Fire Cat Kitty

Photo

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 17:25:42 -0400

bordello-diaries: Sex workers protesting against police...

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 16:55:17 -0400

Sex workers protesting against police brutality (in Union Square).

Our Justice System. A Brief Rant.

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 11:47:44 -0400

One of the key ingredients to a fair justice system is the building of trust among communities. A trust that the safety of the most marginalized populations will be protected. A trust of fairness in application of the law.

I fail to see how a community can build trust with a justice system that persecutes vulnerable women due to issues of morality more than the abusers who try to kill them.

There are sex workers in Halifax who have been banned from their community and on criminal charges longer than those who beat them within a inch of their lives.

I fail to see the justice in that.

I am never taking vacation again.

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 17:58:05 -0400

I am never taking vacation again.

The 10 things I learned from sex workers. AKA. My growing list.

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 00:45:22 -0400

So, just a quick post tonight. I am on “vacation” which for me means I am taking time to deconstruct, and relax. So of course I can’t sleep. And then I had a lightbulb moment. About work. So ..now I am sitting in the Toronto suburbs, outlining my Fall lecture on “Ten things I learned from sex workers.” The idea just came to me, following a week of family reconnecting and deconstructing a conversation I had with a fellow advocate on my role as a non=experiential ally. (And my new obsession with TED talks)

List is not near complete. But I wanted to share the rough draft. (Very rough draft) of some points, cause it will need to be narrowed down for time. And I haven’t posted anything in a while.

Ten things I have learned from sex workers.

- You cannot criminalize sex work without criminalizing sex workers.

- It isn’t about you. (on the role of non-experiential advocates)

- It’s the money, honey (on the myth that all sex workers are forced)

- Violence is not in the job description

- Hypocrisy = Society.

- Our legal system is broken

- Humor is gold.

- Every kitchen table should have a sex worker in attendance.

- The media is your best friend and your worst enemy.

- Resilience is a golden rule

- Consensual sex does not kill brain cells. (On the smarts behind the Bedford case / sex work advocacy)

- Sex workers know more about their sexual health than Steve Jobbs knew about computers.

- The “pimp” is often disguised as a moral panic rooted in racism.

- Stigma is the often the biggest barrier to overcome.

- 50 Shades of Grey is utter crap.

queerasfuck: The XX - Sunset I always thought it was sad the...

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 20:11:23 -0400

queerasfuck:

The XX - Sunset

I always thought it was sad the way we act like strangers

After all that we had we act like we had never met

You were more than just a friend

Oh the feeling it never came to an end

Kanye, we need condoms.

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 22:33:00 -0400

Rescuing sex workers from themselves is the hot new trend amongst celebrities. From Mira Sorvino to Julia Ormand and a growing number of child actors, celebrities are flocking to the “rescue industry” as if a red carpet has been thrown on the global stage.

There are even top ten lists dedicated to “Top Ten Celebrity Human Trafficking Activists.” (See Change.org here for an example http://news.change.org/stories/top-ten-human-trafficking-celebrity-activists)

This is how I picture it all going down:

Celebrity walks into their agents’ office looking for a booking. Agent tells them “You have money, you have time now between films. We need to get you out there. Take up a cause. Throw your money at it. Support it! The public will see you as one of them and embrace you!”

Celebrity says “Of course! And I can do some good. We can do a huge campaign and I will go on The View. I’ll start an organization. I can write a song and make a music video! We will free the slaves!”

The presence of celebrity in anti-trafficking movements is extremely problematic. Many, if not all of these “activists” lack an analysis based on research which is, in turn, silencing the very people they want to support. More and more, the red carpet set is embracing activism in the absence of analysis which is fueling myths and moral panics.

Combine this activism with a well funded publicity machine and us advocates for sex workers are trying to dispel more myths than Adam Sandler has Razzies, all while sex workers themselves are pushed further behind the curtain.

It is as if celebrities who lack analysis are following some pocket guide – a star map to anti-trafficking activism.

Celebrities love to quote flawed statistics that are not based on research and that no one can prove to be accurate.

“100,000 to 300,000” seems to be the magic number of folks who are trafficked according to sitcom star Ashton Kutcher, and his A-List buddies who have stated “if you do not care, I have no opinion of you.” They also seem to know the average age of entry into prostitution, despite the fact that advocates and academics who have worked in this area for decades agree that this number cannot be proven. The result? A sympathetic public with a love for In Touch magazine and MTV are being misinformed about the issue’s true scope, while money pours into organizations that do little than flash 1-800 trafficking hotlines on their website.

Celebrities love to take field trips to promote their efforts.

