who we were/who we are

HISTORY OF SEX WORK : VANCOUVER 
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About this Project

In 2004, a group of sex workers came together in partnership with

Simon Fraser University in the hope of discovering the history of sex
work—our history—in the city of Vancouver. How have sex workers
contributed to Vancouver’s founding, growth, and character? In
recent years, the sex workers’ civil rights movement has become an
international effort, and sex workers all over the world are demanding
human rights and labour standards. As in all civil rights movements,
we need to understand our history in order to understand our place in
the community.

The foundation for positive change is to have pride in ourselves and

the accomplishments of the sex workers before us. We wanted to
understand the factors which came to bear on the quality of life for
sex workers throughout the life of our city. So, we investigated the
history of the city itself, its economic history, the history of poverty,
of medicine, of laws and enforcement, of the women’s movement (in
particular, women’s suffrage), of the sex workers’ rights movement, of
arts and fashion, and the history of “organized crime”—all of which
have shaped what we call “our community.” Looking at these various
factors, we began to see our place in the larger community, the make-
up of our traditional neighbourhoods, and how the situation of today
has become as dangerous as it is. Throughout the history of our city,
sex workers have been affected by many of the same things as other
community members. Major world events touch us all, as do local
issues specific to Vancouver and the popular opinion of Vancouverites.
One thing is clear: sex workers have always been and remain to this day
an integral part of our city and have contributed greatly to its colour,
diversity, and personality!

This project was a journey for us, and we’d like to thank everyone
who helped along the way and who have taken the time to consider
our findings.




HISTORY OF SEX WORK : VANCOUVER 

i
ii
 HIST ORY OF SEX WORK



: VANC OUVE R
W e A r el
Trina Ricketts (aka Annie Temple), is founder
of The Naked Truth — www.nakedtruth.ca — a
resource and advocacy website for exotic dancers,
co-founder of Surrey Girlz Outreach and Drop-
in, coordinator of the annual Exotic Dancers for
Cancer event in memory of Jocelyne Sioui, and
a member of the BC Coalition of Experiential
Women and Communities (BCCEW/C).
Susan Davis has been a sex worker for 20 years
and is still in the trade. She is the communications
coordinator for Prostitution Alternatives
Counselling and Education (PACE) Society and sits
on the Living in Community steering committee,
helping to balance perspectives on the sex industry
in Vancouver. Davis contracts with the Vancouver
Police Department as well as with various federal
agencies to carry out sensitivity training for
new recruits and management. She has lectured
extensively at various universities and colleges and
is an accomplished artist, musician and writer.
Stacey Grayer’s involvement in the History
of Sex Work Project stems from her belief that
popular history possesses many misconceptions
and untold truths. Her interest in fashion and
the aesthetics of style has led her to begin an
exploration on the ways that sex work related
fashion has influenced the mainstream…Britney
Spears anyone? Grayer finds great value in working
with people in her community and is passionate
about education. Always seeking to learn, she
is also dedicated to passing on to others the
knowledge that she has gained.

Candice Hansen was born and raised in the City
of Vancouver. Her commitment to the History
of Sex Work Project is based on her belief that
complex cultural, social and economic factors have
influenced the lives of sex workers over the past
century, and that it is only by striving to better
understand these factors that we can hope to create
positive change. She enjoyed spending time with
and learning from other group members, and hopes
that this project will create a catalyst for people to
think differently about sex workers.
Jennifer Allan is a former sex worker who
spent 8 and a half years in the sex trade. During
her last three years (working in survival sex) she
witnessed brutal violence and experienced first
hand the harsh realities of street-level sex work.
As a result, she eventually left sex work and
founded Jen’s Kitchen, an outreach and food-relief
service for women. Allan has lectured at various
colleges, and has also been featured in several
documentaries, including “Journey Women” (part
of an initiative of PACE Society) and “A Safer Sex
Trade”, for CBC television.
Chanel Martin was born in Vancouver and
began working here as a sex worker 30 years ago.
She is currently the Coordinator of the Hepatitis C
Outreach and Education Program for Prostitution
Alternatives Counselling and Education (PACE)
Society. Martin is passionate about history and
what it can tell us about our current social and
cultural surroundings. She is also a prolific and
poignant writer, choosing the poetic medium as a
way of expressing some of the complexity, beauty,
danger and sorrow that infuse the daily lives of sex
workers. She hopes that this project will provoke
dialogue and create learning opportunities for the
broader community.
iii
 Acknowledgements People we encountered durin
g our research
experience freely and
shared their knowledge and
rt our interpretation of
ject changed our seemed to genuinely suppo
So many aspects of this pro ness and willingness to
rk in a university historical facts. Their open
lives. The opportunity to wo and we are all grateful
experience for all of engage was overwhelming,
environment was a positive for their support.
being on the campus,
us. Being in the classroom,
ources of Simon Fraser
and having access to the res It is our hope that this projec
t will be ongoing
wering. The people who of sex workers will be
University have been empo and that future generations
wn us our potential, to the History of Sex
have supported us have sho empowered and contribute
s, and, above all, have
helped us overcome obstacle Work: Vancouver.
been very patient!

Project home Simon Fraser University 1440 Design

The Community Education Program, SFU Continuing
Studies has provided two years of administrative,
fundraising, organizing and instructional support. We are
grateful for their ongoing support and friendship.
Project staff Shanthi Besso, Program Coordinator
for the Community Education Program, and Susan Davis,
sex worker and activist (BCCEC), coordinated this project.
Alex Stursberg coordinated the creation of this book and
supported group members to create learning portfolios.
Debbie Bell, Program Director for the Community Education
Program, was involved in project design and provided overall
(and ongoing) support.
Thanks to the Dean of Continuing Studies, Dr. John Labrie,
for recognizing the value of this work.
Project Sponsors
Thanks for the generous financial support from:
Simon Fraser University:
Continuing Studies
Development Fund
Dr. John Wighton
Community Partnership Fund
Project Supporters & Collaborators
The Design Group, University Relations, SFU
Anthea Lee and Jennifer Conroy beautifully designed this
book, and Carol Knight made this work possible.
Spoton Moon Productions
Anne Marie Slater, Consulting Artist, and Gordon Cobb,
Soundscape Designer, helped to conceptualize and create
the multi-media art installation, one of the core pieces of
this project.
iv
Jamie Stubbs lent invaluable support and time in designing
the project website www.historyofsexwork.com.
Harbour Centre Printing and Copying
Cholo Cebrero donated much needed printing services.
Charo Neville helped to coordinate and plan with enthusiasm
and humor.
Alex Stursberg & Nancy Earle edited this publication
respectfully and meticulously.
Marika Sandrelli had the vision to bring us all together.
Out To Lunch Catering donated catering for the project
launch.
Project Friends The following people provided
support—from insight on Vancouver’s history; to expertise
on best practices for successfully completing such a daunting
project; to helping us gain the research and writing skills
needed to complete the work; to supplying the passion and
enthusiasm so vital to our confidence and success. Thank-you.
Jolene Cumming (Local Historian)
Daniel Francis (Author and Historian)
Stephanie Jewell (Dean of Arts and Sciences, Vancouver
Community College)
Neil Madu (Department of Criminology, SFU)
Chris Mathieson (Programmer, Vancouver Police Museum)
Larry Perras (Instructor, VCC)
Joan Seidl (Vancouver Museum)
Lynda Hewitt (Director, Meeting and Events, SFU)
Katherine McManus (Director, Writing and Publishing
Program, SFU)
Vancouver’s First Peoples For thousands of years,
the Coast Salish peoples have flourished in the land that is now
Vancouver. We would like to acknowledge and honour the three
great Nations whose land this is: Squamish Nation, Musqueam
Nation andTsleil-Waututh Nation.
 pho
to:
ann
e ma
rie
slat
er,
2007

