With sex work legally defined as inherently exploitive, violence against sex workers' bodies is naturalized. When the only way of helping sex workers is to rescue them, those who are actively engaged in sex work are seen as disposable. Their voices are deprioritized, and they face barriers to justice.
In the past four years not a single reported case of violence that my organization has supported sex workers through has led to an arrest or formal charges despite a rare collaborative working relationship between Peers and the Victoria Police Department.
From a cohort of cisgender and transgender sex workers in Vancouver, 72.2% of participants reported no perceived change in working conditions following the passage of PCEPA, and 26.4% reported negative changes. They also reported less access to health and community services under the new legislation. In the same cohort, 38.2% of participants experienced violence following PCEPA-reported violence to police, which did not differ significantly from pre-PCEPA reporting.
Immigrant and racialized sex workers were more likely to report negative changes and less likely to report violence to the police.
We think it is time to truly prioritize the well-being of people in the sex industry. We need to remove the Criminal Code as a barrier to well-designed public supports. These supports need to focus on universal basic income, gender-based violence prevention, housing and peer-based initiatives that reduce stigma.
Thank you.