Groups representing sex-trade workers launch legal challenge of Canada's prostitution laws

A former escort agency owner, several workers in the sex trade as well as a group that advocates for law reform are part of an alliance that has launched a legal challenge ofCanada's prostitution laws.

TheCanadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform, which represents 25 groups that work with members of the sex trade, filed legal paperwork Tuesday inthe Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

Groups in Yukon, Vancouver and London, Ont., along with six current or former sex-trade workers, are amongthose involved inthe legal fight. They argue the laws violate provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"We've launched a constitutional challenge to most of the sex-work provisions that were implemented in 2014 under theProtection for Communities and Exploited Persons Act," said JennClamen, a spokesperson forthe alliance.

"Sex workers are still living in a criminal regime and they're still working in that criminal regime, and it's been difficult."

None of the claims have been proven in court.

CBC is reaching out to the Department of Justice Canada.

Canada's prostitution laws, whichcame into effect in 2014, set out to decriminalizeparts of the sex trade, on the premise such work isinherently exploitative, but those involved in the new legal challengeare disputing the government's take on the trade.

The new laws criminalized communicating for the purpose of offering sexual services, purchasing sexual services, receiving financial or other benefits from the purchase of sexual services, recruitinga person for sex work, and advertising the sale of sexual services of others.

'Not inherently violent'

The new laws also gave immunity from prosecution to those who selland advertise their own sexual services. The model of criminalizing only the purchase of sex, not the selling of it, has been referred to as the Nordic Model of sex work because itoriginated in Sweden. Canada is among several countries that have adopted the model.

But advocates say the laws under that model havepushed sex-trade workfurther underground and into more isolated areas, making it more dangerous, according to the legal documentsfiled by the alliance.

"Sex work is not inherently violent, but criminalization produces conditions that create vulnerabilities to targeted and gendered violence and other abuses," the paperwork says.

"People exercise their agency to sell and exchange sexual services for different reasons, including to generate income, and their personal circumstances are diverse."

The paperwork also says third parties, such as escort agencies or massage parlours, "provide vital services and supports to sex workers, notably for the most marginalized sex workers who do not have the resources to work independently or hire their own supports."

The current laws deprive sex workers of the right to security of person by inhibiting or prohibiting where and how they can work, thereby exposing them to increased physical and psychological harm, the claim states.

The criminalization of sex-trade work also contributes to stigma, which leads to violence and discrimination, and increases the likelihoodof non-payment and unsafe encounters, said Clamen.

"The pandemic hasjust exacerbated the already difficult conditions that sex workers are living in," she said.

Workers, escort agency owner in claim

Named in the Ontario claim are six sex-trade workers who make a living ina variety of jobs, some indoors and others outdoors. Also named is Tiffany Anwar, an Ontario woman who ran an escort agency in Londonwith her husband.

In February 2020, an Ontario court judge ruled three of the charges against Anwar and her husband violated the charter.

The ruling only applied to that particular case, but did send an important precedent.

In his ruling, the judge said the laws were so broad, they prohibited sex-trademembers to workco-operatively with each other or with others in non-exploitative relationships, and exposed workers to an increased risk of exploitation.

"This challenge is about recognizing that the health and safety of people who work in the sex industry, most of whom are women, is important," Anwar told CBC News. "They have a right to a safe working environment, and decriminalization of the industry is an important step to safety and good working conditions."

Anwar would like to open another escort agency with her husband, but cannot becauseof the current legal provisions, she said.

"Right now sex workers can't work collaboratively with third parties, so these laws criminalize managers, receptionists, security personnel. Third parties provide vital support."

Anwar said sheand her husband fought to get the charter challenge off the ground, and wanted as many sex-trade workers as possible represented.

"It only made sense to get current sex workers and their organizations involved in this case," she said.