contents
i. About this Project
ii, Who We Are
iv. Acknowledgements
1. The Early Years of Va
ncouver / susan davis
5. Our Health / susan da
vis
6. Medicine and Illness
/ susan davis
9. Street Safety for Sex
Workers: 100 Years of
Insecurity / jennifer
13. Economics / susan da allan
vis
15. The Social Condition
s which Lead Women
/ candice hansen into Sex Work
18. Poverty / susan davis
19. Social Gospel / susan
davis
21. Women’s Suffrage / su
san da vis
23. The Arts and Fashion
/ susan davis
25. Sex and the Fashion
Industry / stacey gray
er
27. Exotic Liberation / an
nie temple
32. Sex Workers’ Rights M
ovement / susan davis
33. Enforcement and Po
licing Polices in Vanc
ouver / susan davis
35. The Province editoria
l / susan davis
36. We are the Miss
ing / chanel martin
37. Our Commun
ity: 150 Years of Crim
inalization / susan da
39. Interview with vis
Vancouver Police De
Sex Trade Liaison Pe partment (VPD)
rson, Dave Dickson
/ jennifer allan
41. Interview with
VPD Inspector John
McKay / jennifer alla
43. Conclusion: A n
Work in Progress
 The Early Years of Va nc ou ve r

by susan davis
rst
In 1867, Birdie Stewart established Vancouver’s fi
brothel, and our city’s sex trade was born. In these
early days of the city, we can imagine conditions being
force,
primitive—there was no running water, no police
imity and support to the birth of our city.
and no stores for supplies. However, the close prox
ided
of the sawmill and Gassy Jack’s bar would have prov
a never-ending clientele. Money would have been
steady, and life would have been good.
It’s well known that sex workers were often the first
an
women—pioneer women, if you will—to arrive in
n their country of origin as the United States. Know
area, following the men who were laying the foundatio
for the infrastructure of our country and really the
entire continent. The isolation of these men in the
Canadian wilderness would have made sex work a
ers
necessary service. Many companies made sex work
ded city needed their services. Toward the end
available to their men. Armies of the time even inclu
in
regimental brothels for this very reason (and certa
armies kept this tradition right up to the 1960s). The
sex workers in these regimental brothels would move
cook
with their regiments to the frontlines; they would
for the soldiers, drink with the soldiers, make love,
when
laugh, and live with the soldiers. They would fight
eld.
necessary and rescue the wounded from the battlefi
love,
They were there to mend both body and soul with
ers
as well as bandages. Vancouver’s earliest sex work
who lent love
were strong, resourceful pioneer women,
When gold was discovered in the Fraser Canyon,
the
hundreds of thousands of people rushed north in
hope of striking it rich. This influx of people included
in
sex workers, and we can see from the census done
Chinatown at the time that many sex workers listed
n
the
as “sporting women,” they had come from all over
ly
world before landing in North America, and they open
named their occupation as sport. Society at large then
g
had a very open attitude about sex work, and our youn
of the 1800s,
however, the onset of the women’s rights movement
of
and increased enforcement spelled the beginning
unity then
the end for the integral place in the comm
when
enjoyed by Vancouver’s sex workers. It’s a tragedy
ers
you consider the enormous contribution of sex work
ss.
to the birth of our city, its personality, and its succe

end the river that will later be named for him.

 Pioneer Simon Fraser and his men desc
parallel.
 American control is extended to the 49th
.
One hundred thousand Americans rush north
 Gold is discovered in the Fraser Canyon.
ins the
ed Coal Harbour. North Road is built and rema
 Coal is discovered in what is quickly nam
oldest road in Vancouver.
ard Moody becomes an
area with a touring musical review. Colonel Rich
 Sixteen-year-old Lulu Sweet comes to the
Lulu Island.
avid admirer and names an island after her,
minster, packs up his First
Jack”) abandons a failing business in New West
 A man named John Deighton (“Gassy what is now known as
s, and a barrel of whiskey and opens a bar in
Nations wife, her mother, a yellow dog, two chair s. In the same area,
bar—for free drinks!—in under twenty-four hour
Gastown. The mill workers reportedly build the and brothels begin to
of Gassy Jack’s success spreads, opium dens
Portuguese Joe hosts cock fights, and, as news mbered as an artist.
8 an named Birdie Stewart, who is actually reme
1 appear. The first brothel is opened by a wom
 .
Gastown, officially becomes a town
 Granville, previously known as
False Creek.
 The first bridge is built across
, powered by a threshing
ferry to cross Burrard Inlet. It is a scow
 The Eleanora becomes the first reco very for the times it drops through
the floor of the boat.
whic h is cha ined on for easy
machine engine,
t.
pany is built on the Granville waterfron
 The Red Cross Brewing Com
made.
 The first local phone calls are railway terminal
) Rail way cho oses Gra nvill e, not Port Moody, to be the site of a new
 The Canadian Pacific (CP Vancouver is
ngin g the nam e of the town from Granville to Vancouver. The name
and also recommends cha
adopted later that year.
on immigrants from China.
 A head tax of $50 is imposed s,
, which destroys over 1,000 building
July 13: Betw een eigh t and twen ty-eight people die in the Great Fire

almost the entire city. 92
 est
, arrives at the port. The old
cia lly bec om es a city. The first import, tea from China k.
 Vancouver offi sed to make way for a par
ated at Brockton Point, is clo
graveyard in Vancouver, loc first passenger arrives on the
wo rke rs’ camp and destroys it. The
 A white mob atta cks a Ch ine se tic trade route is established
s-P aci fi c, trans-continental, trans-Atlan
newly extended rail wa y. A tran , silk, and mail bound for
inia , cha rter ed by CP Rail. It carries tea
with the arrival of the SS Ab yss nth later. Electric lights
bec am e an offi cia l cus tom s port of entry about one mo
London. Vancouver
switch on this year. dmond runs the first
abl ish ed, St. Luk e’s , out of which Sister Frances Re
 The first hospital is est y Park officially opens.
social services office. Stanle
nursing school and the first ilano River,
brid ges is bui lt. Water is piped in from the Cap
 The first of three Granvi
lle Str eet hoid and cholera.
wit h cle an drin kin g wa ter, and virtually eliminating typ
supplying Vancouverites nine-hour workday.
Tra des and Lab our Cou ncil is formed to establish a
The

