Beyond Decriminalization: Sex-work, Human Rights and a New ...

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PIVOT LEGAL SOCIETY152A. Absolutely [hours working in the sex trade should count towards income assistanceeligibility]A. Yeah [time as a sex worker should count towards income assistance eligibility] but ifthe people are embarrassed to admit it, I guess it can be optional. To those who don’twant to have it in the record that they did that.- male street-level sex workerWhen asked whether there should be a special exemption from the two-year employment requirementfor sex workers, some participants argued that sex workers should not be exempt:A. We don’t want special privileges.- female street-level sex workerA. Yeah, if prostitution is legalized then, yes, they should have to prove they’ve worked[in order to qualify for income assistance].- female off-street out-call sex workerSome thought that counting those hours would be either embarrassing or unworkable:A. It’s impossible to count the hours that you work per day.A. I would feel degraded.- female street-level sex workerOthers expressed concern about loss of privacy:A. The proving hours thing – What that means to me is – is exposure. Again like this is,yes it’s a business, but it’s private, it’s your sexuality. You don’t throw that out for thegovernment to look at.- female off-street out-call sex workerA. Yeah, if prostitution is legalized then, yes, they should have to prove they’ve worked.Of course if it is legalized, I can’t see how [sex workers are going to prove the amountof hours that they have worked] – how [are they] going to get receipts?- female off-street out-call sex workerThe issue of prostitution aside, Pivot believes that the two-year employment rule creates an unreasonablebarrier for individuals in need of welfare, and should be repealed. However, if this sectionof the EAA remains in force, then prostitution should be recognized as “employment” and sex workshould count as contributing to the requisite 840 hours. Further, some kind of provision needs tobe made that acknowledges the difficulties some sex workers may have in keeping track of the hoursthey work. For example, in order to accept prostitution as contributing towards the two-year requirement,employment and assistance workers may need to accept an applicant’s word. However, repealof the criminal laws relating to prostitution may result in improved systems of record keeping, such asdeclaration of prostitution earnings in income tax returns, which could be used as proof of hours ofwork in the sex industry.Declaring incomeBoth earned and unearned income is usually deducted from a recipient’s income assistancepayment. However, if a recipient is classified as a Person with Disability (PWD) or as a Person withPersistent and Multiple Barriers (PPMB) to employment, he or she is eligible for a $500 earningsexemption. To be classified as a PWD or PPMB, a person needs a physician’s opinion of a currentmedical condition. Persons with Disabilities Fact Sheets, online: Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance .
BEYOND DECRIMINALIZATION: Sex Work, Human Rights and a New Framework for Law ReformIn the event that the criminal laws relating to adult prostitution are repealed, sex workers onincome assistance will be required to declare their income. Unless a sex worker qualifies for PWD orPPMB, every dollar earned would be deducted from his or her income assistance check.Sex workers were asked what they thought about having to declare income earned while onincome assistance, and then be subject to deductions as a result. Our participants suggested that, asthings stand, income assistance is not enough to live on; to have income earned from prostitutiondeducted would cause hardship. One person described several factors that make it important for sexworkers to have access to a financial safety net, including the transience of many workers, the inconsistencyof their earnings, and the personal toll of working in prostitution:A. The thing is too, the sex trade, a lot of women that have been in the business, they’rein it for a transient period of time. They’re in and out throughout their lives atdifferent times when they need the money, it may not be a full-time thing for them. . . . The sex trade is up and down. It’s not a regular steady [job] . . . . . . It’s likesome days are bad, some days are good, and some days are just in between. Andmaybe I don’t feel like working every day. It’s a little hard on your brain. You don’talways want to do sex trade every single day. It gets to you so you may only workpart-time, which again reduces your income. I don’t know, it’s hard to keep a tab onsome things like that. And if you get into the streetwalkers and the girls who are lesseducated and drug addicts, it could be very hard to nail down their income or getanything from them.- female off-street out-call sex workerOne sex worker suggested that involvement in prostitution is already a result of the inadequacy ofcurrent welfare rates.A. Half of us probably end up in the sex trade because we are waiting for that nextwelfare cheque to begin with, and we got kids to feed. . . .What are you going to do?You got three kids. Your welfare cheque takes you where?- female street-level sex workerOne participant supported the idea that sex workers should be able to legitimately claim prostitutionincome, because it would be a relief to be able to be open about being involved in sex work.A. I mean I would like to think that . . . if prostitution should be legalized, if you are ondisability, then a certain amount of income we all claim. I think it would be fabulousto claim that and be honest about who you are and what you do.- female off-street out-call sex workerOthers remarked that, at times, prostitution income is already being deducted from income assistancecheques.A. Basically, with myself, I had a child when I was 17 years old and I was on SocialAssistance at that time, and basically Social Assistance found out thatwas a prostitute and cut me off Social Assistance because I had an income.So I don’t know what the difference really is. Yeah . . . it doesn’t make . . . yeah . . . Imean it’s happening here already.- female off-street out-call sex workerJudging by the low income assistance rates currently available in B.C., it is hardly surprising that Seth Klein and Andrea Long, “A Bad Time to Be Poor: An Analysis of B.C.’s New Welfare Policies” (June 2003) online: CanadianCentre for Policy Alternatives .153
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PIVOT LEGAL SOCIETYPart 2: Municipa
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