Charlotte Rose is an English sex worker, dominatrix, 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, who lives in London. In 2013 she won the award of "Sex Worker of the Year" at the Sexual Freedom Awards where she is now a resident judge. In 2014 she took up politics, campaigning for sexual freedom 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 by-elections.

Career

Rose began her career in the sex industry 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 in 2003. She gained a degree in hospitality from the University of Plymouth, 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 documentary ''Love for Sale'', a series presented by Rupert Everett. 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'' 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. In 2015 Rose performed in a run of '' The Sex Workers' Opera'' at London's Pleasance Theatre. 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, 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 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. 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" 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, 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