3 10
 r system is underway.
 Vancouver’s electric streetca nhardt stars there in
a 2,0 00- sea t ope ra hou se, at a cost of $100,000. Sarah Ber
 CP Rail bui lds
r.
Fedora in September of this yea
Main and Hastings streets.
his first store, near the corner of
 Charles Woodward opens Granville streets.
Com pan y ope ns a new stor e at the corner of Georgia and
 The Hudson’s Bay
ber, rioters attack
to the form atio n of the Asia n Exclusion League. On 8 Septem
 Racial tensions lead from rooftops.
ant own , bre akin g win dow s, setting fires, and hurling rocks
Chinatown and Jap

114
our health
by susan davis

In the early days of our city, sex workers, as all people of

the time, were largely at the mercy of Mother Nature when
it came to their health. Lack of access to doctors and clean
water, the unavailability of condoms, and little understanding
of disease prevention and treatment made it difficult for
everyone. Becoming infected with a venereal disease or giving
birth could be fatal. Cleanliness then, as now, would have
been paramount.

When it comes to health issues, it’s important to remember

that sex work is a trade. A little known part of our culture
is the passing of information from experienced workers to
inexperienced workers, a sort of handing down of knowledge.
For instance, my first madam explained to me how a carefully
placed piece of sponge could allow a worker to ply her trade
during “moon time”—a very valuable piece of information
that I would have never known and one that allowed me to
make money I otherwise wouldn’t have. I share that precious
little tip with every worker I meet to this day.

Sex workers would have had all kinds of different herbal

remedies for various things and even had their own
version of the morning-after pill, made up of motherwort,
mugwort, ginger root, golden seal root, and blue cohosh
root. The Chinese herbal medicine practitioners, drawing on
traditions that date back to 3000 BC, were here from the very
beginnings of our city and would have been able to provide
some relief. Opium was widely used in those days, and many
people, including sex workers, became addicted. Muddy
streets and no access to clean water would have made a sex
worker’s health her full-time mission.

Today, the health of Vancouver’s sex workers is still on

shaky ground. The criminalization of sex work and resulting
violence against sex workers have led to levels of addiction
unparalleled in North America. As sex workers become more

continued on page 7
5 12
Medicine and Illness
by susan davis
The relationship between medical institutions
and sex workers has not always been smooth.
While scientific discoveries and advances have
greatly helped our community, attitudes held
by the society at large have also affected how
medicine is practiced.

Western medicine, long considered highly

specialized knowledge, has been steadily
advancing over the past centuries. By 1825,
there were already statutes in place preventing
unqualified persons from practicing medicine.
Treatments at the time were things like
horseback riding for pulmonary tuberculosis,
scotch snuff plaster for croup, leek poultices for
gout, and a decoction of carrots for jaundice.
Dropsy was treated with bleeding, tapping,
plantain, and liverwort, and ague, known to
be associated with mosquitoes, was treated by
putting Peruvian bark inside one’s coat or scarf.

 has been around since the 1600s, but,

between 1880 and 1916, it became an issue at
the forefront of social concerns, as it reflected the
inadequacies in both the medical and sanitary
sciences. As an STD, it embodied the tensions
around sex and gender in a time of social change
and prohibition. Hospitals had instituted isolation
wards around this time, which helped to stem the
spread of infectious diseases, and there are stories
of young men being taken to visit these wards
as a warning about the penalties of “immorality.”
Although the organism responsible for syphilis was
finally discovered in 1905, the disease remained
strongly associated with sex work, and there were
even those who believed that the disease had
somehow generated itself in the sexual organs of
sex workers because of their promiscuity. These
ideas separated the sex worker, seen as dirty and
dangerous, from the “virtuous” woman, considered
healthy and pure. In these days, any genital disorder
in a sex worker was diagnosed as a venereal

continued on page 8 136

 our health continued...
and more isolated and desperate, their personal boundaries
become blurred and they take bigger risks in order to make
the money they need to feed their addictions, care for
their children, or pay their bills. When will society at large
understand that by criminalizing us, they are harming us?
One could say that you can gage the health of a society by
looking at its most vulnerable people. If that’s the case,
then we’ve got a problem.

This being said, things are progressing, however slowly,

and the city of Vancouver is at the forefront of many
cutting-edge initiatives in an effort to improve health
and safety for sex workers. A drug substitution program
for stimulant addicts is in the formative stages, and the
NAOMI (North American Opiate Maintenance Initiative)
Project gives participants heroine in order to help to
stabilize their lives. The idea is that if you remove the
constant quest for money from an addict’s situation,
that is to say, the money they need for drugs, then they
can spend what money they have on things like rent
and food. This will stabilize people’s lives so that they
begin to have some positive experiences, are exposed
to less violence, and therefore no longer feel the need
to do as much of their drug of choice. It’s a long road
to recovery for any addict and for our city as well, but
in Vancouver we like to take action. Hopefully, the
actions being taken now will improve the health and
safety of all.

7 14
disease. Many hospitals and doctors refused to
treat sex workers because they believed that their
illnesses were brought on by immoral behaviour.
Syphilis was treated with mercury injections,
which had a lot of bad side effects, including a
discoloration of the teeth. This discoloration was
a telltale sign of treatment and so, of course,
carried a stigma with it. An underground trade in
 emerged in an effort to stem the spread
of the disease, but their use was not advocated
by the medical community. Condoms in one form
or another have been around for a long time, but
using or possessing them was considered immoral.
Women active in the suffrage movement used
syphilis as a metaphor for male corruption and
blamed the male need for extramarital sex for the
“downfall” of Western society. In 1909, an arsenical
compound, Salvarsan, was discovered and was a
much better treatment than mercury. In 1916, a
Royal Commission reported on the treatment and
took a stand stating that an evenhanded or unbiased
approach to treatment was needed and that only
medical professionals were allowed to administer
it. By the 1930s, incidence of the disease was at
an all-time low, but rates shot up again during the
Second World War.

