Advocates argue for full decriminalization of sex work in Canada as landmark hearing begins
CBC
A coalition of sex workers and advocacy groups began presenting arguments on Monday in a landmark Superior Court hearing that they hope will lead to the full decriminalization of sex work in Canada.
Over the next five days, the groups will make their case in a downtown Toronto courtroom that sex workers are being harmed and exploited, and that they are not protected under the current laws.
In 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Canada v. Bedford that three criminal prohibitions on prostitution were unconstitutional because they caused harm to sex workers and contravened sex workers' rights to liberty and security.
The groups argue that instead of recognizing sex workers' rights and well-being by decriminalizing sex work, the federal government created a set of criminal laws called the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA) that reproduce those same harms.
"PCEPA criminalizes communicating to sell sexual services in public, communicating to purchase sexual services in any context, facilitating or receiving a benefit related to the purchase of someone else's sexual services, and advertising sexual services," the coalition argues.
"Sex workers are criminalized, stigmatized and discriminated against under PCEPA," the groups say.
The coalition argues that many sex workers are:
Monica Forrester, an outreach co-ordinator at Maggie's Sex Work Action Project and a plaintiff in the case, says sex workers constantly face "dangers" in their work and in their personal lives.
"I can speak from my own experiences that these laws just enforce the criminalization," Forrester told CBC Toronto.
"When seeking safety … it's just overlooked, sex workers are not believed, we're not considered priority when it comes to violent situations.
"So, we need laws that are decriminalized and that sex workers to work with lawmakers and the government to keep people safe," Forrester added.
Sex Workers' Action Program (SWAP) Hamilton is one of 25 plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
SWAP's executive director Jelena Vermilion was among a group of protesters who gathered outside the court in Toronto while the hearing was underway.
Vermilion says the laws currently that criminalize the sale of sexual services make it unsafe for people who are in the sex industry to do their work, negotiate condom use with a client or to negotiate what sexual acts are going to occur during an appointment.
