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

BEYOND DECRIMINALIZATION: Sex Work, Human Rights and a New Framework for Law Reformwhen the rules are not being equally applied to everybody. And I object hugely thatpeople in my industry pay two to ten times more than other businesses to put ourads somewhere. Just because they think that we can afford it. And you should countyourself fucking lucky that we even let you advertise in there, so shut up and don’tcomplain, or I won’t let you put your ad in there at all. Who do you complain to? Noone. There’s no one to complain to. And even if there was, do you want to attach yourname to that, and make that statement? Make that public outcry? No. So you arelike, constantly just swallowing your pride and writing a cheque here you go.- female massage parlour owner, former sex workerWe examined the classified advertising rates for home appliances as compared to sex industry businessesin six periodicals and newspapers in the Vancouver area. The results provide support for theconcerns voiced by sex workers. Our review of advertising rates revealed that advertising in the adultclassified sections was more expensive than advertising for sale of a home appliance in all six publications.The paper with the smallest discrepancy between the two prices still had 20 percent higherprices for advertising sex work than for advertising home appliances, while the greatest discrepancywas nearly 300 percent higher for advertising sexual services as compared to home appliances.Two local newspapers justified the higher rates for advertising sexual services as a deterrent: themore expensive the ads for sexual services, the less likely people would be to run them. Another localnewspaper stated that sex ads are more expensive “because of the market,” but declined to elaborate.One paper stated that the ads were more expensive because there is more involved in placing an adultad, such as verifying phone numbers and checking identification.Participants reported that it is common for escorts to pay between $60 and $100 per week inadvertising costs. The costs of such discriminatory advertising rates are not merely monetary. Manysex workers indicated that advertising is the key to building an independent off-street client base.Given that independent escort work is one way for a sex worker to exit street prostitution discriminatoryadvertising rates appear to make working off-street that much more difficult.A different form of discrimination occurred in the way various financial and insurance companiesreact to prostitution. Sex workers stated that they face discrimination on the basis of their source ofincome when seeking loans, credit, or insurance.A. Well it’s rampant. It’s everywhere you look. I mean, all you can do about it is pretendthat you do something else. I mean you’re not going to go to the bank and say “I’dlike a mortgage and say I’m a madam” you know, you’re not going to a hotel and say“I have this kind of a business and I want to have a function in your ballroom . . .”You know, you’ve got to hide it or minimize it or whatever you can do at every turn.Absolutely. You have to use euphemisms or complete fabrications for what you do fora living, all over the place. Now, you know, I rebel against that having been in thisbusiness 25 years – I’m less apt to want to play that game any longer and so I’m moreand more interested if somebody chatting at the bar or whatever says what do you do,I tell them what I do. And if they’re okay with it, great, and if they’re a little shocked,that’s their problem kind of thing. You know, it means I probably tend to hang out atplaces I know I’m kind of understood and accepted. The discrimination is everywhere– it really is everywhere. You cannot today be completely open about what you do,how you earn your money, at all, and I think that’s criminal. I think you should beable to say this is what I do, this is how much I make, I don’t disparage any other, The six newspapers studied were: The Vancouver Sun; The Vancouver Province; Westender; Buy and Sell; The Georgia Straight; andXtra West.185