Researchers have traced the origins of ⁄

to the 1930s, but the first diagnosed case was
only made in 1981. The first case in Canada was
diagnosed in 1982, and the first Canadian death
occurred in 1983. Feeling the need to act and
recognizing that the stigma of having the disease
was related to its being associated with the gay
community, Canadian groups mobilized and formed
some of the first community-based organizations to
support people with HIV/AIDS. These organizations
included AIDS Vancouver and the AIDS Committee
of Toronto. The stigma attached to this horrible
disease has isolated its victims and prevented
people from getting tested and taking steps to
protect themselves. This is an ongoing problem.
Condom use, however, is becoming more common
in the twenty-first century and has had a profound
effect on slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

158
 Street Safety for Sex Workers:
100 Years of Insecurity
Throughout history, there are indications that
sex workers have long been considered criminals
and undeserving of respect from society or equal
treatment from the law. As a result, the working
conditions that female sex workers have had to
endure within the last 100 years have endangered
their lives and placed them in positions of
vulnerability. In fact, serial killers have often been
able to conduct predatory activities targeting sex
workers for long periods of time, without fear of
being caught. This essay will explore the issue of
insecure sex-work environments through three
well-known case studies. First, the East End of
London, England, in the 1880s and the terror of Jack
the Ripper will be addressed. Second, Washington
State, USA, will be turned to, in order to analyze
the circumstances surrounding the victims of Gary
Ridgeway, the Green River Murderer of the 1980s.
Third, this essay will consider the Downtown Eastside
of Vancouver, Canada, where, during the 1990s,
dozens of sex workers were abducted and murdered.
Robert Pickton currently stands accused of their
murders. In assessing these three case studies,
this essay will examine the key societal issues that
affect sex workers in each time period and region.
The issues that will be addressed include working
conditions, class and race, morality and societal
attitudes, and law enforcement. By investigating
these issues, it will become clear that sex worker live
in a world of extreme insecurity and vulnerability.
       
In the case of Jack the Ripper, who preyed on sex
workers within London’s impoverished East End
during the 1880s, five women were murdered under
gruesome circumstances, and their deaths remain
unsolved to this day. By the larger society, these
women were never treated as victims. Their deaths
didn’t change any laws, and societal attitudes toward
9 16
Jennifer Allan
and treatment of sex workers became worse. At the
time, the women of Britain’s high society were waging
a moral campaign against sex work, expressing to the
Queen their concerns around open brothels. Pointing
out that prostitution was illegal in the United
Kingdom (UK), they believed the brothels should be
shut down. Essentially, the women who worked in
London’s East End were viewed as criminals, prone to
nymphomania and immorality (“Jack the Ripper”).
During the 1800s, a key law that discriminated
against sex workers in the UK was the “Contagious
Diseases Act.” This piece of legislation, which
routinely violated the privacy and rights of many
sex workers, allowed authorities to arrest women
under suspicion of infection from diseases, such as
syphilis (Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, p. 1).
If a woman was working the streets, she was suspect,
and the authorities had the legal right to send her
straight to the doctor’s office, where she was forcibly
examined and subjected to a series of embarrassing
and uncomfortable tests.
As a result of living in severe poverty, the women
of London’s East End would often take up sex work
as a livelihood, which was and still is illegal in the
UK. This arguably made their work more difficult
and insecure. Under fear of being arrested for
prostitution, the women would hide in dark corners
and alleys. These kinds of working conditions set
the women up to become prey for Victorian sexual
predators, including one of history’s worst villains,
Jack the Ripper. It is argued that The Ripper would
use the East End’s dark alleys to lurk within the
shadows, awaiting his prey, “the street women” (“The
Events – A Diary to Murder”).
By the end of the 1880s, to the knowledge of law
enforcement, Jack the Ripper had claimed the lives
of five women: Maryanne Nichols, Anne Chapman,
Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane
Kelly. All had been brutally attacked, all were sex
workers, and all had been subject to extreme poverty
and a marginalized existence within British society. In
Britain, this was the first well-known and obvious case
of a serial killer targeting street-level sex workers (a
trend in the West that would continue on for the next
100 years). However, this would not be the only case
in British history of heinous crimes being committed
against sex workers. In the 1970s, the “Yorkshire
Ripper” (Peter Sutcliffe) killed thirteen women, mainly
prostitutes. Then, in late 2006, in the small town of
Ipswich, police gradually came across five murdered
sex workers, who were thought to have been killed
by a serial killer (Quinn, p. A13). This is a situation
that has become all too familiar to law enforcement
officials. Dubbed the “Suffolk Strangler,” suspect Steve
Wright is currently facing trial for the Ipswich crimes,
which are reminiscent of those committed over 100
years ago by Jack the Ripper. Clearly, in the UK’s
battle against sexual predators, not a lot of ground has
been gained.
, ,  
     
Of the three cases studied here, that of the Green
River murders appears to have been taken the most
seriously by law enforcement agencies. As soon as
police came across five bodies in Washington State’s
Green River in 1982, they immediately formed the
Green River Task Force (“The Green River Killer,”
A&E). In this regard, the King County Sheriff’s
Department showed itself to be dedicated to finding
the predator responsible for the crime. Though it took
nearly twenty years of investigation, sexual predator
Gary Ridgeway was eventually captured and charged
with dozens of murders.
Unlike many European and Canadian cities, Seattle
does not possess many well-known strolls. This
may largely be due to the fact that sex work is illegal
in the United States (except in Nevada, where it is
regulated). As a result, during the 1980s, Seattle’s
sex workers were subjected to insecure working
conditions and were forced to frequent dark and
dangerous areas. Key spots were behind the Sea-Tac
Airport and 7-Elevens, and in bar parking lots and
truck stops. Gary Ridgeway knew these isolated areas
and would use sex workers’ desperation to his own
advantage. Ridgeway sensed their vulnerability, later
admitting that if he saw a drug dealer or pimp giving
a sex worker a hard time over money, he knew he’d
found his next victim, since the woman’s desperation
for money would increase his chances of being able
to perform violent acts upon her (“The Green River
Killer,” A&E).
When the bodies were first discovered, there was a
social uproar in Seattle. However, once the citizens of
greater Seattle realized that the Green River Killer’s
victims were all sex workers and runaways, their
concerns about their own families being affected
subsided, and the issue received less public attention.
In fact, as the investigation began, the sentiments
of Seattle’s average citizen were relatively resentful.
After Opal Mills’ body was found in the Green River,
one male citizen was quoted as saying, “What are
you so upset about? It’s just prostitutes missing”
(“The Green River Killer,” History Channel). While
this sample quote may sound harsh, it reflects the
reality that many of Seattle’s citizens were not keen
on concerning themselves with the problems of a
distasteful and marginalized subculture. Somehow, a
murdered sex worker did not carry the same weight
as, say, a murdered student or waitress.
The King County Sheriff’s Department would
continue to fish bodies from the Green River for
the next nineteen years. The ages of Ridgeway’s
victims ranged from 15 to 38, while their ethnicities
were largely Caucasian and African-American. A
disproportionate number of African-American
women were preyed upon by Ridgeway, as this ethnic
group is more often involved in sex work, due to
disadvantage and poverty (“The Green River Killer,”
History Channel). In the United States, African-
Americans have long existed within a sphere of
social marginalization. As an economic tool of the
impoverished, sex work has naturally found some
ground within this community.
1710

