On March 11, 2011, the Calgary Herald published "Ottawa says it’s not obligated to protect prostitutes". In response to this article AIDS Calgary Awareness Association submitted a Letter to the Editor of the Herald, which has been published in today’s paper. However, due to space restrictions only a partial version of the letter has been printed. Below is a full version of our rebuttal to this issue.
The federal government has made claims that it is not obligated to protect a section of the population, this is not only frightening but these claims encourage notions of stigma and segregation. This denial of protection from our government is a violation of sex workers basic human rights and instills the idea that because a person is a sex worker, they deserve any mistreatment or abuse they incur in their profession.
As members of the Canadian work force, we are afforded the right to work in a safe
environment, with our general health and well-being protected by various governmental and social organizations. True, sex workers enter into their trade with known obstacles and dangers; however, so do many other professionals, including police officers, health care professionals and manual labourers. It is our human right as Canadians which allows us to be treated and protected equally.
Prostitution is legal in Canada, although due to its criminalization under sections 210-213, sex workers are not afforded the same rights to their chosen profession as the rest of the work force. There is also a double standard among the criminalization of sex work, where it is legal to have sex on camera and get paid for the purpose of Adult Films, be an exotic dancer and work in an erotic massage parlor. It is unfair to separate how one part of sex work is more acceptable from the other, which leads to further segregation and stereotypes.
Our government should acknowledge the criminalization of prostitution only encourages violence and abuse towards sex workers by forcing them to work alone and in isolated and dangerous areas. This isolation, and fear of criminal charges, prevents sex workers from properly screening dates, communicating to fellow sex workers information about dangerous clients or negotiating safer sex and prohibits them from accessing proper health education and services.
The most horrific part about Ottawa saying it is not obliged to protect sex workers is that it sends the message that endangering a sex workers safety is acceptable as they are knowingly putting themselves at risk. What about the multiple sex workers who were brutally murdered by Robert Pickton? Should those women’s lives be valued less because of the work that they do?
To read the Calgary Herald version, click here.
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