Celebrities love their field trips! Take for example Meg Ryan who recently joined Nicholas Kristof on a trip to Cambodia where he participated in a brothel raid. Does Meg know that raiding brothels can be more detrimental to the health and safety of young girls? Does Meg know that sex workers would rather have rights over rescue? Does she know how Human Rights Watch has expressed concern over the detention centers that many of these “rescued girls” end up in? Well, most likely not. That would take balanced research.

Celebrities love to take up space that should be reserved for sex workers to influence harmful laws and policies.

Just recently, Jada Pinkett Smith with husband Will and daughter Willow in tow (all in matching Free the Slaves T-Shirts) testified before the Foreign Senate Relations committee to urge them to wage war on human trafficking.

Jada has been active on this issue for less than a year, and shared with the committee that she became concerned on this issue based on her 11-year-old daughter’s research. Yes. Her 11 year old daughter’s research.

Therefore, while we have a Senate Committee hearing for a celebrity whose eyes have been opened by the research of her 11-year-old, countless organizations by and for sex workers can only dream of an opportunity to provide real solutions and strategies.

It is a slap in the face, really, to know that there are strategies out there that can help tackle the problem of human trafficking, by those who are most impacted by policy. Yet, sex workers and their organizations are totally shut out by celebrities who are provided access to forums when they have absolutely no experience.

Moreover, the Smith family has recently joined a human trafficking organization that is fighting for the removal of ads from Backpage.Com. A protest by these organizations occurred in the US recently. Even though sex workers were in attendance, the machine that is now the “rescue industry” overshadowed them. If only celebrities and the organizations they are promoting would listen to sex workers, they would come to understand that the removal of such sites will only exacerbate the situation by driving the trade underground, by limiting the ability of sex workers to screen clients and by putting them in more danger.

Celebrities love to start ridiculous campaigns that embrace their own narcissism as opposed to providing real facts.

I am still trying to figure out what Justin Timberlake was doing with shaving cream and that chainsaw in the “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” ads. Also, why is Selma Hayek directing music videos with a naked Jada Pinkett Smith rolling around on the floor? (I’m especially disappointed in Selma. I had such high hopes for her after her Candy Girl routine in Dogma).

Celebrities are a money machine.

They will bring big bucks to the table, which will leave sex workers and those who have been trafficked with various useless resources and centers. Thus leaving the door open for organizational corruption and a complete lack of accountability. Research clearly shows that the best services are those that are tailored by the folks that need the services.

Celebrities are using their influence to tell the masses that the issue of human trafficking is conflated with sex work.

Does trafficking exist? Yes it certainly does. Is it a cause for concern and action? Most definitely. Are there sex workers, even those on the street who choose to be there? Yes. Are there sex workers who do not need to be rescued, but who demand better health and safety protection? Overwhelmingly so.

The fact of the matter is the issue of trafficking vs. sex work is complicated, and celebrity machines are complicating it more, while society continues to view sex workers as either 1. People who need saving or 2. people who need to be persecuted.

Yet, while persecuting sex workers is a fan favorite of many residents and businesses in communities where sex workers are located, “rescuing” sex workers appeals to those who are sympathetic and who are fed moral panics without an analysis.

The power of celebrity can be good for social causes; if only they would develop an analysis and make space rather than taking it up. If only sex workers did not have struggle to have their voice heard in the presence of the all mighty celebrity. Hopefully there are still some celebrities out there who will use their publicity machines to listen to those who are most impacted by policy.

Who will listen to sex workers? Who will learn that the key to being an advocate is listening to those who are most impacted and worrying about the MTV appearances later?

I don’t think Kanye West has been roped into the hype lately. Maybe he can help.

Kanye, if you’re reading this – we need condoms and juice boxes for the stroll.

Paula

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 22:17:00 -0400

I knew Paula since we were in elementary school, and we were very close in junior high and high school. But it wasn’t until I was in my 30’s that Paula taught me about true friendship. A case of growing apart from friends, but still knowing they would be there if you ever needed them. And when you saw them it was like you saw them yesterday. She was one of the two friends back home who came to see me when my Mom passed. We took my little girl to the Bargain Shop and bought her a crap load of toys while making each other laugh about silly things on such a horrible day. She made the darkest day so bearable. This woman, who I have not seen in person for almost 10 years, who flew into my house hours after learning of my Mom’s death, only to say, “I’m getting you out of here.” I will always keep the note from her that said “Call me if you ever need to vent. That is what friends are for. And I have broad shoulders.” Yes you did my friend, yes you did.