During their investigation, the police became so
desperate to find the killer that they recruited some
high-profile assistance. John Walsh, host of TV’s
America’s Most Wanted, was instrumental in bringing
key tips to authorities attention (“The Green River
Killer,” A&E). Shockingly, even infamous serial killer
Ted Bundy was looked to for assistance in the form
of expertise on the matter. King County Sheriff Dave
Reichert worked closely with Bundy, exploring what
clues to look for, what behaviors could be identified,
and how to eventually trap the killer (“The Green
River Killer,” A&E). However, it was only after DNA
and paint chips matched a body and a truck that
the authorities were able to find the killer. When
arrested, Ridgeway admitted to killing seventy-five
women, almost all sex workers, but was only charged
with forty-eight murders (“The Green River Killer,”
A&E). He would later be quoted as saying he targeted
prostitutes “because I thought I could kill as many
as I wanted without getting caught” (CNN). To the
dismay of sex workers and law enforcement alike, it
appeared he was almost correct in his beliefs. While
he was eventually apprehended, greater Seattle’s sex
workers had to suffer through twenty years of extreme
insecurity, an experience from which the community
will most likely never recover.
    
  ,   
“As is the experience of many sex workers worldwide,
the women of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside have
never been treated by society as human beings.”
- Vancouver sex worker Monika Regdon, 2006
The situation of Vancouver’s sex workers worsened
over the last decades of the twentieth century.
According to the sex workers of Vancouver, in the
early 1970s, they generally felt safe conducting their
business (Gardner). Working out of their homes,
hotels, and the local strip club (The Penthouse),
1118
women who were sex workers during this time report
experiencing low levels of insecurity. Moreover, John
Lowman, a professor of criminology at Simon Fraser
University, has been unable to find “any record of
prostitute murders during that era” (Gardner). In
1985, however, street-level security and general safety
in Vancouver’s world of sex work were drastically
altered, when the Criminal Code was amended
to tighten prostitution laws with Bill C-49, which
prohibited “communication for the purpose of
prostitution.” At the same time, other federal laws
(sections 210 to 213 of the Criminal Code) were added
to shut down the wholesale of sex.
At the same time that Bill C-49 was enacted,
Vancouver began to experience a wave of violence
against its sex worker population. According to
Ottawa Citizen reporter Dan Gardner, between 1985
to 1989, twenty-two prostitutes working in the city
were murdered. As women were no longer legally
able to work out of their homes and hotels, the sex
trade inevitably spilled out onto Vancouver’s streets.
Now sex workers were faced with a new and more
dangerous reality: working out of cars in order to turn
tricks. With the new communication laws in place,
sex workers were rushed to complete transactions. In
some cases, women were without ample time to assess
the trustworthiness of their clients and the safety level
of their situations. The shift to using cars as a location
for turning tricks also had further implications for
street-level sex workers: sex workers lost the ability to
be in control of where a transaction occurred; isolation
and, with it, increased vulnerability became more
commonplace.
The legal campaign against sex work in Vancouver
and across Canada reflected the “Not in My Backyard”
attitude prevalent among urban citizens during
this time. Empowered by the new laws, authorities
contributed to this new era of insecurity by constantly
arresting sex workers and charging them with
communication for the purpose of prostitution.
In Vancouver, through law enforcement agencies
and public displays, communities began chasing sex
workers from one neighbourhood to another
(De Vries, 95).
One community that was particularly mobilized
against sex work was Vancouver’s West End. When
sex work west of Burrard Street was outlawed in
the 1980s, women were forced to migrate to the
Downtown Eastside (DTES). Later referred to as the
“Poorest Postal Code in Canada,” the DTES offered
street conditions that were much more dangerous
(De Vries, 95). Often women were forced to work in
virtually complete isolation on dark streets, with only
one dim streetlight lighting up each stroll. Tellingly,
the murder numbers continued to rise. Dan Gardner
points out that, from 1990 to 1994, there were
twenty-four murders, and, “since then, another 50
or 60 women have likely been murdered.” Indeed, in
recent years, Vancouver’s track record for keeping its
sex worker population safe has only gone from bad to
worse.
As mounting evidence began to point towards the
likelihood that a serial killer was responsible for the
disappearances and murders, many social justice
advocates and social service organizations began to
direct strong criticism against the Vancouver Police
Department. Many felt (and continue to feel) that the
VPD’s slow response to this possibility was negligent
and allowed for the number of missing persons to
increase. Currently, Robert Pickton is on trial for
murdering twenty-six women, mainly survival sex
workers from the Downtown Eastside. The women’s
races range from First Nations to Caucasian, to one
African-Canadian, according to the Missing Women’s
poster done up by the Vancouver police. According
to the CBC television documentary, “A Safer Sex
Trade” (2007), the Robert Pickton investigation has
already cost 100 million dollars, making it the most
expensive and largest investigation in Canadian
history.
The goal of this essay has been to argue that society’s
neglectful attitude towards sex workers has resulted
in insecure and isolated work environments, which
in turn have set these workers up to become prey
for predators. If our attitude towards this important
issue doesn’t change, the blame is on all of us. This
essay’s arguments were supported by analyzing three
well-known cases of serial killers who have targeted
sex workers. Ranging from 1888 to the present,
these cases have similarities that indicate that social
attitudes toward sex workers have not changed in over
100 years. As social ignorance allows the deaths of
more sex workers, it begs the question: who is the real
predator?
Works Cited
Allain, Carolyn, producer and director. “A Safer Sex
Trade.” Co-written by David Ray. The Lens, CBC
Newsworld, 23 January 2007.
CNN. “Green River Killer Avoids Death in Plea Deal.”
6 November 2003. http://www.cnn.com/2003/
LAW/11/05/green.river.killings/index.html.
De Vries, Maggie. Missing Sarah: A Vancouver Woman
Remembers Her Vanished Sister. Toronto: Penguin
Canada, 2003.
“The Events — A Diary to Murder.” http://www.
accomodata.co.uk/events.htm.
Gardner, Dan. “Courting Death.” The Ottawa Citizen,
15 June 2002, p. B1.
“The Green River Killer.” Perfect Crimes? History
Channel, 1999.
“The Green River Killer.” A&E Home Video, 2002.
“Jack the Ripper: Phantom of Death.” A&E Biography,
1995.
Quinn, Jennifer. “Prostitutes Told To Get Off Streets
as Police Find Bodies of Missing Women: Killings
in Eastern England Stir Memories of Yorkshire
1912
th e Economics
by susan davis
The economic stability of Vancouver’s sex workers
is intimately tied to the economy of the city itself.
Throughout the history of the city, economic
booms and recessions have affected sex workers’
wages, health, and quality of life, just as they
affected the larger community. We can imagine the
first brothels making large amounts of money and
holding a monopoly over the business, at least for
a while. Beautiful furniture and clothes, the finest
champagne—no expense would have been spared.
They would have indulged in art and culture,
and, indeed, some of the sex workers are only
remembered as artists. Note that the Japanese
word “geisha” means “artist.” Birdie Stewart,
Vancouver’s first lady, even bought a newfangled
gadget called a camera. Her photos can still be seen
in the Vancouver Public Library.
As time went on and the fervour of the gold rush
waned, fees and taxes were levied and enforcement
was imposed. The authorities were finding all kinds
of ways to profit from the sex industry. Workers
had to be very careful while working to avoid
1320
fact or
being arrested and fined. The business by now
would have settled into a steady regular or repeat
clientele. Everyone would have known one another
like a group of friends, laughing, eating, singing,
dancing… It would have been a golden time, and
most workers would have enjoyed peace, freedom,
and prosperity.
During the Great Depression, however, we can
imagine a very different picture. Sex workers’
wages would have dropped, and the availability of
work would have also sharply declined, as people
didn’t have a lot of extra money for fun. When
you’re poor, the first money you don’t spend is
on your favourite call girl! However, in times of
crisis, communities come together, and the port of
Vancouver was still open. We can imagine workers
trading service for goods with sailors, and in fact
there are rumours of the brothels in the East End
giving out food and supporting the community
during this time. Many young men from all over
Canada were coming to Vancouver to escape
freezing to death during the winter and, of course,

