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

BEYOND DECRIMINALIZATION: Sex Work, Human Rights and a New Framework for Law ReformA. You know, I mean the girls that are outside, they don’t have a fighting chance to comein . . . they’d have to pass the security clearance.A. And if they can’t pass that, they’re left out there for bait. And like I said, 13 years agoI was charged, and every year I have to go in and beg to be cleared. And if I can’t getcleared, I’m back out in the street. I mean, this morning, they saw . . . or yesterday,sorry, they found another girl floating down the river here.Q. That’s in addition to the woman that you sent me the article on four days ago?A. Yeah. I mean, the pace is picking up here, you know. And by driving this wedgebetween us, I mean it’s . . . God forbid, we’re turning into Vancouver.Q. Do we know that both of these women were involved in the biz?A. As far as I know so far . . . yeah. They haven’t made it public yet, but from what I’mtold, yeah.Q. So how many call girls are we talking about now?A. Well . . . you know, since licensing . . . in 1990, when the licensing came into place,there’s been an average of two to three per year, and the pace is picking up . . . I thinkthere’s four this year . . . four or five this year . . . . Since licensing came into place,and I’ve tried to tell them that, like . . . look, you know, these women are showing updead because of the licensing, and they just won’t do anything about it.- female off-street out-call sex workerOne Edmonton sex worker who distributes her card to women wanting to leave the street and workindependently indoors believes that more than one of the women found murdered had attempted towork indoors prior to getting killed:A. I mean one of the girls, well . . . I know more than one, but they will only admit toone. One of the girls had my business card, not really, just a print off the computerand just basically my nick-name “[name omitted]” and my cell number. And thegirl, some of the girls that are showing up dead have my card found on their bodyand to me that only means one thing: and that is they wanted to come inside but theyweren’t allowed to, for some reason they don’t pass the [criminal record] clearance orthe city doesn’t deem them as we call them “condom worthy.”- female off-street out-call sex workerThe strictly enforced Edmonton independent escort licensing by-law provides a clear example of howheavy restrictions on attaining an individual escort license entrenches women in more dangerous workon the street.Business licenses for establishments consisting of more than one sex workerSex workers were divided as to whether or not sex industry businesses consisting of more than oneperson should be required to obtain a business license. In general, sex workers stated that if licensingis applied, by-laws should be no more restrictive than licenses for non-sex industry businesses, andthey should be subject to equal levels of enforcement. Some sex workers stated they felt such businessesshould not be required to hold licenses, while others thought it was a way for such businesses toachieve legitimacy, so long as they were not treated differently than other businesses. One sex workercommented:A. I am really not too sure. Y’know, it’s – it’s something of a thinker. I mean theoretically,I am against licensing, per se. But then, the more practical side of me says,well everyone else has to get some sort of license. Whether they are an electrician, orplumber. So even though I am – well, there’s a huge part of me, the worker part of55