Paula passed away today after an illness that came on in a matter of weeks. Folks are sad and in shock. She was 39. She leaves behind a wonderful husband Todd, three young and amazing kids, and two wonderful parents who cherished her.

Paula loved Springhill and Springhill loves Paula. The town is fundraising for her family and having a celebration of her life. There is an account set up for the McPhee Family at CIBC and the link to fundraising event is here

http://www.facebook.com/events/324067614338004/

Miss ya buddy.

The Trouble With Bridget

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:01:29 -0400

Sex gets attention. It always has and always will. Combine sex with innovative public awareness campaigns and your message will spread like wildfire. Risky media campaigns are not new to me. Keep in mind, I was the one who had my grandmother model for a poster campaign with the tagline “I am proud of my tramp for raising two kids on her own” and plastered the city with her image. So really, you would think that I would be the last person to have issue with campaigns that have been released in Halifax that use sex to gain an audience.

Not so.

The Halifax Harbour Bridge Commission has put out a new awareness campaign to urge drivers to slow down on the bridges (I was unaware that speeding was an issue on the bridges, by the way, with all the congestion it takes forever to cross the dang thing). The brilliant minds have come up with Bridget, a female personification of the bridges who talks like Kathleen Turner with a head cold and looks like a graduate of the Hunger Games. We’re still unsure around these parts if Bridget is supposed to be a sex worker or a dominatrix, since it costs a dollar to cross her. But if she is supposed to be a sex worker she wouldn’t make a very good one….she’s not very nice. And she’s pretty sexist. Bridget’s campaign is targeted at men, and berates “fastboys” every chance “she” gets. This is being done through radio ads, billboards that are going up, and now on her twitter feed at @ListentoBridget

Here are some excerpts from her Twitter Feed:

“I freak my freak on naughty drivers”

“Now that turns my crank”

To a fellow tweeter “You can ride my bridge anytime you like, Matt”

This campaign is problematic on so many levels.

- The campaign is sexist. While folks at the Bridge Commission claim that their target audience is the general population between 18 and 45, it is totally targeted at straight men. It’s there in the tagline. “Watch your speed on my bridge fastboy.” Do straight men only speed and need to pay better attention on the road? I think not.

- Bridget is fuelling the adolescent discourse that objectifies women in our city. The campaign has only been out for a few days and I am already getting tired of the “When do I get to throw loonies at Bridget’s tits and in her mouth” jokes. And of course there are the responses she is getting on Twitter. Like one gent who wrote “You like that huh? I bet you’re naughty. Real FREAKY naughty.”

Ya, lovely.

- Who is sending our message that sexuality and violence (oh yes, Bridget will make sure you were never born if you don’t obey her rules) equals safe driving to our daughters? Not a shock jock radio station. Not a soft drink company. But our city. And our tax dollars. (50,000 bridge crossings to be exact is the cost of this campaign).

- Can Halifax really afford to be putting out sexist ad campaigns? Between 1999 and 2004 sexual assault rates in Canada increased in only two provinces and Nova Scotia was one of them. Also in our dear province 44 percent of sexual assault victims are under the age of 25. Our girls are facing huge obstacles at every turn but instead of finding programs and working with them we ban them from wearing leggings and yoga pants at schools, and put billboards of Bridget up on our bridges, as some sort of moronic empowerment model.

I could blame the marketing agency that came up with this idea, but as I know from my own experience in working with agencies, that the client has the final say. The client can refuse work, send the team back to the drawing table, and tell them to slow down if they are going in the wrong direction.

If only someone was there to tell the Bridge Commission to slow down.

Always be Wonder Woman

Thu, 03 May 2012 13:59:32 -0400

dcwomenkickingass:

You’ve seen this Batman post everywhere, now someone has created one for the true power of the DCU …

(via facebook)

Tanya Brooks Memorial Walk

Wed, 02 May 2012 08:37:27 -0400

Tanya Brooks Memorial Walks 2012

Tanya Brooks Memorial Walk in Millbrook -May 10, 2012 - 4:30pm-6:30pm

Tanya Brooks Memorial Walk in Halifax - May 11, 2012- 10:00am-12:00noon

Connie Brooks Adams invites the community of Millbrook and surrounding Mi’kmaq communities and the Halifax community to join her and family and friends, Elders, youth and those who support Families of Sisters in Spirit to come to the Tanya Jean Brooks Memorial Walks being held on May 10th in Millbrook, Tanya’s home community. This will be the 3rd Memorial Walks for Tanya Brooks, to let the public know that the murder of Tanya is still unsolved and encourage someone to come forward with information about this crime. The Memorial Walks will also help to bring awareness of Violence against women, and in particular, the hundreds of Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women and girls in Canada, especially our Mi’kmaq Sisters in Spirit.

