Sex workers say they're caught in the middle by Manitoba bill meant to target traffickers, not them

The police wanted to confirm Emma Reid, a sex worker in Winnipeg, was safe, they told her during a visit. 

At one point, they asked to see her tattoos. Reid asked them why. They were "basically saying they need something to identify me if I'm murdered in my line of work," Reid said.

"That is not a wellness check."

Reid said the encounter was upsetting, and she is alarmed other sex workers could be subject to unwanted visits from police — and more profiling from strangers — if the Manitoba government passes new legislation it says will strengthen existing laws around human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

People in the sex work community say they're concerned the authorities might keep conflating their profession with something they condemn: trafficking and exploitation.

The Winnipeg Police Service's counter exploitation unit says the victims of sexual exploitation can be found in hotels, bawdy houses and involved in street prostitution, and it describes the people who seek out and purchase sex as "exploiters," according to its website.

On its website, Winnipeg police identify possible signs of exploitation as a person being escorted or watched, not speaking on their own behalf, or having limited knowledge of the area they are in.

Bill could compel reporting

If Manitoba's new legislation passes, it would compel hotels and temporary accommodations, as well as drivers of taxis and ride-hailing services, to immediately report suspected human trafficking to police.

The bill would also require hotels and people running online accommodation platforms, such as Airbnb, to keep a record of guests' information, including their names and addresses, and turn it over to police on an emergency basis without requiring a warrant.

Reid, whom CBC agreed to identify by her working name, worries about hotels jotting down her name and address, as well as the access police may have to that information and taxi drivers assuming she's a victim of exploitation when she isn't. 

"When you're bringing people in that are not trained and have really no idea about sex work, I think you're going to run into a lot of problems," Reid said.

Under Canadian law, it is legal to sell sexual services but illegal to buy sex.

Reid is particularly troubled for her colleagues: people from marginalized communities who already feel targeted for their line of work.

Reid has dealt with a taxi driver locking their doors when she tried to leave, and another driver who asked intrusive questions.

To "just be a femme-presenting person existing, there's always going to be a bit of a target. I wasn't dressed provocatively. It wasn't late at night. I wasn't heavily intoxicated. I think it was just sort of existing."

Families Minister Rochelle Squires said Bill 40, introduced last month, won't go after people involved in consensual sex work. The province wants to target the sexual exploitation of minors and human trafficking, and prevent people from being coerced into the sex trade.

"This is not intended to push sex work further underground," Squires said in an interview. "Studies have shown that when we push legitimate sex work underground, it creates a more dangerous environment for those involved in that consensual trade."

"What we're really trying to go after is the [human trafficking and sexual exploitation].We know that it is a huge problem in the province of Manitoba, that … it is staggering, and we need to act."

The province estimates 400 children and youth are trafficked each year in the visible sex trade in Manitoba, but Squires has suggested the true number could be closer to 4,000 when what she calls the invisible trade — which occurs behind closed doors or online — is factored in.

Currently, all Manitobans are required to report suspected child abuse, but Squires said the bill would expand that duty to also include suspected child sexual exploitation and human trafficking, which the minister said would remedy a gap in the existing laws.

Record-keeping will be safe, minister says

The minister said the province will continue discussions with the Sex Workers of Winnipeg Action Coalition in the hopes of alleviating its concerns. Along with the legislation, Squires said new regulations would be drafted, including rules around hotels' records to ensure the information is kept secure.

Squires also stressed police would only access such records when it believed the victim is at risk of imminent or serious harm.

Staff Sgt. Andrea Scott, who works with Winnipeg police's counter exploitation unit, said she respects the various sentiments raised by people suspicious of the bill.

She said she's open to all possible solutions and said all of society has a responsibility to safeguard those vulnerable to human trafficking.

Scott also defended the use of wellness checks with sex workers, saying they are conducted "due to the inherent risk of sex work" and to "ensure individuals are aware of resources available to them."

Adult filmmaker Kate Sinclaire brought wide attention to the bill on Twitter.

At face value, she acknowledges the bill's intention — to combat exploitation and human trafficking — is laudable, but she finds its implications are far-reaching, even if it's unintentional.

She feels the bill will empower police officers, who "consider our work to be inherently trafficking or exploitative," Sinclaire alleges, to "have the ability to go and get information, tracking our whereabouts, even on personal time."

The extra surveillance may make sex workers less inclined to pay for rides or hotel stays, which could expose them to the potential danger of bringing a client home, Sinclaire said.

She wonders if the legislation may direct sex workers underground, as well as the criminals the government is going after.

"As soon as traffickers and people who actually are doing harm know that these laws are coming in, they're going to use [those areas] less, which means there are actually fewer ways to find these people."