Interesting, i ve heard it more used to refer to prostitution -- do ,e.g. strippers count as sex workers? Also, even that article is confusing, for example it says that sex work is prohibited in most of the world, but camming is legal almost everywhere.
Well, I think the intention behind it is that it's an umbrella term; I'm sure there's lots of gray area around the edges--I doubt anyone thinks there's a bright line where it's "sex work" on this side and "not sex work" on the other. Maybe that's part of the point, it's somewhat loose. But the intention is to include workers other than prostitutes.