May, 10^th, 2012, In Millbrook, The Tanya Brooks Memorial Walk will be from 4:30pm – 6:30pm. It will begin at the Gym, at 4:30pm, with a smudging and prayers by an Elder, drumming and songs, and the people will walk to the Community Centre for a community reception and luncheon from 5:00-6:30pm Closing Circle.

Contact Bev Walker, MFHC, for more information at 902-893-8483.

May 11^th, 2012, Friday, there will be another Tanya Jean Brooks Memorial Walk in Halifax – at the Mikmaq Native Friendship Centre beginning at 10:00am-12:00noon.

Smudging and Prayers at the Mi’kmaq Native Friendship Centre with Elder Tom Christmas and Songs with All Nations Drummers, Walk to Halifax Police Station, and back to Friendship Centre for reception and luncheon. Closing Circle.

Welalin for your caring and support for Tanya’s family as they continue to seek justice and healing and for the all the Families of Sisters in Spirit.

Contact Debbie Eisan, HAPN at the MNFC for more information at 902-420-1576

Dance.

Tue, 01 May 2012 23:01:00 -0400

Dance.

Remarks to Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Tue, 01 May 2012 21:52:32 -0400

Remarks for Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Province House, Halifax Nova Scotia May 1, 2012

The safety of a community can be determined by the safety of her most marginalized populations. If this is true, as I believe it is, Nova Scotia has a lot of work to do.

To the average citizen of Nova Scotia, the streets are safe to walk at night. No would think that the atrocities that happen against sex workers are as widespread as they are, and that sexualized violence is a common reality for so many women, men and transgendered women in the trade.

The bad date reports at Stepping Stone reflect the horror that is occurring in our communities. When sex workers have nowhere else to report crimes due to their criminalization and mistrust from the community, they find tools to warn another of rapes, forced confinement. These bad date reports illustrate the violence sex workers face in our city. In our neighborhoods. On our streets.

But these acts of violence rarely get reported to the appropriate authorities.

Like the woman who was attacked and thrown out of a moving car, only to be dragged up the street half a block when her clothing stuck in the car door.

Or the woman who was taken to the outskirts of a city, tied to a tree, and raped repeatedly, only to have a $10 bill thrown at her by her attacker when he left her there.

Or the woman who escaped the trunk of a car, naked and bound head to toe in duct tape, covered in bruises, who will always remember the white van that drove past her while she tried to wave down help on the side of a suburban street in Halifax.

The majority of cases that occur in our very communities, on our very streets, are rarely reported by a population who is immersed in stigma by a society that overwhelmingly views them as disposable.

“They deserve it,” they say.

“They should not be involved in such a dangerous activity,” they say.

“They are sexual deviants,” they say.

“They are just hookers.” they say.

Crimes occur with impunity by predators who know they will get away with it. But it is those of us who turn a blind eye, who state that “this” group of people are the underground, that let this impunity to fester.

And I can point my fingers at the cops right now, here and in most cities in our nation. Point to how arresting harms rather than does good.

And then I can point them to the Department of Justice. Point to how their courts have failed so many women in the trade in our system.

While I believe these two points to be true, pointing fingers is not enough. The reality of sexual assault extends beyond our legal frameworks, our justice system, and these walls of democracy that we gather in today.

Despite the epidemic rates of violence experienced by sex workers, decision makers, community agencies, residents, the media, assume to know what is in the best interest of a population they know little about, and exclude them from the very policy discussions that directly impact their health and safety.

Whether through coercion or choice, sex workers are part of our community, not adjacent to it.

If I have learned anything from sex workers, it is that their lives, and the trade they are in, is grand and complex. We must break down the barriers and show leadership. We must distinguish between coercion and choice. We must distinguish between trafficking and consent. We cannot allow ourselves to become wrapped in campaigns that will only victimize the very people that we aim to support.

We cannot continue to silence the accounts of injustices that occur against those with the least protection, for our silence is complacency, and our complacency will only fuel such injustice.

We must true leadership by stepping aside and creating safe spaces for those who are most impacted by policy to direct. We must listen to them. They must guide us. For only then, can we ensure the safety of all Nova Scotians, and put an end to this atrocious violence.

Thank you.

Zoey is da bomb.

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:44:05 -0400

Zoey is da bomb.

Sex Work - Sexual Assault is Not Part of the Job.

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:52:00 -0400

Misinformation and untruths surrounding the sex trade industry continue to be embedded in our society. These myths fuel the violence and stigma that sex workers face on a routine basis.

