Decriminalizing Sex Work

Written By Philip Palendat

June 8, 2023

 

Re: Request to Support Sex Work Decriminalization

Vancouver Sex Work Community Alliance

 


In recognition of June 2nd being International Sex Worker’s Day, and the upcoming June 10th "Red Umbrella March", we are writing as the Vancouver Sex Work Community Alliance to urge you to support the decriminalization of sex work and to repeal Canada’s current sex work legislation. We are standing in solidarity with international and Canadian sex work service organizations, activists, human rights groups, and researchers which recognize the harms that criminalizing any aspect of sex work has on sex workers’ health, safety, and wellbeing. Decriminalization involves removing any and all criminal sanctions related to the sale and purchase of sex and would not only help to protect human rights, but also reduce the harms experienced by sex workers.

 

As you may be aware of, an extensive body of academic and community research from Vancouver has shown that Canada’s current sex work legislation, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA), undermines the occupational health and safety of sex workers of all genders. In the context of criminalization, Vancouver-based sex workers have experienced:

 

  • Increased policing, harassment, and continued displacement leading to reduced ability to screen prospective clients and reduced access to safe workspaces (1,2)

  • 41% reduction in access to health services and a 21% reduction in access to community-led services since PCEPA was introduced (3)

 

  • Barriers to reporting violence and accessing justice, particularly for racialized, migrant and LGBTQ+ sex workers (4,5,6)

  • Barriers to mental health supports due to sex work stigma (5)

 

In the 2022 review of the PCEPA, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice & Human Rights recommended that “the Government of Canada recognize that protecting the health and safety of those involved in sex work is made more difficult by the framework set by the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act and acknowledge that, in fact, the Act causes serious harm to those engaged in sex work by making the work more dangerous”. While we commend this recommendation, we call for the full decriminalization of sex work, rather than replacing the existing legislation with laws that continue criminalizing any aspect of the sex industry. To make systemic changes across sectors that promote the wellbeing, safety, and human rights of sex workers, the government must prioritize the decriminalization of sex work.

 

 

The Vancouver Sex Work Community Alliance

 

1 Machat S., Shannon K., Braschel M., Moreheart S. & Goldenberg S.M. (2019). Sex workers’ experiences and occupational conditions post-implementation of end-demand criminalization in Metro Vancouver, Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health. 110(5). https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-019-00226-z

 

2 Koenig, B., Murphy, A., Johnston, S., Pearson, J., Knight, R., Gilbert, M., Shannon, K., & Krüsi, A. (2022). Digital Exclusion and the Structural Barriers to Safety Strategies among Men and Non-Binary Sex Workers Who Solicit Clients Online. Social Sciences (Basel), 11(7), 318–. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11070318

 

3 Argento E., Goldenberg S., Braschel M., Machat S., Strathdee S. A. & Shannon K. (2020). The impact of end-demand legislation on sex workers’ access to health and sex worker-led services: A community based prospective cohort study in Canada. PLoS One, 15(4). https://doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pone.0225783

 

4 McBride B., Shannon K., Bingham B., Braschel M., Strathdee S. & Goldenberg S.M. (2020a). Underreporting of violence to police among women sex workers in Canada: Amplified inequities for im/migrant and in-call workers prior to and following end-demand legislation. Heal Hum Rights J, 22, 257–270. https://www.jstor.org/ stable/27040016

 

5 By Us For Us. (2023). A Needs and Risk Assessment of Sex Workers in the Lower Mainland and Southern Vancouver Island. https://wish-vancouver.net/bufu-report-sex-work/

 

6 McDermid, J., Murphy, A., McBride, B., Wu, S., Goldenberg, S. M., Shannon, K., & Krüsi, A. (2022). How client criminalisation under end-demand sex work laws shapes the occupational health and safety of sex workers in Metro Vancouver, Canada: a qualitative study. BMJ Open, 12(11), e061729–e061729. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-061729

 

 

Philip Palendat