Here's what sex workers think about lifting the massage parlour ban

For the past four years, a temporary ban on massage parlours has been in place in St. John's that stops new ones from opening their doors. 

Coun. Maggie Burton is putting forward a motion to end that ban at Monday's council meeting, as she noted the "temporary" moratorium was for the city to review development regulations. 

If the moratorium is lifted, new applications will be considered as long as they follow site-specific stipulations, such as being a certain distance from a residential unit.

But some women employed in the industry are not enthusiastic about the news.

They say the working conditions at some of the massage parlours are unsafe — and that if the ban is lifted without proper regulation implemented, sex workers will be put in harm's way. 

CBC News agreed to protect the identities of the sex workers interviewed for this story. 

Lifting the ban 

"The [parlours] that we have already aren't safe," said one worker CBC spoke with.

"The thought is that if the moratorium is lifted that there will be safe work environments for girls who are on the street now, or currently not able to get into the massage parlours that are already existing. But lifting the moratorium is just lifting the moratorium of being able to open," she said.   

"It's not guaranteed safe work environments, and it's not changing the unsafe work environments that are here already in St. John's," one added.

"So I think before we look at if we should lift or not lift, I think it needs to be set in place — safety precautions and regulations. I think that needs to be thought out well before the thought of lifting up the ban happens."

What's the point of even trying to normalize it if it's not going to be done right?- Anonymous

That lack of regulation has led to systemic issues with massage parlours in the city, according to the women interviewed.

"Right now it's shit. And the reason why there's so much debate about lifting up the ban … is because the way it's been done the past 10 years has been absolute garbage."

But they said it hasn't always been that way.

"I remember when I first started there were kind of rules there. Like you always answered the door in something nice. You always wore your downtown clothes.  But now it's like, you just go to the door strut-ass naked. Butt-ass naked. Just to get somebody. You need to be picked, right?"

Although some groups — like the Safe Harbour Outreach Program, which works with sex workers in the city — may see the motion as a step toward ending stigma the industry, these sex workers say it doesn't matter.

"If all the girls are just gonna end up feeling unsafe and there are underage people working anyway, like what's the point of even trying to normalize it if it's not going to be done right?" said one.

"Why are people going to want to work there? It's going to turn into brothels, if there's nothing put in place."

Unsafe working conditions

These sex workers say they do not feel safe at their workplace.

"There's no cameras, there's no security, there's no multiple exits, there's nothing. The guy can go in there and ask for pretty much anything and you don't even feel like you have control half the time because you're working under somebody who expects you to do these services," said one woman.

"If anything were to happen, you'd have to run past him to try to get out. There's no safe exits or anything."

They say that those kinds of instances are not uncommon.

"At least once every couple of days. Like, if you had one day where it didn't happen that was a good day."

The stigma isn't helping

These sex workers said that if the spaces are to be made safe, then they need to be seen as regular workplaces by the city and the public.

"They just need to get over it already and kind of look at it like, OK, if my daughter or my sister or my family member was doing this, what would I want to be in place to make sure that they are safe? Everyone needs to start looking at it from a personal point of view."

The clock is ticking, though.

"I think there needs to be some fast movement soon because it's been too long. And too much has happened."

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