One of the most harmful (if you could even categorize them) of these myths is that sex workers are somehow ‘asking for it’ or that sexual assault is just part of the job.

The reality is that no one ever, ever, deserves to be sexually assaulted. Whether there is payment or not, regardless of why sex workers are involved in the trade, any sex act performed without consent is a form of violence.

In 2010 in Nova Scotia, 682 victims of sexual violence reported their assaults to law enforcement but it is estimated that 9 out of 10 assaults were not reported. These stats do not reflect the reporting of sex workers, but in terms of the sex trade, it is estimated that reporting is much, much lower. Because sex work is criminalized, many of those working in the trade are intimidated by the police and will not communicate violent attacks against them for fear of arrest or ‘not being taken seriously’. These feelings os mistrust are not only towards law enforcement who are working within a set of draconic prostitution laws, but by those who continue to treat sex workers as society’s punching bag.

Next month, May, is the Sexual Assault Awareness Month where community stakeholders come together to raise awareness on sexual assaults in our community and how we can work together to eradicate it.

This year in Nova Scotia, Sexual Assault Awareness Month activities will involve organizations that work directly with sex trade workers and I will be speaking to the issue of sexual violence against sex trade workers at the launch at Province House, on May 1st at 9am. This will mark one of the first times (if ever) that issues surrounding the sex trade will be part of the conversation in the same building that houses our legislature, and along side law enforcement, community organizations, and all levels of government. This is crucial not because we will be giving a speech next to Ministers in a fancy red room, but because sex workers need to be a part of the conversation that impacts them and myths dispelled… in all forums.

Entering into dialogue with new partners and dispelling myths may not impact sexual assault rates against sex workers in the short or medium term, but if we are to address the violence that sex workers face in all our communities, the discussion … and inclusion of all groups… must be paramount.

Photo

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:37:06 -0400

The Status Quo is Violence

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:07:10 -0400

A piece that I originally wrote for the Huffington Post following the Ontario Court of Appeal ruling on sex work laws. The post as originally published was edited down due to length. Here it is in it’s entirety. Trigger warning for sexual violence - Rene

The Status Quo is Violence
A front line response to sex work law reform.

It was a Monday morning three years ago, shortly after the drop-in centre opened, when Abigail turned up to report she had been attacked. She wanted to add the incident to our “bad date list,” the only warning tool available to sex workers in our region when they face threats and acts of violence.

Abigail met a “walking date” in the North End of Halifax. She told us that there was nothing about his looks or demeanor that “looked off” or threatening to her. At the time, she was working in a well-known stroll area with a significant police presence. Because she feared getting arrested and charged yet another time under Section 213 of the Criminal Code for solicitation, she wasn’t afforded the time to assess the date and negotiate the deal properly before being brought behind abandoned buildings to take part in the transaction. Abigail knew time lost negotiating under the authority’s scrutiny could lend her time in jail or placed under tight release conditions that would essentially ban her from her very own community.

The date took a turn for the worst. He raped her, punched her repeatedly and beat her to the head with a stray two-by-four he found in the alley.

Abigail slipped in an out of consciousness, yet, she was able to scream loudly enough to alert someone in a nearby building who called 911. No one knows whether the sirens scared away her assailant or if he left before police were on the scene, nor does Abigail remember how she got to the hospital. But one thing was certain, she remembered the man’s face.

“I want the cops to find him before he kills someone,” she insisted. “I will never forget his face.”

Sex workers rarely file police reports out of the likelihood that they would not be taken seriously by the authorities or out of the likelihood that they would be blamed for engaging in dangerous acts with strangers. Not withstanding the fact that, if her attacker knew she had reported the crime, Abigail could have faced even more danger and be left at his mercy if he saw her on the stroll again.

Around the same time in Halifax, police and the media were reporting on a string of sexual assaults against “mainstream” women who reported these crimes openly.

The descriptions given by these women all resembled Abigail’s attacker. She was convinced that this man was not only out for sex workers, but other women too.

Police first told us that we had blood on our hands since we were unable to report the crime on her behalf.

Authorities questioned Abigail as to why she was in an area known to police as a stroll.

We contacted a police officer who proved to be sympathetic. He agreed to take Abigail into the station the following Tuesday with their support.

We were ready to accompany Abigail to her appointment with the officer on Tuesday. We wanted her to identify sketches and pictures, to show authorities what this man had done to her body.

Tuesday came and went and Abigail never showed up at the drop-in centre, nor did she make it to the police station.

