Hamilton police say may be more victims after man charged with attempted murder of sex-trade worker

Hamilton police have arrested and charged a Woodstock, Ont., man with attempted murder in connection with a sexual assault of a sex worker at an east-end home earlier this week.

On Tuesday, shortly after 5p.m., police responded to areport ofa sexual assault of a woman in her 40s at a residence.

In a news release Thursday, police said47-year-oldPeter Anthony Pascois charged with attempted murder in connection to theassault of the woman, who's a member of the sex trade.

Police said they believe there may be more victims as Pascois known to travel, and are appealing for more information.

"We know he has come to Hamilton a few times,"Const. Indy Bharajsaid. "We released his photo as we don't know if he wasusing aliases."

Bharaj said investigators with the Hamilton Police Sexual Assault Unit have taken over the investigation.

"We want all survivors of sexual violence to know that we believe them and we will respect their choice in when they report an incident, where and how," the news release noted, offering ways to report such crimes to police, its Sexual Assault Unit or anonymously.

Calling police can feel dangerous,sex work advocate says

Elene Lam, executive director ofButterfly: Asian and Migrant Sex Worker Support Network and McMaster University PhD candidate, saidincidents such as these are nothing new.

"As a sex work organization, we are very veryconcerned," Lam said. "But we want society to understand why sex workers are often targetsand why they don't seek help, because they are facing the criminalization of sex work."

Lam said a huge barrier to reporting attacks on sex workers to police remains the threat of being charged or investigated. Butterfly has heard from many sex workers who were assaulted but feared reporting it to police, she said.

"For some, calling police can feel more dangerous," Lam said.

"They often ask why they work here, who they are working with and their workplace gets shutdown," she said. "In some cases they also notify their landlords and get them evicted."

Lam said she hopes that if victims come forward, they are given the right to remain anonymous and are not investigated for their job.

Resources for sexual assault survivors:

• Sexual Assault Centre of Hamilton (SACHA) Crisis Line (905) 525-4162 orsacha.ca.
• Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Care Centre atwww.hhsc.ca/sadv.