National Ugly Mugs (NUM) is the UK's leading victim and vocational support charity for sex workers. Founded in 2012, NUM operates a national reporting and alerting system that allows companions and other sex workers to report dangerous individuals and receive warnings about known offenders. It is free, confidential, and used by thousands of professionals across the UK. If you work as a companion in the UK and you are not registered with NUM, you are missing out on one of the most important safety tools available.
The core service is the alert system. When a companion reports a dangerous client, dodgy booking, or threatening individual, NUM verifies the report and issues an alert to all registered members in the relevant area. These alerts include physical descriptions, vehicle details, phone numbers, and behavioural patterns. You receive them via the NUM app, email, or SMS. The speed of the system means that within hours of an incident, every registered companion in the area knows to avoid that person.
Beyond alerts, NUM provides a range of support services. They offer free access to paid therapy sessions for anyone who has experienced violence or trauma in the course of their work. They distribute emergency vouchers for food, transport, and accommodation. They connect companions with sexual health services and legal advice. And they train police forces across the UK on how to interact with sex workers respectfully and effectively. NUM is not a rescue organisation. It is a professional support service that treats sex work as work.
Registering with NUM is free and takes minutes. You do not need to provide your real name, and your registration is completely confidential. NUM does not share your details with police or any other authority unless you explicitly consent. You can report incidents anonymously if you prefer. The app allows you to set your working location and receive alerts relevant to your area. You can also use the app to check phone numbers against the NUM database before accepting a booking.
Discretion partners with NUM and lists them prominently on our Safety page. We encourage every UK companion on the platform to register. The combination of Discretion's verification and safety tools with NUM's alert and support network creates a level of protection that no other platform or directory offers. Safety is not a feature you add on. It is a foundation you build on. NUM is a critical part of that foundation for anyone working in the UK.