Little did we know, she had been put on house arrest, while on her way to deposit her statement, for breaching conditions linked to a previous charge of solicitation. She was to remain outside the boundaries, away from her community, from her place of work and from the helpful resources that were trying to help her.

In Halifax, the boundaries extend through the majority of the downtown core. Across the bridges, in Dartmouth, the central area is off-limits to workers found breaking Section 213. Staff at Stepping Stone spent the following weeks bringing her food and toiletries as her home stands within the area she is to keep away from.

Her mistrust for the police grew. She felt victimized and persecuted, at once for having no right to security and for choosing to be a part of the sex-trade industry.

Three years later, Abigail is still trying to fight the boundaries she was placed on. The boundary charges, which could carry jail time if breached, has been added to her criminal record, and if she decides to transition out of the trade she could face greater difficulties. Moreover, her attacker remains anonymous and free.

Vicious acts of violence, not unlike what happened to Abigail, are not rare in Halifax or in other cities across Canada. Since Abigail’s attack, two women in Halifax were murdered, and a case of attempted murder is currently before the courts.

The communication law, Section 213, is also known as the solicitation law in Canada. The rule that most street workers are all too familiar with and by far the most common criminal charge laid against sex workers.

As is the case with Abigail, we see time and time again how that this law builds mistrust amongst law enforcement and sex workers, erases their ability to transition out of the trade, hampers the reporting of violent crimes in our communities, threatens human rights, their security and public safety.

The verdict by the Ontario Court of Appeal, that ruled laws around bawdy houses and living on the avails of prostitution are progressive steps forward for many sex workers.

If these laws are intimately changed through the courts, some street sex workers will be able to transition indoors, where research proves that safer transactions can occur. Workers will also be able to have drivers, receptionists and security at their disposition if they so wish.

The other law set to be amended, living on the avails of prostitution, would be enforced only in the case of exploitation by a pimp, for example.

Yet, the Court of Appeal has refused movement on Section 213, thus leaving the most marginalized of sex workers fending violence on the streets.

The message is clear. The courts feel that public nuisance is a greater priority than violence in our communities and that the lives of women, men and transgendered individuals can be pushed into the dark, forgotten areas of our cities to fend for themselves.

It seems inevitable that the laws will eventually change once in the chambers of the Supreme Court of Canada. There is no way of knowing what the amendments will entail nor how they could affect the sex trade. There is a likelihood that, if our conservative federal government take on the role of rewriting these regulations, the laws could become more punitive.

Cities across Canada must have serious and pragmatic discussions about sex trade in their communities while accepting the fact that street-based sex work will never completely vanish.

Sex workers and the organizations that support them must come together on a national level to work on legislative alternatives.

The people of Canada must begin working together to propose safe regulations that will benefit both the community, increase public safety, and eradicate violence against sex workers.

Most importantly, sex workers must lead and be part of the conversations that impact their lives and their safety. We must remain diligent to ensure that the Section 213 charge, arguably the most damaging and threatening to street based sex workers, will finally be erased from our body of law.

Without it, violence against the most marginalized will remain the status quo and members of our communities will continue to live a life without rights and freedoms available to all Canadian citizens.

Above all, people need to remember one crucial thing; sex workers are people too.

(names have been changed in this piece to protect the safety of the sex worker who attempted to report the crime)

Our response to the Minister of Community Services

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 09:13:53 -0400

- This week our provincial government made some pretty significant cuts that will limit the health care options available to some of the poorest and most vulnerable Nova Scotians. (While spinning the message to make it look like folks with disabilities were living the high life with jacuzzis and hot tubs) Yesterday on CBC the Minister of Community Services also accused community of causing “undue stress” to the folks we support, while dismissing the impact of these cuts. This our response as aired on Information Morning this morning.

Minister Rafuse is incorrect in her message that community, including doctors, lawyers, social workers, front line advocates and those suffering from illness and disability are misleading folks on the issue of special needs assistance.

They have not tweaked policy. They have changed the law.

When the Minister refers to a “loophole” she is actually referring to a regulation that gave people the right to special needs assistance not covered by MSI. This does indeed include psychological counseling, and a range of alternative medications . The old regulations allowed Income Assistance recipients to receive special needs items or services that were essential to their health, or to and to I quote directly from the regulation that was taken away “alleviate pain and suffering”

These were special needs that were available to all Nova Scotians under the previous law.

This was not a case of miscommunication between government and community. Rather, there was NO communication between from government to the community, or those that rely on all of us to have their basic needs met.

