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Aaliyah grew up a devout Muslim but now makes adult content for the online service OnlyFans. She\u2019s often pictured wearing a hijab. Aaliyah is her stage name. She\u2019s had death threats but believes that expressing her sexuality and making her own choices about her body are empowering. She has also had support from young Muslim women and couples. She was brought up in the UK as a Muslim and began to question her faith at the age of 12, when her parents got divorced. She says, \u201cMy work now is definitely a rebellion against my upbringing. I\u2019m tired of being told how women should be\u201d. Aaliyah still describes herself as Muslim, and feels that her sex work is more important than the version of Islam she grew up with.

Can you be a sex worker and still follow your faith? Sex work has always challenged religion. Although it\u2019s broadly considered immoral within Christianity, Islam and Judaism, sacred texts carry some mixed messages. Women sex workers often see male religious leaders condemning them in public, whilst buying their services in private.

In Bangalore in India, women at a sex workers cooperative think religion is compatible with their work. One Christian, who\u2019s a mother and wife, says her family don\u2019t know how she makes her living. \u201cI can talk to God about it when I can\u2019t talk to my husband\u201d. In Nigeria, a Muslim sex worker we\u2019re calling Zara operates in an area where sex work is illegal and dangerous. But she draws strength from her faith. \u201cI know what God says about selling sex, that it\u2019s against the religion but he understands that I have to do it.\u201d