Sex Work - The consensual exchange of sexual services for money, goods, or other resources. Sex work is an umbrella term used to describe a number or activities, including escorting, stripping, and camming. Not everyone who does sex work identifies as a sex worker.

Client - Someone who purchases sexual services.

Third-Party - Refers to people who work in the sex industry, but not necessarily in a sex work role. These can be managers, receptionists, drivers, or security - among others. While third-parties are often presented in dominant media as being universally exploitative, there is a range of interactions between sex workers and third-parties. Third-parties often play a supportive role and can enhance sex workers’ health and safety.

Bad Date - A term used to refer to dangerous clients or potentially dangerous clients. Some advocates do not refer to bad dates as clients, but rather as aggressors posing as clients. This term can also refer to a negative session with a client.

PCEPA - The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, enacted in 2014. This is the federal act which criminalizes most aspects of sex work. While sex work is not legal in Canada, sex workers cannot be criminalized for selling their own sexual services.

Criminalization - Refers to the criminalization of sex work. This term applies when any aspect of the sex industry is criminalized. Criminalization ranges from full criminalization (all aspects of sex work are illegal), to partial criminalization (some aspects of sex work are illegal). Canada’s sex work laws fall under partial criminalization.

Decriminalization - The removal of all criminal and government sanctions against sex work. Under this model, sex work is regulated through occupational health and safety standards and workplace specific policies. Decriminalization is widely advocated for by global sex work advocacy groups.

Legalization - A model for regulating sex work involving a combination of criminal and administrative laws. Legalization sanctions certain types of sex work while still criminalizing other forms of sex work. In legalized environments, sex workers experience increased surveillance. Sex workers who are unwilling or unable to comply with the requirements of legalization face legal repercussions.

Im/migrant - Refers to someone’s immigration or migration status. This term is inclusive of the diversity of refugees, immigrant, and migrant people born outside of their country of residence (e.g., Canada) and includes long-term arrivals, recent arrivals, asylum seekers, economic migrants, and undocumented im/migrants.

IRPR - The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. These regulations relate to im/migrants in Canada. In 2013, provisions were added to these regulations which prohibit all temporary residents from engaging in sex work, specifically stripping, offering erotic dance, escorting, and providing erotic massages. These laws have been shown to harm the health and safety of im/migrant sex workers by removing legal protections.

Human Trafficking - Often just referred to as “trafficking”, Public Safety Canada defines this term as “the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/or exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person in order to exploit that person, typically through sexual exploitation or forced labour”. Sex trafficking is a form of human trafficking specifically involving sexual exploitation. While some organizations often conflate sex trafficking and sex work, these two are very different as sex work is consensual.

Anti-Trafficking - Refers to the opposition to human trafficking. Unfortunately, anti-trafficking campaigns can unintentionally cause harms, particularly to sex workers, and especially to im/migrant sex workers. Anti-trafficking campaigns often rely on inflated and unfounded statistics, and contribute to moral panic. Being critical of anti-trafficking movements does not mean that someone is “pro-trafficking”. More information on the harms of anti-trafficking can be found at SWAN Vancouver.

“Sex Work is Work” - A global slogan which recognizes that sex work is a form of labour and that sex workers have distinct occupational health and safety concerns.

Harm reduction - A strategy aimed at reducing the harmful effects of a specific behaviour, often at the individual or community level. Harm reduction moves away from an “abstinence only” model of care to promote realistic and non-judgmental services. While harm reduction is often applied to substance use, it can also be applied to other behaviours such as sex or sex work. Harm reduction recognizes that, while sex work is not inherently dangerous, there are actions that can be taken that reduce the occupational health and safety risks of sex work.

Red Umbrella - The Red Umbrella is a globally recognized symbol for sex work. It is used to indicate support for sex workers’ rights.