As a final note, it is extremely troublesome for us in community to see the myth perpetuated that folks on Employment Support and Income assistance are enjoying hot tubs and spa treatments, In fact, I have been asking around to other community members and no one has ever heard of a income assistance recipient receiving a Jacuzzi or hot tub.

Income Assistance recipients, especially those on disability in Nova Scotia are amongst the poorest in Canada, living thousands of dollars below the poverty line , with very options available to them. Today, they have even fewer options.

It is our hope that our government listens to community and reverses this regressive change to the law.

Thank you for your time.

- This was posted to some of the list-serves today. It is Wendy’s last note on her facebook,...

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:12:00 -0400

- This was posted to some of the list-serves today. It is Wendy’s last note on her facebook, which is both insightful and timely. It certainly agrees with what I have heard from many street based sex workers in Halifax -

Can A Person Be A Sex Worker Rights Activist While Not Enjoying Sex Work Themselves (ROUGH DRAFT)

by Wendy Babcock on Wednesday, 03 August 2011 at 19:28

I have to get something off my breasts… er… I mean chest. At the risk of offending the pro sex positive feminist movement (which I have no inclination of doing) I have to admit that as a sex worker rights activist, and more so a former sex worker, I have never enjoyed sex work. In fact I am remorseful that sex work is how I lost my virginity, I regret that at 15 I entered sex work, and I despise the fact that I learned about my sexuality through sex work while the majority of other girls my age were discovering theirs in the school yard – usually with kids their own age.

For me, sex work was something I did to survive to get me through the years when I was homeless and too young for a full-time job, general welfare, youth shelters, and food banks. I did NOT engage in sex work because I wanted to express my sexuality, bring pleasure to others, or any of the other reasons pro sex feminists have for engaging in sex work. Not that I’m condemning them for their choice or suggesting that their decision was not a well thought out choice to engage in sex work. I’m just saying that my reasons for being involved in sex work were different. How could I have gone into sex work for any of those aforementioned reasons without first discovering my own sexuality – let alone be comfortable with it? Hell, I never even kissed another person before I headed out to my first call in Mississauga to meet a business man who would pay me money for my virginity. I did not enjoy sex work as a teenager nor did I enjoy it as an adult. There was always the fear of a bad client, a broken condom, and the judgment of johns regarding my appearance (which includes having a few too many of them comment on my stretch marks, cellulite, and a whole slew of other insecurities that unfortunately we as woman must deal with – thanks to the airbrushing of models in magazines like Vogue, Glamour and Maxim), which would be reviewed and commented on by many “johns”. I didn’t enjoy the stigma, the fact that I had to hide my profession for fear of being socially isolated, teased, and worse – arrested.

Had I enjoyed sex work I wouldn’t have quit doing sex work and taken a job that didn’t require me to be sexual with the people I serviced when the opportunity presented itself. Yet I still consider myself to be a sex worker activist, one that promotes the decriminalization of prostitution. And do I think that not getting pleasure from sex work diminishes or sets the sex worker rights movement back? Hell no, in fact I believe it enhances it. Yet our voices are not heard in the sex worker rights movement, as it is universally falsely believed that current or former sex workers who dislike their previous or current occupation have no place in the sex worker rights movement.

I remember when I first got involved in sex worker rights and was a naively impressionable young woman. I did a talk show for AM 680 (the Bob Oakley Show) and when I mentioned that I didn’t like sex work myself I was chastised by fellow activists. “How will anyone understand why decriminalization is important if you keep telling interviewers that you don’t like sex work?” “Don’t tell people you don’t like sex work, if you want to do that you have no business speaking for sex worker rights” and “You are discounting everything other sex worker rights activists are saying!”

Stunned and not wanting to upset anyone as I felt really passionate about the need to decriminalize sex work I kept my mouth shut about my true feelings and instead pretended that sex work was this revolutionary way for me to reach my true sexual potential. And please don’t get me wrong, it is for some sex workers, for those sex work can be freeing, empowering, and a slap in the face to the misogynistic notion that men are the ones with the sexual power and women should just submit.

However, not all of us sex workers feel this way. In fact in my 8 years of working with street involved sex workers very few expressed that this was the way they felt as many of them were survivors of violence, ripped off by clients, faced arrest and were harassed on a regular bases. Many of them did not feel represented in the sex worker rights movement. This is an absolute shame as if anyone, ANYONE should feel they belong in the sex worker rights movement it’s the street sex workers who face the brunt of criminalization, social isolation, stigma, and discrimination. Yet, when sex worker rights are talked about it is usually the overtly privileged sex workers, the high end sex workers, the ones who chose sex work as a legitimate occupation over other employment choices that they could have made. These are the sex workers who work in safer environments, the ones who work independently who don’t have to give any of their earnings over to a boyfriend or agency, the ones who work from their own or shared establishments, the ones who have the luxury of choosing where, when and who they work with. These do not tend to be the sex workers who see sex work as their only means of survival – who don’t have (or are not aware) of other employment options. So then, why if it is street involved sex workers who feel harshest effects of criminalization not heard when it comes to the question of sex worker rights and decriminalization?

