Dear Elected Officials,

In the aftermath of the horrific shooting deaths of women working in Asian massage businesses in Atlanta on 16 March 2021, im/migrant sex workers still have little to no legal or labour protections in Canada.

Canada’s prostitution and anti-trafficking laws, along with our immigration policies, impede im/migrant sex workers from coming forward if they experience violence. Further, the enforcement of these laws and policies is punitive rather than protective.

• The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA) does not keep sex workers safe. Research has shown that PCEPA undermines sex workers’ safety, rights and ability to access vital health, justice and community-based supports.
• The Immigration and Refugees Protection Regulations (IRPR) prohibition on sex work has been counter-productive. IRPR puts migrant sex workers not only at increased risk of violence, but also arrest, detention and deportation.
• Migrant sex workers experience multi-layered criminalization. If sex work was decriminalized in Canada, migrant sex workers would still be criminalized through the IRPR. Full decriminalization means repealing the immigration prohibition on sex work so that migrant sex workers are not left behind.
• Increased police presence does not keep im/migrant sex workers safe. Instead, it continues to surveil, oppress and harass some of Canada’s most systemically marginalized women and puts their lives at risk.
• When predators act with impunity, no one in Canadian society is safer. Canadian prostitution laws, the immigration prohibition on sex work, and anti-trafficking enforcement impede im/migrant sex workers from reporting violent predators who freely roam in our communities.

We the undersigned call upon you, and all our elected officials, to repeal the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, and repeal the Immigration and Refugees Protections Regulations prohibition on sex work (ss. 183(1)(b.1), 196.1(a), 200(3)(g.1) and 203(2)(a))."

Canada's laws do not differentiate between sex work and trafficking. This results in disproportionate harms to im/migrant and other racialized sex workers while increasing their vulnerability to violence. 

Instead of investing more resources in anti-trafficking initiatives and policing, our country must prioritize im/migrant sex workers’ safety. Instead of increasing police budgets with anti-trafficking funding, the government must fund alternatives such as sex work organizations, community outreach programs, anti-racism initiatives, and other vital community-based support systems. These initiatives must support our most impacted communities and center the experiences of im/migrant sex workers.

We call upon you to use your power to create a safer country by decriminalizing sex work, removing the immigration prohibition on sex work, and meaningfully engaging with sex work communities to determine how to work with them, and how to combat human trafficking without compromising their safety and needs.