Charlotte Rose is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

sex worker A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker" According to one view, sex work is d ...

dominatrix A dominatrix (; ) or femdom is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily limit the genders of her submissive partners. Dominatrices are known for inflic ...

, sexual trainer and

political candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

from

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, who lives in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In 2013 she won the award of "Sex Worker of the Year" at the

Sexual Freedom Awards The Sexual Freedom Awards is an annual British event that honours achievement in the sexuality and erotica industries worldwide. Founded in 1994 by campaigner Tuppy Owens, the awards were first called the "Erotic Oscars", until the name had to be ...

where she is now a resident judge. In 2014 she took up politics, campaigning for

sexual freedom A sexual norm can refer to a personal or a social norm. Most cultures have social norms regarding sexuality, and define ''normal sexuality'' to consist only of certain sex acts between individuals who meet specific criteria of age, consanguinity ...

as an

independent candidate An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

in the Clacton and

Rochester and Strood Rochester and Strood is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Kelly Tolhurst, a Conservative. Since 2022, she has served as Government Deputy Chief Whip and Treasurer of the Household. ...

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

Career

Rose began her career in the

sex industry The sex industry (also called the sex trade) consists of businesses that either directly or indirectly provide Sex worker, sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The industry includes activities involving direct provision of s ...

at the age of 17 where she took part in a dominatrix-themed photoshoot. Rose married and became the mother of two children, an elder son and younger daughter. She became a teacher, but after separating from her partner she moved to

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

in 2003. She gained a degree in hospitality from the

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

, and after working in the hospitality sector, taught the subject to further education students at Exeter College. She subsequently decided to become an escort. She became a vocal supporter of the sex industry. Rose also said that she wants to become Britain's number one sex guru. In 2013 she won the "British Erotic Award for Sex Worker of the Year". In 2014 she appeared in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

documentary ''Love for Sale'', a series presented by

Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor, director and producer. Everett first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupil ...

. Following this appearance Rose claimed she was the victim of a hate campaign, which resulted in her landlord evicting her and having to move to London. Rose claimed: "What other reason would it be apart from my profession? I don't do any harm, I don't make noise and I am just normal." In 2015 she appeared on an edition of

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

's ''

The Daily Politics ''Daily Politics'' was a BBC Television programme which aired between 6 January, 2003 and 24 July, 2018, presented by Andrew Neil and Jo Coburn. ''Daily Politics'' took an in-depth review of the daily events in both Westminster and other areas a ...

'' in which she argued for the decriminalisation of

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

s in the United Kingdom. In 2017 she took part in ''Things Sex Workers are Tired of Hearing'', a sketch for the online BBC channel

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

. In 2015 Rose performed in a run of ''

The Sex Workers' Opera ''The Sex Workers' Opera'' is a multidisciplinary show featuring stories of sex workers from 17 countries and produced since 2013. It is written and performed by sex workers and their friends. Development Siobhan Knox and Alex Etchart (froExpe ...

'' at London's

Pleasance Theatre The Pleasance is a theatre, bar, sports and recreation complex in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on a street of the same name. It is owned by the University of Edinburgh, and for nine months of the year it serves the Edinburgh University Stude ...

. The show, which included elements of opera, hip hop and poetry to tell women's stories, went on its first UK tour in 2017. Rose is also the presenter of ''Rose Talks Sex'', a long-running radio talk show discussing sex and sexual matters. Rose stopped doing escort work following the death of her partner in a motorcycle accident in 2019. She then bought a motoring home and set herself a challenge to break a

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

by visiting 150 pubs across England, Scotland and Wales in 12 months. Shortly after she began her journey, her plans were curtailed by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, although she was able to continue on a smaller scale, visiting and reviewing pubs for her blog. She continues to present her radio show.

Politics

In 2014 Rose began to stand in political elections, campaigning for sexual freedom. She has stood as an independent candidate, but the Sexual Freedom Coalition lists her as standing for the "Sexual Freedom Party". Rose first stood in the

Clacton by-election The 2014 by-election for the House of Commons constituency of Clacton in Essex, England, took place on 9 October 2014. The by-election was triggered by the Conservative MP for Clacton, Douglas Carswell, defecting to the UK Independence Party (UK ...

on 9 October 2014. Out of eight candidates she finished last, taking 56 votes (0.16% of the vote). Rose then stood in the

Rochester and Strood by-election A by-election was held on 20 November 2014 for the UK parliamentary constituency of Rochester and Strood in Kent, England. The sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Mark Reckless called it on joining the UK Independence Party (UKIP), from the Conse ...

. Out of thirteen candidates Rose finished eleventh, taking 43 votes (0.11%). On 12 December 2014, Rose organised a protest against the

Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014 The Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014 is a statutory instrument of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that applies regulations to R18-rated pornography that is available through video on demand or other streaming platforms. Prior to ...

amendment to the

Communications Act 2003 The Communications Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act, which came into force on 25 July 2003, superseded the Telecommunications Act 1984. The new act was the responsibility of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. It ...

. One of the practices banned was

facesitting Facesitting, also known as queening or kinging, is a sexual practice with one partner sitting over the other's face, sometimes allowing for oral–genital or oral–anal contact. The sitting partner may face in either direction. The position a ...

, so part of the protest was a mass facesitting with people singing "

Sit on My Face "Sit on My Face" is a short song by the members of the comedy troupe Monty Python which originally appeared on the album ''Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album'' and later appeared on the compilation ''Monty Python Sings''. Written by Eric ...

" by

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

. On 1 March 2015 she organised a public spanking event at Manchester's

Sackville Gardens Sackville Gardens is a public space in Manchester, England. It is bounded by Manchester College's Shena Simon Campus on one side and Whitworth Street, Sackville Street, the Rochdale Canal and Canal Street on the others. The land was purchased b ...

, also as a protest against the legislation. In 2016 Rose gave evidence to the

Home Affairs Select Committee The Home Affairs Select Committee is a Departmental Committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Remit The Home Affairs Committee is one of the House of Commons Select committees related to government departments: its ...

, which was looking at the way sex work is treated by legislation. The Committee backed calls to change the rules regarding brothel-keeping and completely decriminalise sex work, though no legislation has been brought before Parliament to act on their recommendations.

References

External links

* * Page named "Sexual Freedom" {{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Charlotte 20th-century births English activists English women activists Schoolteachers from Nottinghamshire English dominatrices English female prostitutes Independent politicians in England Living people People from Nottingham Sex education advocates Sex worker activists in the United Kingdom Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the University of Plymouth Independent British political candidates