Why Sexwork Went Mainstream and Why it Counts as an Election Issue

Hi all,

I just wanted to write briefly about why sexworkers' voices should be heard and not silenced. As a current SP, I really really really want sexworkers to be a part of the current debate involving anti-sexwork laws etc. But because of stigma, we are frequently forced to hide behind separate identities and it SUCKS. Because obviously we have things to say, but the rescue industry, which profits immensely off of the please-let-us-save-you-oh-and-btw-accept-Jesus-as-your-Lord-and-Saviour mentality, will not listen. Because sacks of cash, and dispensable lives.

Robert Pickton killed street-involved sexworkers around Vancouver's Downtown East Side (DTES) because he believed that no one would care, and to my great regret and Harper's shame, that is still true. Many of them were also aboriginal, and they are, to say the least, over-represented in terms of missing and murdered open cases. Because the anti-sexwork logic goes, "I would never do x, therefore no one can do x", (which is actually not logical but complete garbage) we as sexworkers, including trans and LGBTQ folks' rights don't get the same validation as the majority of society.

I live in Old Town Toronto. I get exposed to Canadian success stories every day. There is no way that we as sex workers and everybody else on the fringes do not count. We have rights, and we exist. We are human. When I have a bad date, I want to be able to go the police and say, "Look out, there's this guy taking advantage of courtesans," but I can't in the current political climate, especially with the police abuse of power. You want to talk about violence against women? I give you the officer flashing his badge and forcing her/him to do a blowjob for free to avoid the pressure of charges.

Over the past week, there have been a series of tweets and retweets on Twitter helping to raise awareness. I want to help us go beyond that. A couple of independents and I are planning to make a calendar, with the majority of profits (except for printing expenses) going to Maggie's Toronto. For street-involved workers, we need safer sex supplies. We need STI testing, both for our peace of mind and for the sake of our clients' health. We need all these things, and I know I'm preaching to the converted if I share this on Twitter (and I will), but we need the big players - the politicians - to own up to the fact that we exist and that Canada vs. Bedford exists as well. If you pretend to be progressive, don't even do it for us. Do it for yourself, because this is a civil rights issue. We've been here before and we know how this will end.

When you vote, even if you are not in the industry or are exiting, please vote for the party that is likely to repeal PCEPA and recognize trans and sexworker rights. Please remember us, out here on the fringes, because here we fucking are, without rights, with stigma, getting side-eye all the fucking time and I personally am up to my eyes with it.

We get to vote, too. Our lives are not dispensable. There should not be a body count, which is rising every day. There are a lot of us. We count. And for those of us not desperate to exit, we don't need saving. We are not your rescue project.

Xoxo,

Olivia