Thinking about: what we know, how we how we know it and the implications of myths and misconceptions False Selling sexual services for compensation is not and has never been illegal in Canada True Sections 210, 212 and 213 make it virtually impossible to work without breaking the law False 5 – 10% of industry is street based – most work in other sectors False It is a human rights issue False “Its better then flippin burgers and MacDonald’s” moral argument False Workers choose based on personal and familiar needs, flexibility, personality, preoccupations ...... False Stigma renders ex-workers silent and invisible....however criminal records do limit options False Subsistence (survival) sex compared to sex work False “Lock up your daughters” folk devils and moral panics False “being rewarded for being physically attractive and sexually competent is not an obvious barrier to self-esteem” (swav) False Another statistically unsupported ‘explanation’ False Clients versus aggressors False (in Canada,) Sex workers are the original safe sex experts False Sex work is something a person does not something a person is.....Workers have friends, homes, they play sports, take their kids to hockey practice, love their parents , fight with their siblings. ......In other words they are just like everyone else! False Canadians are generally ambivalent about consensual sex between adults ....it is the nuisance they do not want True Tragically this is very true, like other jobs the job is dangerous PACE survey Robbed – 53.2% Physically Threatened – 73.3% Threatened with a weapon – 60.3% Physically Assaulted – 47.3% Forced to have sex against will – 56.7% Forced to have sex with weapon – 38.8% Kidnapped/confined – 30.9% Street sex workers 60 – 112 times more likely to be victims of fatal violence (Lowman) Between 1991 – 2004 – 171 female sex workers murdered (stats can) 45 % of homicides unsolved (stats can) Increasing rates of violence Physical and sexual violence from aggressors, and clients Theft from clients, aggressors and police Harassment from neighbours and vigilantes Police violence and misconduct Police harassment False Criminal intent violence is not inevitable or a risk of the job – it is result of the context in which workers must operate. Therefore it is preventable. Pressure from clients Limits opportunities to access security of third party controlled establishments Criminal Record Conditions labour practices Street workers Relocated to dark areas Do not work in teams Do not take time to assess clients Can not communicate/clarify with clients 1960 – 64………………. 0 1965 – 69………………. 0 1970 – 74………………. 0 1975 – 79………………. 3 1980 – 84………………. 8 1985 “communicating law” comes into force 1985 – 89………………. 22 1990 – 94………………. 24 1995 – 95………………. 50+ Can not call the police Targeted by aggressors Limits options in cases of domestic violence ”I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught.“ Gary Ridgeway Candy: He won’t let me go. He takes me down by the marina, down by Hull. Rips the buttons right off my dress, starts beating me up. Nothing sexual, he just wants to hurt me. Beating me up. Finally somebody calls the cops, they come. You know what? They arrest me! For prostitution! They let him go! And I – no bra or underwear, dress wide open, black and blue, bleeding and they arrested me! The Hull police. You know. Because – and I told them, “yeah I was working on the Market and this guy picked me up and he’s beaten the shit out of me!” Fucking arrest him! I got rights. (Ottawa street based worker) Police failure to afford violence against sex workers the same consideration as non-sex workers Do not respond to sex violence against sex workers (Lance Dove and Robert Pikton) Refuse to accept evidence of foul play Refuse to acknowledge possibility of serial killer Did not investigate murders Questionable claim that absence of bodies prevented investigation ‘Disposable’ Women (Lowman) Constructs workers as Responsible Irresponsible Unworthy Sex work as master status Nature and extent of media coverage Public indifference Lack of political will “Hooker and woman raped” Vancouver Sun Myths and misconceptions : Are based on discourses of protection, salvation and immorality Are not based on evidence Result in marginalization and stigmatization of workers Support policing and criminalization The policing and criminalization of sex workers Increases their vulnerability to violence, Further stigmatizes and marginalizes workers Undermines their ability to realize their human and labour rights What to do? ……….Decriminalize