LIVING IN COMMUNITY
Living in Community is a two-year city-wide project whose goal is to develop an integrated approach in relation to the impacts of sex work on neighbourhoods throughout Vancouver. The project aims to increase the health and safety of all community members, including sex workers, residents and business owners and operators. Living in Community is a collaboration of community, business and government organizations, including sex worker organizations, neighbourhood houses, youth and Aboriginal organizations, community policing centres, business improvement associations, the City of Vancouver, Vancouver Police Department, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and the Vancouver Agreement.
The Living in Community project grew out of the recognition by a group of community and business organizations about the urgent need to address the health and safety impacts of sex work that all community members experience. The current situation is not working, and sex work continues to significantly affect individuals, families, communities and the larger social, economic and political systems in a number of ways. Living in Community aims to encourage dialogue among diverse groups, including residents, businesses, sex workers, police and government to build mutually supportive relationships that will promote positive change.
During the fall and winter of 2006,2007, Living in Community held an extensive community consultation process that included neighbourhood dialogues, focus groups, and an online survey. Input was invited from sex workers, residents, community groups, businesses, and others. The result of this consultation process and extensive research is an action plan that includes a series of recommendations. It is our hope that implementation of the recommendations will lead to healthier, safer neighbourhoods for everyone.