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

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PIVOT LEGAL SOCIETYA. I think it [advertising] should be restricted in its content, content and meaning.Because if it is going to be viewed by children then you need to be more discrete withadvertising. If you are going to be advertising in an adult only area then that isdifferent and the ads should be more free.- female off-street in-call sex workerOthers favoured a more liberal approach:By-law enforcementA. No restrictions . . . yeah I can see that. I mean, if you want to run a classy house, youare going to run a classy ad. If you’re going to run a anything goes type of house, youare going to have a good thing going, y’know?Q. Where should you be allowed to advertise, though?A. Any place that’ll take your money.- female street-level sex workerWhile there is ample evidence that enforcement of criminal laws pertaining to prostitution createsharmful and dangerous working conditions for street-level sex workers, many of our research participantsbelieved that enforcement of municipal by-laws can have harmful effects as well. 88Usually the penalty for breaching a municipal by-law is a fine. However, if fines are not paid, aperson can be charged with contempt of court, and face imprisonment.Sex workers in Alberta reported that they were subject to by-law enforcement sting operations, andmuch more likely to be prosecuted for by-law infractions than other types of business. They felt threatenedand intimidated by these stings:A. . . . they’ve been coming around like crazy in the last two weeks. They haven’t beenhere to my place yet because I’m hardly ever, ever open but they’ve gone to almostevery place. And I guess they were saying the by-law were saying that the vice-copsdon’t have enough resources anymore to come and inspect and do all that they used todo. So what they’re doing is they’re coming out and giving fines. I know one place thatgot $5,000 worth of fines, and it was . . . like things like dress code, if your blouseis a little too low-cut . . . or if your . . . let’s say your skirt is knee-length, or it’s notbelow the knees, they’ll fine you for that. Or, if you don’t have your license on you . . .on the premises at that moment, they’ll fine you for that. Or if you haven’t written inthe customer and the time properly, they’ll fine you. So they can really “ka -ching, kaching”out of lots of fines . . . . The city of Calgary by-law inspector . . . they just hiredabout twelve more by-law inspectors and…What they do now too, is they come inand they pretend they’re just a regular guy and they have a massage and they pay youfor it. And at the end they’ll say, you know . . . can I have any extra services? And ifyou say yes, they’ll go over and they have their badge underneath, and then they pullyour license. And you gotta go through a great rigmarole to try and get it back, andthey close you down and . . . yeah.Q. So this has been happening recently in Calgary, or is it something that has alwayshappened?A. No, this is fairly new. They never used to do that before. As far as I know, the ballnever used to come down on massage; it was the undercover cop that used to come88 Pivot Legal Society Sex Work Subcommittee, Voices for Dignity: A Call to End the Harms Caused by Canada’s Sex Trade Laws, (Vancouver:Pivot Legal Society, 2004); J. Lowman and L. Fraser, Violence Against Persons Who Prostitute: The Experience in B.C. (Ottawa:Department of Justice Research, Statistics and Evaluation Directorate Policy Sector, 1995).60
BEYOND DECRIMINALIZATION: Sex Work, Human Rights and a New Framework for Law Reformand they used to lay criminal charges. Now, they’re only laying criminal charges, Ithink, if they have enough fines. But you know, there might be a big sweep comingup. The way everyone I talk to says that there’s a sweep coming up. I mean, the bylawcould just be laying the groundwork, is what we think. And then they’re gonnacome in and do such a big shut-down, put it all over the news, you know. “MassagePlace is Busted” “Women Offering Prostitution” . . . blah, blah, blah. What happensis, you see, when these women get busted, they lose their licenses and then they all endup working the streets at Forest Lawn, right. But this is what happens, because nowyou can’t work safely inside, you cannot get a city of Calgary license. So now you haveto go work on the street and there’s all these crazies out on the street and women arebeing murdered all the time. And so the law forces you into an unsafe situation. It’sbad, it’s just not a safe law . . . . And I thought, what a pathetic life you live. Like,this is your big thing in life, these are the big criminals, you’re catching a bunch ofwomen who are just trying to make a living and pay for their food and stuff? It’s sick.- female off-street out-call sex workerSex workers reported that enforcement patterns vary widely in different cities. In Vancouver, for example,there is very little enforcement of massage, body rub, escort service, and health enhancement centre by laws.When enforcement does occur, it is largely complaint driven. Two in-call workers recounted their experiencesthis way:Q. And do you have any trouble with enforcement? Do the police ever come aroundsniffing or questioning or anything like that?A. Well if they have they haven’t announced who they are. No one has come around in auniform and asked me anything or banged on my door or anything, so if they’ve comearound posing as a client I have no idea. There’s been the odd time when I’ve interviewedsomeone and I’ve kind of felt, “I wonder,” but, could have been just paranoia.A. Yes, Vice is a complaint driven department. Or it is at this point in time.The only way you are really going to go down at this point of time in Vancouver, isif someone takes a complaint to Vice. Whether it be a client that is a client that’sunhappy – a competitor that wants to stage some type of problem floating – a religious,or fundamental right-wing group that wants to catch you up, and take that totheir attention.- female off-street in-call sex workersThis more relaxed, complaint-driven approach to by-law enforcement was believed to increase choicesfor off-street workers by allowing for the development of less oppressive work environments, and amore trusting relationship with police. One sex worker suggested that this more trusting relationshipmeant that police were more willing to protect workers from violent clients:A. Everything that has been achieved over the last 10 years, in the system, would fallapart. If they cracked down, first of all, women in this business wouldn’t trust thepolice anymore.- female off-street in-call sex workerSome sex workers felt that some progress has been made in terms of their ability to report violentclients and, because of police tolerance of the off-street prostitution trade, female off-street sexworkers are now making more reports than ever before.A. Y’know, 10 years ago I would have never picked up the phone and said, We have anaggressive client, I need help. But I would now. And that is a by-product of a liberal61
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