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

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PIVOT LEGAL SOCIETYally, people would find a way around, but if they wanted to shut everybody downfor a couple of months, they could. And then people would just have to fork over the$500 [for a fee for certification] and go get certified in something. And there’d be thepressure to do that quickly, whereas right now there’s not. And even with my ownstaff, y’know to tell people they’d have to go get certified, they would be like, whenwas the last time that anyone checked? It doesn’t matter that it was four years ago, itcould happen tomorrow.- female off-street in-call sex workerBody rub parlour licenses in Edmonton and CalgaryThe licensing fees for businesses in Vancouver are similar to those in Calgary and Edmonton.The Calgary By-Law No. 32M98 governs business licensing fees. 65 A Body Rub Studio license costs$3,600 and a Dating and Escort Service license costs $3,600, while a Motor Vehicle Dealer licensecosts $110.00. In Edmonton, Business License By-Law No. 13138 sets out business licensing fees,including $4,092 annually to license an Escort Agency, $1,535 for an Independent Escort license,$154 for a Vehicle Dealership and $512 for a Nightclub. 66Sex workers commented that they felt having much higher licensing fees for sex industry businesseswas unfair, discriminatory and prohibitive:Q. So, what is your opinion about licensing fees for individual sex workers, and aboutlicensing fees for sex work businesses?A. They should be on par with everything else. Not like there’s such a jump, in that eightthousand, that’s ridiculous. Between the body rub and what was it?A. Escort services. Like one’s 800 and one’s 8,000 [dollars?]. They should definitely be onpar with each other basis. That’s legitimate. Not just some government.A. Yeah.A. I mean some of the services are exactly the same – as a brothel house and a massageparlour.A. Exactly. So they should be on par with the licensing too.- female street-level sex workersA sex worker in Edmonton described how she felt the high fees for independent escorts made it difficult,if not impossible, for some women to move from the street into independent escort work:A. The cost is $4,000 if you want an agency license in Edmonton where you wouldemploy people as opposed to 15 hundred dollars for somebody who is independent.And that brings me pretty much up to today.Q. What do you think of that particular arrangement right now?A. Well, I find it workable, probably because I have been around for long, and I’maware of it, and for what it’s for, think it’s very prohibitive for anybody to just walkinto, into the independent part of the business and work without any, any agencyhelp because it’s so, I mean it’s not even just $1,500. It’s another hundred dollarsand it’s an added insult because you first have the $1,500 of the independent agencylicense but you still have to employ yourself even though you can’t employ anyone elseand that’s a hundred dollars, and then because that’s the nature of the beast you haveto have a home business license which is another $35, and now I hear it’s up twopercent from that. So, you know, it’s a lot of money and the upstart is, is so expen-65 City of Calgary, By-law No. 32M98, Business Licence Bylaw.66 City of Edmonton, By-law No. 13138, Business Licence Bylaw.44
BEYOND DECRIMINALIZATION: Sex Work, Human Rights and a New Framework for Law Reformsive because now you’ve got this license in your hands – assuming you’ve managedto scrape that kind of money together. . . . So what about women that want to getoff the street? What does this by-law do to them? The escort by-law makes it impossible.It really, almost makes it impossible. Yes, they could go work for pimps, and Isuppose if they’ve already been working for a street pimp and they find themselves outof that situation, needing work, they probably wouldn’t find themselves uncomfortableworking for an inside pimp. But for the independent, you know the independentgirl, on the street, which is what I used to be, it costs her nothing. There’s the condomwagon, so she doesn’t even have to pay for that. She gets herself out of bed in themorning, walks to the curb, there’s her advertising costs, nothing, her transportationcosts he provides, they either go back to her place or his place or do it in the car, thatcosts nothing extra. And she’s got money in her pocket. How can you convince somebody,drug addicted or not drug addicted, that they’d be better off inside, except forof course the fact that there are these serial killers running around, anybody who’s outon the street that’s younger might not be so much addicted, but when you’re youngeryou’re invincible and of course that guy’s not coming for you right? People that areolder and are still stuck on the street, they might have mental problems, or maybethey’re just desperate for the moment and they don’t do it full time anyway. Butthat’s the thing. I mean if you’re on welfare or something and you’re just not makingends meet, and you’re just out there once a week, what would compel a person to goindoors at those prices? Or what would compel, I can’t even imagine what wouldcompel me to go work for a massage agency for instance, when I’m only going to workonce in a blue moon and they would take more than the money I would make.- female off-street out-call sex workerThe fact that sex workers who want to move from street work into escort work are prevented from doingso by the high escort licensing fees reveals the way that such provisions directly affect the safety of sexworkers. In Edmonton, where this impact was reported, a serial killer is currently suspected of causingthe deaths of several street-level sex workers. The Edmonton council should consider lowering thelicensing fees and restrictions it applies to independent escorts.Sex workers in Calgary and Edmonton similarly criticized the municipal by-laws relating to sexwork under which they are forced to operate. In Calgary, there are two relevant by-laws: the 1988By-law to License, Regulate and Control Massage Practitioners and Massage Studios, and the 1986By-law to License, Regulate and Control Body Painting Studios, Encounter Studios, Dating andEscort Services and Model Studios. 67 The by-laws set out licensing requirements and restrictions, fees,penalties for non-compliance, and revocation of a license. These by-laws prohibit the aforementionedadult businesses from operating in residential districts.In Edmonton, both escort agencies and escorts are governed by the Escort Licensing By-law#12452. 68 This by-law sets out how licenses are obtained, restrictions on who can apply for a license,licensing fees, the duration of the license, and fines for non-compliance.In all cases, sex workers stated they felt the number and type of restrictions, and the licensing feesfor sex industry businesses should be equivalent to those for other businesses.Views on the “quasi-legal” status of sex industry businessesThe status of licensed sex industry businesses as simultaneously legal and illegal creates an uncertainsituation for sex workers. They described the experience of working for a business that provides67 City of Calgary, Bylaw 51M97, Massage License Bylaw; City of Calgary, Bylaw 34M86, Dating and Escort Bylaw.68 City of Edmonton, By-law 12452, Escort Licensing Bylaw.45
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