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

PIVOT LEGAL SOCIETYQ. And why is that? Why do you have a consistent standard?A. Because it’s a business and you have to . . . the clients have to trust that they’ll getwhat they want.A. And they have to know their limitations also and how far they can go.A. So if you are going to run it like a job I think what the employer should do is findcertain services that these clients are asking for and find certain girls who will dothem, who will fulfill their fantasies, who will fulfill what these guys want and whatthey’re paying for.A. So it depends on the employer. Say this employer provides this service and thisemployer provides maybe bondage and stuff like that so it depends on your employerlike where you want to go.A. For myself . . . that’s where my limits would be. As far as I want to go would be up to mebecause it’s my body, it’s my health, it’s my everything that I’m sacrificing, it’s not them.- female off-street out-call sex workersUltimately, all those involved in the sex industry must understand and respect the legal principle ofconsent that puts the decision about what sexual services to provide in the hands of the sex worker.Clearly this principle places limits on employers that may seem unreasonable from their point of view,but given the nature of prostitution and the law of consent, the control must rest with the workerin order to protect their right to control their sexuality and physical autonomy. Existing legislationmay not adequately protect sex workers from retaliation by employers who find workers refusing toprovide a full range of services. Termination or other punishment on this basis could be grounds forworkers to bring legal actions for wrongful dismissal, either in court or before the EmploymentStandards Branch. 21Financial arrangements and wage structureFinancial arrangementsThis section provides an overview of the various pay arrangements that sex workers described. Itfocuses on the arrangement between employers and employees with respect to wages, setting pay ratesfor different services, paying for work-related expenses, and distribution of profits.Independent escorts and many street-level sex workers are self-employed. They set their own fees,retain all of their wages, and pay all business-related expenses. But a significant proportion of sexworkers work for employers, either at the street level, in massage parlours, or in the escort industry.These employment relationships vary considerably when it comes to how much they respect theworker’s rights. Many sex workers face an imbalance of power when negotiating terms with theiremployers. Providing sex workers with negotiating rights is an important way to empower them asworkers.Sex workers described five different kinds of payment arrangements between employers and sexworkers (for further detail, see page 29 of this report):1. “Sexual exploitation and sexual slavery”: An illegal arrangement where sex workers are subject tototal control by their employers, and their wages are either inconsistent or nonexistent. Sometimesworker is given room and board, but very little salary. Sometimes they are given a salary, but thenhave to pay various debts, in which case they are effectively held in debt bondage, a form of sexualslavery.2. “Basic wage plus commission”: the worker receives a fixed amount per client and then negotiates a“tip” for sexual services, which they keep.21 Stolle v. Daishinpan (Canada) Inc. (1998), 37 C.C.E.L. (2d) 18, 98 CLLC (B.C.S.C.), para 210.96