in search of work. There wasn’t enough
housing or supports for these displaced men
of the Depression, and many would have
gone homeless and hungry upon arrival in
Vancouver. As sex workers are notoriously
generous (almost to a fault), it’s easy to
imagine the brothels opening their doors
and providing shelter or a meal to those they
could. These men were, after all, what used to
be the basis of their business!
Today, the preparations for the Olympics
have created a construction boom, and many
men have come to Vancouver looking for
work. At the same time, in northern Alberta,
there is an oil boom, and these neighbouring
city of vancouver archives
provinces are in direct competition for skilled
labourers. Companies have had to bring in
workers from all over the world, in order to
provide the numbers necessary to reach the
Vancouver’s construction goals in time for
the Games. These visiting workers may spend
years away from their families in a culture
and, sometimes, even a language which
is foreign to them. It can be a very lonely
existence, and many of these men turn to
sex workers for solace. You could say we’re
diplomats in a sense, and I, for one, am proud
to continue the longstanding tradition of
sex workers in Vancouver of supporting the
growth of our city with passion, friendship,
and love.
2114
 The Social Conditions which Lead Women
into Sex Work Candice Hansen
Why does prostitution disturb people? For as long
as sex work has existed, society has tried to ignore
it. The continual flogging of a dead horse that views
sex work as a criminal act perpetuates isolation and
causes further turmoil. While the world of sex work
possesses factors that are both positive and negative,
it has always existed and will always continue to
exist. In this regard, it is time that society began to
help, rather than ignore, sex workers. The first step
in accomplishing this task will be in developing an
understanding of who they are, where they come
from, and why they choose this particular lifestyle.
This essay will attempt to analyze the background
of sex workers by assessing the disadvantages they
may face. Class, race, and gender will all be addressed
as factors that can cause inclination towards sex
work. While this essay will maintain that there is
certainly an element of choice in each sex worker’s
decision to enter the occupation, there are certain
societal factors which make this field of work more
attractive, if not necessary, for some. By ignoring
inaccurate views such as those which see prostitutes
as being predisposed to nymphomania, promiscuity,
or as possessing less moral virtue than others, this
essay will attempt to dissect the true social causes
behind sex work. The argument that a connection
between predisposition towards sexual acts and
choosing sex work as a livelihood exists is unsound.
Rather, the sex worker uses sexual acts as a means
to an economic end. This is the only clear truth in
attempting to understand the subject.
A readily identifiable avenue to prostitution may
be a lack of skills or training in comparison to men.
This can often result in a difference in wages and
jobs between men and women. Men are usually paid
better and are more likely to have better jobs. Today
the problem persists, but is slowly getting better.
Professor of sociology Barbara Hobson argues that:
“A gender separation of work by task and trade
1522
emerged early within industrial capitalism. This had
the effect of defining women’s traditional skills,
sewing and service occupations as unskilled” (95).
It also tracked women into the lowest paying jobs
within industries that employed both sexes. While
women are just as capable as men, they may not be
able to attain their agency, while men can perpetuate
the subordination of women by attempting to keep
them in low-skilled and low-paying jobs. In general,
women are not less qualified than men, save for in
the world of sex work, where their qualifications far
surpass those of men, who are normally their clients.
In terms of abuse and exploitation, the sentiments
of female sex workers find men guilty. In his
exploration of sex work backgrounds in the United
States, criminologist Leon E. Pettiway surveyed
a group of five experiential women (women with
former or current involvement in sex work). Their
view of men is quoted as follows: “Men abrogate
their financial and emotional commitments to
women and children, men bond with other men at
the expense of women, men do not respect women,
men are possessive and controlling, men exploit
women, and men are driven by the rise and fall of
their penises. They are misogynists, the perpetuators
of ‘the problem that has no name’” (Pettiway, 22).
Though Pettiway’s sample is pooled from only five
women, it implies that, in general, the female sex
worker’s perception of men is relatively low.
Sex workers come from many different social
backgrounds. In a recent survey of sex work based
research publications, it was pointed out that
“entering into sex work as the outcome of dignified
rational choice for financial gain is the only reason
cited within the literature that provides an account
of the sex worker as a worker who is subject to the
same socioeconomic forces as any other person”
(Vanwesenbeeck, 263). The work done by a woman
before she decides to become a prostitute tends to
be fairly unskilled and includes domestic service,
waitressing, and so forth. “The first studies of
‘the problem of prostitution’ almost exclusively …
focused on biological explanations for the presumed
‘evil characters’ and ‘sick personalities’ of women in
prostitution” (Vanwesenbeeck, 243). During the first
half of the twentieth century, “mental health aspects
and victimization had predominantly been studied
in relation to the choice for prostitution, not in
relation to sex workers’ actual and present situation”
(Vanwesenbeeck, 245). However, we know today
that these presumptions were and are false. If we
project back into the history of sex work, we find
that motivations for entering the trade are, for the
most part, purely economic.
In a mid-nineteenth-century survey of prostitution
in New York City, an early sex work researcher,
Dr. William Sanger, found that: “Of the two
thousand women questioned … 933 had been
servants, 499 had lived at home with their parents
or friends, and the rest had been scraping a living at
sweatshop trades such as tailoresses, hat-trimmers,
flower-makers and the like” (Philip, 41). Still in
another survey, roughly fifty years later, it was found
that “…at the turn of the century in New York City,
at least half the women surveyed in the sex work
field came from a background in domestic service”
(Scott, 25).
It must be remembered that the past and the
present often have a lot in common. Economic
motivations for entry into sex work are as prevalent
today as they were 100 years ago. A 1999 survey
revealed that “among female, male and transsexual
