A Historical Week for Sex Workers

Jun 13, 2011

A Historical Week for Sex Workers

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PROSTITUTION AND THE APPEAL TO LEGALIZE

 

I recently interned with the National Film Board in Halifax, NS on a documentary called Buying Sex.  Veteran filmmakers Kent Nason and Teresa MacInnes are currently filming an across-Canada discussion about the sex trade and three Ontario prostitution laws in question: living off the avails of prostitution, operating out of a common bawdy house and communicating for the purposes of sex.  Upon completion they will have interviewed sex workers, johns, abolitionists, advocates and researchers across Canada and in New Zealand, Amsterdam and Sweden where prostitution is legal.

Before I interned, I knew little of Ontario’s prostitution laws and the sex trade.  I learned from the media, Pretty Woman and Robert Pickton’s trial.  Since April, I’ve heard numerous interviews and discuss sex work at work, parties and with anyone who will listen.  My internship motivated me to get other Canadians involved in the discussion and ask who are these men, women and children involved in the Canada’s sex trade.

I heard from sex workers ages 19 to 50 years, seasoned johns, police officers, researchers, advocates and abolitionists.  Workers covered working conditions, coping mechanisms and their relationships with their buyers, pimps and madams.  I am no expert on the issue, but find more workers and buyers’ voices should be heard in the discussion. 

Many people say, 'it’s the oldest profession in the world’ and ‘legalization will make it safer for everyone’ but they know little else.

In April, I organized an on-camera discussion with a small group of university students.  For three hours, students debated their views on sexuality, the billion-dollar porn industry, male violence, women’s equality and more.  At the end, most students admitted their initial strong ‘decriminalize’ opinion altered to desiring the laws to change, as well as the government meeting the greater needs of worker’s conditions. 

The Ontario prostitution laws apply to adult sex workers, but most sex workers enter the trade as youth.  Researchers are often at bay with one another’s findings but most agreed 12-16 years is the average age of entering prostitution.

Changing the laws may help protect workers, but many social issues are buried under the push to decriminalize. 

The media portray sex workers as successful and earning equal to a doctor’s salary.  Success and prosperity exists for some workers, but the numbers drop dramatically for survival sex workers where they turn tricks for cash, food, drugs- one woman admitted to working for tampons.  At street-level, poverty is an endless cycle: get paid, feed kids, and often, feed the drug habit.  

Society’s progressive response to the prostitution debate is to decriminalize.  But the debate is more complex; issues surrounding safety, stigma, exit services, drug programs, harm reduction, zoning, single moms, trafficking, youth and, employment all need addressing.

Several sex workers enjoy their job and simply want safer conditions (i.e. security guards and panic buttons).  Harm reduction programs provide safer working environments by enforcing regular health checks on workers and johns.

Some sex workers dislike their job, but have few options.  A single mom and a young girl addicted to cocaine won’t likely exit even if she want out.  Hundreds of government-sponsored social programs exist and offer temporary services, but few exit programs are available.  Because of insufficient funding, one exit service only houses three women at a time.

Most entry-level jobs (i.e. diners, retail, etc.) pay minimum wage, demand long hours and prohibit drugs or alcohol. Sex work provides quick cash and flexible hours for women.  Men with labour jobs earn above minimum wage.

From Wall Street to Welfare- men who buy sex are as varied as the reasons why they purchase.  Buyers range from 18 to 70 years and encompass successful celebrities, political leaders, loners, losers and everyday family guys.

While the Nordic Model Law criminalizes buyers for committing violence against women and children, Ontario must decide their approach towards johns.

New Zealand decriminalized prostitution in 2003 and said relationships have improved between police and sex workers.  However in April 2010 teachers and parents raised concerns about a brothel opening near a public school, suggesting New Zealand hadn’t solved zoning issues.  

In Amsterdam, the mayor said legalizing prostitution increased the exploitation of women. “We have seen in the last years that women trafficking has becoming more, so in this respect the legalizing of the prostitution didn’t work,” said Mayor Job Cohen.  If it didn't work, what are we as Canadians going to differently? 

Many believe human trafficking doesn’t exist in Canada-that our borders are too secure.  While few stories are public in Canada, women have admitted to being forced to pay back immigration fees through sex work and being promised the migration of their family upon more sex work. 

 

If Canadians want to be progressive, then we must move beyond changing the laws, learn from other countries’ mistakes and create a strong net of social services for people who fall through the cracks.