I can’t answer that question, for I do not know the answer. What I do know is that we, while acknowledging my own privilege at having my voice heard in this movement, as allies for the sex worker rights movement have an obligation to our brothers and sisters who face a much higher rate of isolation than us must embrace sex workers that do not feel that they would stay in sex work if given the opportunity to be employed in another profession.

Back to my question, Can A Person Be A Sex Worker Rights Activist While Not Enjoying Sex Work Themselves? I say, ABSOLUTELY! Just because a person does not enjoy sex work does not mean that they have nothing to add to the decriminalization debate. Since when does not liking your job mean that you can’t (or shouldn’t) speak up against the barriers that make your trade MORE unenjoyable – even distasteful? Personally, I believe that any debate about sex worker rights should be more diverse than just between the people who utterly despise the profession and want it criminalized to the people that love their profession and want it decriminalized to include the people who neither like it nor avoid it but can justifiably see that things still need to change. There is nothing worse than hating your job and feeling like you have no voice in changing things. Worse still, if you hate your job, the isolation, stigma, criminal records, and other legal repercussions (such as fearing custody of your children, ability to retain status in your chosen country, etc.) does nothing to assist those sex workers who would prefer to leave the profession. I may have disliked providing sexual services for money but that shouldn’t disclude my voice (or others) that the laws that keep sex workers working underground. Personally I think ALL voices need to be heard. What do you think?

Snippets from the Feminist List-Serve.

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:59:37 -0400

To say that sex workers and abolitionists are in a feud over the best way to support folks in the sex industry is an understatement. Feminist list-serves across the country are heating up since the Bedford decision, which agreed that the current prostitution laws in Canada actually harm those in the industry.

_____

Abolitionist:

I despise the term 'sex worker.'  It's the same idea that procuring of human infants for buyers who will do anything, pay anything,
asking no questions, in order to get what they want is merely infant- adoption all tied up so sweetly with pink and blue bows:  AS IF
newborns just fall out of the sky from low-flying storks.

Selling access to one's intimate body parts and then wanting that access to be less risky... to have some sort of extra legal protection, some guarantee of 'body safety' while that body is being
used by a 'john' or worse, while a third party brokers that access.. I'm having a difficult time coming to terms with 'sex work' being
anything less that degrading because, in my view, any compromise, never mind the near total loss of autonomy to a hostile stranger IS utterly horrifyingly dehumanizing. Isn't it a myth that 'sex workers' are engaging in sex (intimacy)? In
truth, aren't their bodies merely a 'fix' for the user?

What really needs to be addressed: the  addict's access to a 'fix' or his addiction?

There is a myth also,  in regard to drug addiction's 'harm reduction,' that it's the user whose risk of harm is being
addressed:  in truth, harm reduction to the general population is its only purpose.

Sex used to dirty, even an intimate nice-kind of dirty, but now it's work, impersonal high-risk not-the-nice-kind-of-dirty work. I may be confused but I am thankful my body parts are too old forbrokering. Oh no, I just heard that organ 'donation' was going to
become mandatory ....

F.C Kitty:

The term sex worker acknowledges that sex work is work. While all sex workers would benefit from better working conditions, the term also acknowledges that for some, including street based survival sex workers, the job is more problematic. i.e. A survival sex environment is one that minimizes or eliminates a sex workers right to refuse work and can impose emotional, financial or psychological pressure that forces the surrender of will. Survival sex workers have less control over their working conditions due to poverty and criminalization. Above all, terms such as prostitute, prostituted women, slaves, hooker, etc… reflect society’s dominant agendas over sex workers, and not the realities of sex workers themselves. I am sure that if you as a room full of women in the trade (which we have done many times), they would agree that to them, this is work. Even those who are street based. We know that sex workers respond to programs that do not judge, preach or try to force them into any circumstance. Sex workers respond best to programs that reduce the harm and meet them where “they are at.” They also respond best to programs that recognize their rights as citizens and listen to them. If abolitionists want to change the behaviour of men, perhaps they should start to work with men and begin that dialogue, as opposed to persecuting them through a draconic legal system that provides impunity to attackers while further marginalizing women.