Fred Hahn
Full Comment

Sex workers deserve the same protections as all other workers

They should have the right to earn an income without being persecuted, the right to a healthy and safe work environment, and the right to freely associate with other workers

If the Harper government's anti-prostitution legislation, Bill C-36, is passed, it will reproduce the harms and violence of the prostitution laws that were recently deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in its Bedford decision. The new bill not only reintroduces most of the offending laws, it also adds more criminal provisions to prohibit purchasing sex and advertising sexual services.

If it becomes law, this legislation will drive sex work underground by removing any legitimate means of accessing labour protections and safety mechanisms. It also prohibits sex workers from working collaboratively and from paying others to help ensure their safety.

The prohibition on advertising sexual services will make it even more difficult for sex workers to have some degree of control over their own businesses and their safety. Criminalizing communications minimizes sex workers' ability to screen clients and to assess potential risks. The preponderance of research on sex work clearly demonstrates that the criminal restrictions contained within Bill C-36 are the kinds of laws that increase violence against sex workers.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario (CUPE Ontario) looks to labour laws and occupational health and safety codes to address injustice and exploitation at work. The SCC decision in the Bedford case demonstrated that the use of criminal laws to regulate any aspect of sex work takes its hardest toll on sex workers.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Beverly McLaughlin ruled that criminal laws "impose conditions on how prostitutes operate." She added that criminal provisions "go a critical step further, by imposing dangerous conditions on prostitution; they prevent people engaged in a risky — but legal — activity from taking steps to protect themselves from the risk."

The criminalization of any part of sex work prevents sex workers from negotiating and enforcing workplace health and safety standards. It also prevents redress from labour abuses and discrimination. Laws criminalizing brothels make it impossible to report labour violations, without fear of having one's brothel raided and of losing one's job. Even if a sex worker has wrongfully lost her job, criminalization makes it impossible for her to be reinstated.

Workplace violence is not limited to sex workers. Violence on the job is a highly documented and important issue for transit workers, home-care attendants and visiting nurses, taxi drivers, ambulance drivers, as well as gas station and convenience store attendants. At least people working in these industries have an incentive to report violent crime to the authorities.

The criminalization of sex work prevents redress for violence at work, home or anywhere else. The prohibition on brothels and those who manage them means that sex workers cannot report violence — even if they have the support of management — without risking their jobs.

Sex workers across Canada have demanded that Bill C-36 be scrapped entirely. They deserve the same protections as all workers, including the right to earn an income without being persecuted, the right to a healthy and safe work environment, and the right to freely associate with other workers.

CUPE Ontario has always fought for workers' rights in the workplace and in our communities. Trade unions must support the health and safety of everyone, especially those working in precarious industries. We therefore stand in solidarity with sex workers and all organizations that are committed to defeating this regressive and dangerous legislation. We call on the federal government to reject Bill C-36, and implement a policy of full decriminalization of all forms of sex work.

Fred Hahn is the president of CUPE Ontario.

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