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

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PIVOT LEGAL SOCIETYThere are many different types of cooperatives; virtually any business can be structured as a cooperative.In B.C., under the Cooperative Association Act, any three or more persons or eligible organisationsmay be incorporated as a cooperative association for the purpose of carrying on any lawfulbusiness or activity on a cooperative basis. 10Worker cooperatives are owned by their employees, so members are both workers and owners ofthe business. Worker cooperatives are generally established to provide workers with employment andfull control over their work environment. Some participants expressed a strong interest in the cooperativemodel as an appropriate way to structure a sex industry business. A male street-level sex workerliked the way cooperatives facilitate worker ownership:A. I think ideally there would be some sort of cooperative. A cooperative would workwhere, if you’ve been there for a length of time, that you end up owning a part of thecompany, as time goes on sorta thing.- male street-level sex workerParticipants were attracted to the collaborative and democratic decision-making nature of the cooperativebusiness structure, particularly with respect to setting prices.A. So all the girls get together and discuss a set price and then agree to it, girls couldwork in cooperatives and set rates themselves. Cooperatives I think would spring up.Like literally. Like, you guys were saying that you had sort of something like thatgoing, for a while? You’d have a house, you’d all have a room, you know what I mean?- female off-street out-call sex workerThe idea of working together with other sex workers as equals was seen as very desirable:A. I think that it works as long as everybody knows that nobody’s the boss, nobody’sbetter than the other person, and that you’re all there to do the same job.- male street-level sex workerA former sex worker and current owner of a massage parlour thought that working cooperativelywould give workers more of a stake in the business:A. . . . everyone has a vested interest in the longevity of the business. There’s a commonvision for how the place should be run.- female massage parlour owner, former sex workerParticipants felt that a cooperative business model would be an excellent way of building camaraderiebetween workers.A. I like the idea of the cooperative or a collective. It seems to me, it’s the isolation factoris the biggest hardship in a way. Because you get so isolated because you are outcastand you are working alone. Like bus drivers, they don’t work alone. But they havesuch camaraderie between each other, and they are always looking out for each other.So they all, they are like us, they all work alone, but they really have an acute understandingof the hardships.A. Cab drivers are the same way.A. Yeah, yeah. And they go to each other’s rescue, like that. Because they really know thehardship and stuff. So they have a brotherliness that we’ve got to develop.- female off-street out-call sex workersParticipants suggested that some tasks, such as housekeeping, could be shared among cooperative10 Ibid., s. 10(1).178
BEYOND DECRIMINALIZATION: Sex Work, Human Rights and a New Framework for Law Reformmembers. Participants suggested that a cooperative might provide other services to workers, such aseducation and childcare.A. And for a full service, you would have different times when you are on duty,answering that phone. And then, y’know, the other time, when you are not, youare doing the kid-care part. And then, it could even be one separate place, but nottotally.A. So I see it functioning like that too – it’s all inclusive, doable, cooperative setting,yeah. So you could take care of the sick and the old, the babies, and the pregnant.And so like there’d be spaces for all kinds of women, not just the sex workers. Butall their support . . . so that any woman who doesn’t have a home elsewhere couldfind some kind of work she wants to do in a safe setting. You know learn become ateacher, go do education. Whatever you want . . . y’know, stay awhile or stay a longtime.Q. And how would it be funded?A. I didn’t work out all the details but y’know, we have working women now, don’t we?And then – if you, well, y’know, if you learn, and stuff – if you want to be more likea nun? Then you work and help clean the place, then you got your room and board.That takes care of some of it, the education part could be funded through education.‘Kay, when you get an education, you could send money back, to thank you for help.Well, that’s one thing. Working women would pay a monthly rent. If they are makinggood money, hopefully. You could have a little theatre, y‘know, like . . .A. Fundraising.A. Yeah, and little businesses, gift shops for women who wanted to learn how to makearts and crafts, and stuff like that. So through a little self-reliance, a little community.Yeah. And of course, we would not be like these current women-only places, whoare very hateful towards men, we’d be user friendly towards the guys, of course. We’dbe like – hey!- female off-street out-call sex workersOne escort was concerned that a cooperative structure could function as a cover for pimps:A. The girls . . . they have to be, again, very honest, people that would be running theseco-ops, because I can see somebody say they’re running the co-op and actually the girl,or the women that are running it having a pimp behind them.- female off-street out-call sex workerOverall, sex workers felt that a cooperative business model is a very desirable way to structure the sextrade, allowing sex workers to share their business expenses and increase workplace safety.Housing cooperativesHousing cooperatives are incorporated non-profit businesses formed by people who wish toprovide and own their housing jointly. Like other cooperatives, a housing cooperative is a selfgoverningorganization owned collectively by its members. The units in a housing cooperative areowned by the cooperative and cannot be bought or sold for a profit. Housing cooperative memberspay a monthly housing charge that is set when the members approve the cooperative’s yearly operatingbudget. Members agree to be involved in the cooperative’s operation and to participate in membershipmeetings.B.C.’s Cooperative Association Act contains several special provisions applicable only to housingcooperatives. Housing cooperatives are exempt from the provisions of the Residential Tenancy Act (the179
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