NCJ Number
215470
Date Published
June 2006
Length
229 pages
Annotation
This report provides a comprehensive analysis of how different areas of law can be used to improve the safety and protect the rights of sex workers in Canada if laws criminalizing sex work were to be repealed.
Abstract
The main argument underlying the legal analysis presented here contends that current criminal laws in Canada pertaining to adult prostitution force sex workers to live and work in discriminatory conditions where they are subjected to exploitation and violence and in which their constitutional rights are infringed. This report by the Pivot Legal Society illustrates how various areas of law and policy can be reformed to improve the safety and protect the rights of sex workers in Canada if sex work were to be recognized as a legal activity. Areas of law under analysis include municipal law, employment and labor law, income assistance and employment insurance law, income tax law, company law, human rights law, immigration law, family law, and criminal law. Recommendations proposed by sex workers are presented throughout the analysis, including the recommendation to ensure that participation in sex work does not automatically create grounds for loss of child custody. The report outlines current working conditions in different areas of the sex industry in Canada and reports on current financial arrangements and wage structures, which are described as exploitative. Areas of human rights laws are analyzed for how they could be amended to protect the rights of sex workers, particularly discrimination based on source of income and sexual harassment laws. Workers compensation and occupational health and safety issues are considered, as is the possibility of sex worker unionization. The analysis also examines the question of whether all migrant sex workers in Canada should be considered "trafficked persons" and explores parts of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act pertaining to human smuggling and trafficking. The analysis was informed by individual and group discussions with sex workers and business owners from a variety of areas in the sex industry. Footnotes, appendixes