workers in San Francisco … when asked, four in five
sex workers among all three groups were willing
to leave sex work, but only if they were offered a
‘square’ job for the same pay” (Vanwesenbeeck, 263).
With no other work options, women will choose sex
work as a means to achieving needed income levels.
This is also indicative of the low pay that women
receive within our society in general. Furthermore,
sectors of the sex industry, such as strip clubs,
brothels, escort services, and massage parlours, that
have produced some sex workers, receive very little
respect from society and can create insecure living
conditions for the working woman. However, it is
the street-level sex worker who experiences the most
vulnerability and violence.
There has been some variety in the backgrounds
of individuals who are attracted to sex work. For
example, in Canada, today we see more males,
especially young men, involved in sex work. As
well, ethnic diversity has broadened within the
field, with a higher degree of Asian and Aboriginal
involvement than may have previously existed.
Finally, there are some differences in the economic
backgrounds of sex workers today, whereby we
may see a larger presence of middle- and upper-
class individuals becoming involved in the trade,
reflecting a progression of societal norms. However,
most sex workers are still more likely to possess
an insecure economic background and are, for the
most part, still looked down upon. In the past, as in
the present, “At the end of the day it is an economic
issue, as many lower class existences do not provide
for the needs and wants of women today. Today a
choice exists, and for many the choice is that sex
work is preferable to the minimum wage” (Scott, 26).
There are many different ethnic groups involved in
sex work, from all over the world: Eastern Europe,
Asia, North America, and elsewhere. However, some
ethnic groups are more involved than others. In
the United States, we find that many sex workers
tend to be of African-American descent, especially
in cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles,
Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.
In Canada, we have a disproportionate number of
Aboriginal women involved in sex work. Cities such
as Vancouver and Edmonton are representative of
this issue. The position in which North American
society places certain races can lead to those races
being unevenly involved in sex work: “Centuries of
racism have resulted in minority individuals’ under-
representation in the middle and upper classes of
American society and … these class dissimilarities
2316
 make it difficult to ascertain whether other differences
found are due to social class or to ethnicity, or to some
combination of both these variables” (Kramer, 524).
While minority status doesn’t automatically imply
entry into sex work, individuals who migrate to
North America or are of a minority grouping are
more likely to become involved. “It is often stated
that migration for prostitution has intensified during
the last decades … however, sex work across national
boundaries is not new to the world” (Vanwesenbeeck,
263). During the 1800s, as historian Neil Philip
argues, “Throughout the century it was new waves
of immigrants, especially the Irish, who supplied the
new generations of prostitutes” (Philip, 43). Early
sex work researchers D’Emilio and Freedman have
also studied the phenomenon of Asian women being
disproportionately involved in sex work and found:
“At the peak of importation during the 1870’s the
census listed ‘prostitute’ as the occupation of two-
thirds of the thirty five hundred Chinese women in
California” (Philip, 42). Clearly, there is a connection
between migration patterns and those races that find
high levels of representation within sex work.
A race-based division can also be found within the
world of sex work itself, whereby Caucasian women
tend to have the most success and highest incomes.
In a recent study on survival and timing entry into
sex work, researchers Kramer and Berg found “that
non-street prostitutes were more likely to be white
(92 percent) than were street prostitutes (59 percent)”
(Kramer and Berg, 515). Thus, in the West, traditional
race-based inequalities are again magnified upon
non-white sex workers, who find themselves further
marginalized within an already insecure profession.
Another avenue to sex work may be a lack of training
in the normative sexual behaviour of society.
Women who grow up in a subculture in which sexual
acts are acceptable, promoted, or abusive may not
regard prostitution as degrading. A high rate of
sexually abusive family members can be found in
the background of some sex workers. Researchers
Kramer and Berg point out that “Adult women in
prostitution often report a history of childhood
1724
physical abuse, especially at the hands of substance-
abusing caregivers. In recent studies, 60-70 percent of
prostitutes report being physically abused as children”
(513). For many women, “Illegality and social stigma
have brought sex workers to often accept whatever
they were provided with” (Vanwesenbeeck, 278).
However, the same researcher goes on to say, “it has
to be remembered that prostitution is a dependent
institution and is part of the larger picture of gender
and economic relations” (278). While sex work is
certainly a profession based on rational choice, it is a
choice made in the face of severely challenging social
conditions.
This essay has shed light upon the inequalities that sex
workers have historically experienced. Traditionally,
the general public has had problems understanding
what the motivation for sex work entails. As this
essay has argued, the motivations for becoming a
sex worker are usually economic and nothing more.
Gender, race, and class inequalities, in the context
of impoverishment, cause inclination towards sex
work. Sex workers today have a much larger support
network of services than previously. However, so
long as societal patterns of sexism, racism, and
class inequality exist, disadvantaged individuals will
choose sex work as a means to an economic end, and
prostitution will always be around.
Works Cited
Hobson, Barbara Meil. Uneasy Virtue: The Politics of
Prostitution and the American Reform Tradition.
New York: Basic Books, 1987.
Kramer, Lisa A., and Ellen C. Berg. “A Survival Analysis
of Timing of Entry into Prostitution.” Sociological
Inquiry 73.4 (November 2003): 511-28.
Pettiway, Leon E. Workin‘ It: Women Living Through
Drugs and Crime. Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1997.
Philip, Neil. Working Girls. London: Bloomsbury
Publishing, 1991.
Scott, George R. Ladies of Vice: A History of Prostitution
from Antiquity to the Present Day. London: Tallis
Press, 1968.
Vanwesenbeeck, Ine. “Another Decade of Social
Scientific Work on Sex Work: A Review of
Research 1990-2000.” Annual Review of Sex
Research 12 (2001): 242-90.
Poverty a n d s ex wo r k

