Sam Samson

Sex workers, advocates at odds over pulling escort, body rub licences

City to vote next week on whether to stop licensing adult-oriented businesses

Joy Smith, left, and Diane Redsky have worked to help victims of human trafficking for decades. The two hugged after the executive policy committee voted to pass the report onto council Wednesday. (Sam Samson/CBC)

Advocates for human trafficking victims are applauding a report making its way to city council, while some sex workers warn it could cause harm.

The motion that appeared before the executive policy committee Wednesday recommends the city repeal its licences for adult-oriented businesses, including escort agencies and body rub practitioners.

Right now, the city has 31 licences with different businesses, which bring in $23,058 annually. If city council were to adopt the report, Winnipeg would no longer bring in money from the licence fees.

"These businesses are conduits to horrific abuse of women and girls," Joy Smith told the committee. The long-time advocate for human trafficking victims called the report "a game-changer."

"It's time to take a stand and say, here in the city of Winnipeg, we will not allow our children to be victimized and bought and sold," she said.

Sex workers concerned about language, effects of report

The report recommends repealing the licences — it doesn't detail shutting the businesses down. But some who have chosen to work in the sex industry say it's a slippery slope to pushing sex workers underground into more harmful situations.

"We're just worried about surveillance and our safety," said a 30-year-old Winnipeg woman who is a sex worker and goes by the pseudonym Emma. She's a member of the Sex Workers of Winnipeg Action Coalition, and spoke with CBC News after the meeting.

"Taking away the licences, if that means that they're eventually trying to shut down a safe working environment, then that's a really scary thing. I'm not sure where it's going to go, but we've seen that elsewhere. It doesn't help anyone."

Emma said she doesn't believe enough sex workers were consulted for the report. Overall, though, she hopes city councillors can differentiate between those who choose to be sex workers and those who are exploited.

"Sex workers are consenting adults. You can only have sex work consensually. Otherwise, it's trafficking exploitation," she said.

"Those two things need to be kept very separate. We want to operate like regular businesses do."

Kate Sinclaire, an adult filmmaker in Winnipeg, asked the executive policy committee to focus their policies on harm-reduction for sex workers. (Submitted by Kate Sinclaire)

Kate Sinclaire, an adult filmmaker in Winnipeg, echoes Emma's concerns.

"Prohibition does not make sex work safer and it does not make it go away," she told committee, adding that councillors need to consider harm reduction for sex workers in their policies.

Can't separate the two, says longtime advocate for victims

But the vote was a big win for Diane Redsky. The executive director of Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre said removing the licences for these businesses will help protect Indigenous women and girls who are more at risk of being harmed or exploited.

"These venues are places where they are sexually assaulted, where they are sexually exploited and they're financially exploited," Redsky told CBC after the meeting. "That's the true reality of what we're seeing as a service provider who has been working on this issue now for over 20 years."

She said you cannot separate sex work from exploitation if you want to truly help those who are being taken advantage of.

"Any form of legitimizing the sex industry will result in further sexual exploitation of vulnerable people," she told CBC News after the meeting.

"It works on the very same business principles of supply and demand. You need to have a supply because the demand is there for sexually exploited women and girls. In fact, there's a market for very vulnerable Indigenous women and girls to be to be victimized."

"We really need to stand together as a city of Winnipeg's citizens to say that women and girls are not for sale in the city of Winnipeg."

The executive policy committee unanimously approved four out of five of the report's recommendations. The outlier was a recommendation to create a partnership between the National Human Trafficking Education Centre and the taxi service industry.

Some councillors said it was too narrow, and more could be done on that front. The committee voted 4-3 against that recommendation. The report moves on to city council next week.