BY US, FOR US
Amplifying sex workers' voices
A Needs & Risks Assessment of Sex Workers in Metro Vancouver and on Southern Vancouver Island
Amplifying sex workers' voices
A Needs & Risks Assessment of Sex Workers in Metro Vancouver and on Southern Vancouver Island
Road to today:
Summer 2021 - Surveys
Winter 2021/2022 - Focus Groups
Spring 2022 - Art Gathering
Summer 2021 - Surveys
Winter 2021/2022 - Focus Groups
Spring 2022 - Art Gathering
Background
Criminalization of Sex Work in Canada
In 2014 the government of Canada overturned previous sex work laws in a case known as Bedford. Within a year, the government passed new laws under the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA), while continuing to make it illegal for visitors to Canada to work in the sex industry. PCEPA criminalized a new set of situations around sex work; these situations were: (1) purchasing sex (client criminalization), (2) working in any area where children may be around (potentially including a person’s home while their child is out of the home) (3) being a ‘third party’ for sex workers (intended to outlaw pimps, but also criminalizing drivers, security guards, receptionists, managers, and all other support staff sex workers might need for safety), and (4) advertising someone else’s sex work (effectively censoring sex workers – and their ability to set terms and conditions for safety - across all media).
Truth and Reconciliation
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was active from 2008 to 2015 to document the history and outcomes of the Canadian residential schools system in Canada (1869-1996; mandatory 1894 to 1948). From its’ opening paragraph, the TRC final report powerfully documents residential schools as a central element of ‘cultural genocide’, whose impacts are still painfully felt today.
Many Indigenous participants we spoke with shared that they still feeling the impacts of residential schools today; residential school impacts were directly on Indigenous participants and onto Indigenous participants by way of their family members who attended residential school. In focus groups, Indigenous participants were highly skeptical and even dismissive of ‘truth and reconciliation’, having seen no evidence of it in their lives.
Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG)
The Canadian National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls was active from 2016 to 2019 to examine violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA (Two Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual) people. The inquiry’s final report made it clear that ‘state actions and inactions rooted in colonialism’ drive a high level of violence; our findings reflect this repeatedly as government policies past and present drove the amount of risk sex workers had to face and failed to ensure sex workers needs and rights to justice, safety, and security.
Indigenous participants were overrepresented in participants overall and in street-based sex work, which is riskier than indoor sex work.
British Columbia’s Overdose Crisis
Since April 2016, BC has been experiencing a public health emergency referred to as the opioid overdose crisis (shortened in this report to ‘overdose crisis’; this also better captures the opioid poisonings that happen for non-opioid users). Significant overdoses resulting from fentanyl poisoning have been ongoing each year since the public health emergency was declared and 2021 saw record overdose deaths in BC.
The overdose crisis formed a highly present and inescapable background to research team activities, as many members of the research team as well as participants dealt with unexpected deaths of loved ones, counted the numbers of overdose deaths among sex worker colleagues, and coped with integrating grief for overdose deaths of loved ones into otherwise already-stressful and busy lives.
COVID-19 Rapid Needs & Risks Assessment (Spring 2020)
A rapid needs and risks assessment was conducted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. COVID-19 funding had not yet been made available at the amounts it became later, so a smaller needs and risks assessment was conducted to understand sex workers’ rapidly changing situations. This needs and risks assessment builds on the prior version, incorporating additional topics and exploring important topics and themes in depth.
Criminalization of Sex Work in Canada
In 2014 the government of Canada overturned previous sex work laws in a case known as Bedford. Within a year, the government passed new laws under the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA), while continuing to make it illegal for visitors to Canada to work in the sex industry. PCEPA criminalized a new set of situations around sex work; these situations were: (1) purchasing sex (client criminalization), (2) working in any area where children may be around (potentially including a person’s home while their child is out of the home) (3) being a ‘third party’ for sex workers (intended to outlaw pimps, but also criminalizing drivers, security guards, receptionists, managers, and all other support staff sex workers might need for safety), and (4) advertising someone else’s sex work (effectively censoring sex workers – and their ability to set terms and conditions for safety - across all media).
Truth and Reconciliation
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was active from 2008 to 2015 to document the history and outcomes of the Canadian residential schools system in Canada (1869-1996; mandatory 1894 to 1948). From its’ opening paragraph, the TRC final report powerfully documents residential schools as a central element of ‘cultural genocide’, whose impacts are still painfully felt today.
Many Indigenous participants we spoke with shared that they still feeling the impacts of residential schools today; residential school impacts were directly on Indigenous participants and onto Indigenous participants by way of their family members who attended residential school. In focus groups, Indigenous participants were highly skeptical and even dismissive of ‘truth and reconciliation’, having seen no evidence of it in their lives.
Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG)
The Canadian National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls was active from 2016 to 2019 to examine violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA (Two Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual) people. The inquiry’s final report made it clear that ‘state actions and inactions rooted in colonialism’ drive a high level of violence; our findings reflect this repeatedly as government policies past and present drove the amount of risk sex workers had to face and failed to ensure sex workers needs and rights to justice, safety, and security.
Indigenous participants were overrepresented in participants overall and in street-based sex work, which is riskier than indoor sex work.
British Columbia’s Overdose Crisis
Since April 2016, BC has been experiencing a public health emergency referred to as the opioid overdose crisis (shortened in this report to ‘overdose crisis’; this also better captures the opioid poisonings that happen for non-opioid users). Significant overdoses resulting from fentanyl poisoning have been ongoing each year since the public health emergency was declared and 2021 saw record overdose deaths in BC.
The overdose crisis formed a highly present and inescapable background to research team activities, as many members of the research team as well as participants dealt with unexpected deaths of loved ones, counted the numbers of overdose deaths among sex worker colleagues, and coped with integrating grief for overdose deaths of loved ones into otherwise already-stressful and busy lives.
COVID-19 Rapid Needs & Risks Assessment (Spring 2020)
A rapid needs and risks assessment was conducted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. COVID-19 funding had not yet been made available at the amounts it became later, so a smaller needs and risks assessment was conducted to understand sex workers’ rapidly changing situations. This needs and risks assessment builds on the prior version, incorporating additional topics and exploring important topics and themes in depth.