Peers Victoria Rallies Sex Workers Denouncing Violence

About 50 sex workers and allies rallied at the call of Peers Victoria to denounce the violence against their members and the stigmatisation of their trade.

The rally was held at Bastion Square, where dozens of proud and hesitant sex workers alike gathered under red umbrellas, in spite of the pouring rain. Then the group marched up Government Street and Pandora Avenue to the newly renovated Cool Aid Downtown Community Centre.

The protesters demonstrated against the pervasive and relentless demonisation of their work. At the DCC, several came forward telling how they were victims of violence from every circle in society, may it be their customers, family members, community members, law enforcement and government workers, and sometimes even social workers professing to help. Some have lost their homes and livelihoods, others custody of their children, yet others their self-respect and that of their peers. Manifestly they have nowhere to turn to, except their own support groups such as Peers Victoria and the Anti-Violence Project, and of course a labyrinthine judicial system.

Canadian society may have come a long way since the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2013 that prohibiting the sale of sexual services contravened the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but it still has a long way to go. If nothing else, the Canadian government weaselled its way around the decision the next year with the introduction of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, which aims to suffocate sex workers by criminalising everything revolving around their trade while leaving sex workers vulnerable and effectively without recourse. The Act is currently challenged in court in Ontario, and will most likely find its way back to the Supreme Court of Canada.

It is worth nothing that sex work is often the result of necessity. The workers may be homeless, or at risk of homelessness, and may also be battling addiction. Furthermore, ostracism and persecution merely perpetuate it instead of addressing its causes. Those who profess to fight the exploitation of sex workers with repression would do well to reconsider their methods, surmount their own prejudices, and listen to the voices of those they presume to help.