings like the Stormy Summers’ Bordello are now called Tequila Sunrise, for the most part there is a striking continuity between the criminalisation of sex work, crimes of containment and consorting, from the first convicts till now. Having the tour guided by people whose lives are shaped by that historical legacy, whilst of course physically standing in the city where it happened, is an excellent way to be reminded that the past seeps into the present constantly.

The Whore Walk ran from Thu, 20 Feb – Sun, 23 Feb. Check them out HERE for more details.