Throughout our community consultations we were asked over and over again to provide information about sex workers’ experience in the industry. With the understanding that everyone’s experience is different, we have provided some key points to help people understand the daily realities of sex workers’ lives.

• Sex work happens in many different venues: on the street, at escort agencies, in private homes, online, at clubs/bars, in trick pads, in brothels, in massage parlours, bath houses, parks and in any other public place you can think of.



• Street level sex workers are more vulnerable than most indoor workers to exploitation by third parties such as owners/managers of sex industry establishments, security guards, drug dealers, boyfriends/girlfriends, clients, or pimps/madams.



• Street-based sex workers suffer extreme harm much more frequently than people working indoors do, due to isolation, predators, robbery, bad dates, stigmas and section 213 under the Criminal Code of Canada, which makes it illegal for sex workers to solicit in a public space and limits the sex worker’s ability to screen out potentially violent and dangerous clients.



• Historically sex workers have not felt comfortable and supported when reporting violence to the police. In some cases, the VPD’s response to bad-date reporting has improved.



• The sex worker liaison position within the VPD has been implemented to increase safety for sex workers and to assure that they will be treated equally when reporting a violent crime.



• Harassment from the general public decreases sex workers’ health and safety and increases their risk of injury whether it is mental, emotional, physical or spiritual. This includes throwing of objects, yelling out obscenities, stalking, pressure from drug dealers, vigilantes, pimps, police, lack of washrooms, no payphones, forced to work in unsafe dark industrial areas, being barred from public establishments and facing public judgments.



• For indoor sex workers imposed rules and regulations may seriously limit sex workers’ ability to control their working conditions, environment and their access to basic rights, including police protection.



• Some safety features for sex workers working indoors are working with others in a close proximity, ability to screen clients and regular clientele.