Sex worker survey offers rare glimpse into risks, needs of those often forced into shadows
A majority of those surveyed reported having disabilities
In the 20 years that she's been a sex worker, Tyler Cuddahy says she's mostly worked on the streets in Vancouver, and for a few years online. But now, for her own safety, she sees clients at home, where she can assess them through a chain-locked door before letting them in.
Risk is still a major concern, she says.
"As a trans adult I work more with the straight population — the guys who are questioning their sexuality. My last one left me pretty scarred," said Cuddahy, describing how she says her last client started beating her after he "realized he had to go back home to his wife."
"He left me pretty much bleeding."
How to make sex work safer is at the core of a new survey of 239 sex workers in southwestern B.C. that offers a glimpse into the needs and risks they faced during the pandemic.
The By Us, For Us (BUFU) research project was developed and written by the Metro Vancouver Consortium, a group of advocacy organizations which included PACE, the WISH Drop in Centre Society and the Health Initiative for Men (HIM). It was funded by the City of Vancouver and the Emergency Community Support Fund.
The research was designed with the help of sex workers to assess the needs and risks on the Lower Mainland and southern Vancouver Island. Surveys were conducted from April to August of 2021. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA-BC) advised and helped with media outreach.
"Sex workers' voices were present throughout the entire process — it was a very unique aspect," said Sylvia Machat, the lead evaluator of the project.
WATCH | Cuddahy describes her attack:
Better workplaces would protect against dangers
In the survey, participants called for a variety of safeguards, including safer washrooms, housing, better health care access, and Indigenous-centred services that employ elders on site. They said ideal licensed working environments would help them refuse unsafe clients who refuse to wear a condom or give them a bad "vibe."
A majority of survey participants also reported having a disability.
"For me, [that's] the biggest standout," said Machat, who said the disabilities ranged from mental health issues to a brain injury, and noted that most of the participants also experienced oppression from racism and gender diversity issues.
Study participants called for better mental health supports, as they are struggling to deal with everything from violence within the industry, hate-based threats, intimate partner violence, addictions, the fallout of residential schools, refugee experiences, and depression and anxiety.
"This is definitely a big gap in the services that sex workers need to be able to access," said Machat.
Mebrat Beyene, executive director of Wish Drop-in Centre Society, said the survey data is rare and important.
"Sex workers rights are human rights," said Beyene.
The study also recommended better financial support for people affected by the opioid crisis and the pandemic by upping income assistance and disability rates.
A thin social safety nets make sex work riskier, Beyene explained.
"Sex work in itself is not inherently violent. It's not inherently dangerous. But if there are significant gaps in all of the other social infrastructure and gender-based violence continues to run unchecked, that's what makes sex workers unsafe," said Beyene.
Highlights of the BUFU Research Project
Of the 239 sex workers surveyed:
- 73 per cent reported a disability
- 69 per cent were cisgender women
- 60 per cent feared a loved one would overdose
- 46 per cent struggled to pay for food
- 45 per cent were Indigenous
- 35 per cent were not housed safely
- 29 per cent had dependents
- 8 per cent were transgender
Participants wanted a medical clinic, legal aid services, shared workspaces for sex workers and an expansion of harm reporting tools.
A 67-year-old sex worker who calls herself Tess says that a medical clinic focused on sex workers would be her priority. CBC News is not identifying Tess by her full name to protect her safety.
"I think the number one issue is a clinic specifically for sex workers, so they don't have to endure the racism and all the rude remarks from health workers," Tess told CBC News.
The report notes a need for more flexible, non-stigmatizing care and services for Indigenous people, and involving an elder.
Distrust of police
The report also recommends police-free sex worker spaces.
Tess said sex workers distrust police and fear losing custody of their children, and that violent interactions with some officers has eroded trust.
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News.
In 2013 the VPD worked with advocacy groups to adopt a set of sex work enforcement guidelines in an effort to build trust with sex workers. The guidelines talk about poverty and cultural considerations, and the over-representation Indigenous women in so-called "survival" sex work.
Despite this, Beyene says distrust persists and stifles many reports of violence.
"Underreporting is often connected to the lack of trust," said Beyene, "Devastating or problematic interactions are going to lead people to not trust law enforcement."
Other sex workers in the survey described feeling "invisible," with no effective way to report violence against them.
Cuddahy, 38, says a lot has changed since she worked Boy's Town, an area bordered by Davie and Homer streets to Pacific Boulevard. But she says sex workers still face stigma and not enough compassion from police.
"We're all people and we all have to do work somehow. Whatever we do for work, that's our choice," she said.
Risks built into work
"All of the ways to turn down unsafe work that most other workers, most of the other sectors take for granted, is impossible for sex workers," Beyene explained.
The laws around sex work shifted after a 2013 ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada that found three criminal prohibitions on prostitution unconstitutional and harmful to sex workers.
Activists have fought for years to have the trade entirely decriminalized.
They argue that the current laws in Canada make activities connected to safe sex work illegal. Beyene says that sex workers can't work together, hire security or openly negotiate or communicate to ensure that a client is safe.
Beyene said that Canadian laws are meant to criminalize the purchase of sex and dissuade clients from purchasing sex.
"But all that that does is push the trade further underground. And that's what's inherently dangerous," she said.
WATCH | How COVID made sex work more dangerous:
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