Sex workers, advocates march against violence in downtown Vancouver

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It may be known as the world’s oldest profession, but despite its long history, advocates say sex work remains clouded by stigma and misunderstanding.

So today, sex workers, their supporters, and their advocates are trying to clear the air with a public discussion and red umbrella march through downtown Vancouver.

The event is part of the international day to end violence against sex workers, which started in 2003 as a memorial for the victims of the Green River Killer in Seattle.

“Whether or not you believe that sex work is an okay thing for a person to do, I think we can all agree that nobody should be subjected to stigma or violence, that nobody should be shut out of their community,” says Brenna Bezanson, community liaison for the Providing Alternatives, Counselling and Education (PACE) Society, based on West Hastings.

“In any other industry, if there was a workplace death, we would look to labour standards, we would look to labour rights, we would look to human rights as a way of protecting those workers.”

Bezanson argues Canada’s legal system is still failing to keep sex workers from harm, and that the Harper government’s overhauls to prostitution laws only made penalties harsher.

Part of the problem, she says, is that public policy is being shaped by outside academics instead of by those within the sex worker community.

“For the most part, it’s people who aren’t sex workers speaking for sex workers, and making decisions over what is and isn’t acceptable for sex workers to do.”

Bezanson adds however that Vancouver’s sex workers benefit from a police department which has committed to a more progressive approach to prostitution.