This chapter argues the need for new research in the area of sex work stigmatisation and explores how negative public attitudes, stigma and stereotypes traditionally attached to selling sex and the label ‘prostitute’ may influence the lives and realities of sex workers in a global sex market. The article discusses stigma and more specifically ‘whore stigma’ as a form of social control and provides a brief history of the academic literature surrounding sex work before outlining the importance of, and need for, a deeper exploration of the stigmatisation of those who sell sex and to what extent stigma might be changing in the context of an evolving sex economy.