by susan davis

The desperation of sex workers in Vancouver’s poorer communities and

the fact that sex worker wages can range from $5 for service to $800 an
hour and more remind us that it hasn’t been all peaches and cream for
Vancouver’s sex workers, and, even during times of prosperity, some
workers inevitably suffer extreme poverty. In the early days, workers
who were of diminished capacity or circumstances would have suffered
terribly. Primitive shelters, no running water, and a jail which was a chain
on a tree stump all conjure horrible visions of the conditions endured
by some of those who came before us. We can imagine being targeted
for theft, having to provide service for shelter, or, while chained to the
tree stump, being raped or beaten by drunken men coming from the bar.
Never-ending rain combined with all these things would have definitely
reduced a worker’s chances for survival. Today, when I walk through the
East End, my heart breaks at the thought of the pain, suffering, and the
lives lost in what has become Canada’s poorest community. For over 100
years, sex work has been controlled or criminalized in Vancouver. Mistake
after mistake has been made in addressing issues facing Vancouver’s
most vulnerable sex workers. The trial in the case of the Missing Women
is the end result of this oppression, and, all over Canada, similar cases are
emerging and sex workers are dying. How much more must we endure?
How many more people need to die? When will society support system-
wide reform? When will we realize that we—all of us— are responsible?
The awareness created by this tragedy has put the spotlight on the
dangerous environment that workers on the street face every day. In
Vancouver, we’re lucky, and the hope for change is alive! Many actions
are underway, and the city seems unified in finding new strategies to
support safety for sex workers. Vancouverites will no longer tolerate the
push ’n pull enforcement tactics which have created this environment
and have allowed sixty-seven women to disappear from our streets. Our
hopes lie with human rights and labour standards. Safe workspaces and
health and safety training are things enjoyed by every worker in this
country. Sex workers deserve the same.

2518
social Gospel
sex work as vic
e
by susan davis
Social Gospel was a moralistic religious movement
which proclaimed that so-called vice was
responsible for the downfall of Western civilization.
Under this pretense, all things enjoyed by men were
made illegal. Drinking, gambling, drugs, and female
companionship were all condemned as immoral
and evil. This movement was the beginnings of the
big-money support-services industry and what we
know today as social services. It’s interesting to
note because we’ve all felt that social workers have
judged us at one time or another, and now it seems
clear why. The religious beginnings are embedded
in every aspect of social services, and a person must
repent or vow to change their evil ways to receive
support and/or social assistance. Single mothers
are herded together in housing complexes, and
men are separated and housed in other places.
This separation of the sexes is just one example
of the many ways that the moralist movement
has imposed its beliefs. Followers believed that
somehow people’s poverty or emotional problems
were somehow a result of their immoral behaviour.
Men were separated from women as if they
had no control over themselves and might just
spontaneously break into a big orgy! ”We have to
save them from themselves!” was the rallying cry.
This well-meant, yet badly thought-out, movement
did some good but also did great harm. Separating
the men from the women in our community
contributed to the community’s collapse. Instead
of supporting community development, social-
service providers divided it down the middle. Is
it any wonder that sex workers have a hard time
re-socializing themselves? How can people function
1926
in the community if they’ve been isolated from
one other? Community members should have
been supported in becoming business owners and
homeowners, but instead the city has always moved
other people into the community in an effort to
“clean it up.” Displacing communities and people
causes harm and it is unacceptable. Work with the
community, don’t destroy the community.
Prohibition was another example of the way
that one part of society began to impose its will
on another. Drinking or making liquor was way
too fun, and the moralistic fun police had to
step in to save us from ourselves. People can be
unpredictable when they’re drunk, but underlying
factors that drive a person to drink excessively are
rarely discussed. Even today, a person who has an
alcohol or any other kind of addiction is viewed as
a drunk or a junkie and looked down upon, instead
of being supported through whatever is driving
the addiction. He’s not an old rubby, he’s a person.
She may have an undiagnosed mental health issue
or may just simply be lonely or depressed. How
can we move forward and make a real difference
in the quality of life for people, if we only see their
addiction and ignore their pain? We can’t!
After 150 years of oppression under these morality-
driven groups and actions, changes to these
attitudes are slow in coming. One can only hope
that these moralist, prohibitionist, abolitionist men
and women will see the light and that better times
lie ahead.


Radical Christianity is on the rise, as people look for
answers to the problems emerging in the new world.
The Social Credit political party and the Reconstruction
political party are formed.
 The Social Purity Movement takes hold, and many city
missions open around this time.
 The Moral and Social Reform Council is formed with
J.G. Shearer as its chair.
 This council becomes the Social Services Council.
 The first national congress on social problems, made
up entirely of men, takes place. The Women’s Christian
Temperance Union is formed as a result.
 Social Gospel and social reform movements press for
prohibition, women’s suffrage, civil service reform,
pho to: ann e ma rie sla
ter , 200 7
bureaus of social research, the expansion of co-
operatives, and state direction of the economy for
national efficiency.
‒
Radical gospellers, such as J.S. Woodsworth, move
away from the church. The backlash against prohibition
rises. Delayed disillusionment over World War I has
created a more hedonistic society and replaced moral
earnestness. The war has shaken people’s faith, and
they choose to enjoy life instead.

The Great Depression sees renewed interest in the
social reform movement, as people once again need
answers. The religious overtones of this movement are
embedded in the social services sector up until today.
2720
 Suffrage
women ’s

 The Toronto Women’s Literacy Club is formed, founded by Emily Stowe, and
presses for the right for women to vote.
 The Toronto Women’s Suffrage Association is formed.
 The Women’s Christian Temperance Union is founded by Letita Youmans.
 This union becomes a national organization and is in full swing, campaigning
against the sale of alcohol in Canada.
 Emily Stowe dies, and her daughter Augusta Stowe takes over.
 The Canadian Suffrage Association is formed.
 Manitoba becomes the first province to award women the right to vote.
 The Wartime Elections Act comes into effect, giving women in the armed forces
and the female relatives of men in the armed forces the vote all across Canada.
 The Women’s Franchise Act comes into effect, extending the vote to all female
citizens over the age of twenty-one.

2128
ci ty of va nc ou
ve r ar ch iv es
by susan davis
The women’s suffrage movement began with a
group of white, wealthy, and educated women
who believed in a woman’s right to vote—not
every woman—just white, wealthy, and educated
women. They felt they were the only women with
the capacity to make complex decisions. The rest
of us would surely be grateful to benefit from their
obvious wisdom. These women went as far as to
create an ad campaign depicting sex workers as
evil and as the vectors of disease. Their campaign
of speeches, posters, and radio spots was so broad
and far-reaching that this stigma exists to this
day. During this time sex workers were put into
asylums following the logic that mental illness was
the cause of their immoral behaviour. This attack
on sex workers, in particular, female sex workers,
by other women resulted in great pain and, in some
cases, death for the workers affected. These early
feminists believed they knew what was best for
everyone, and sex workers paid for their arrogance
with their lives. These divides remain in feminism
today with abolitionist or “end sex work” groups,
made up of people with no lived experience, who
are trying to block sex-worker-driven initiatives
and sex worker community development. These
groups even compete for funding! The abolitionist
groups continue to claim that our horrible lives
have rendered us incapable of making decisions for
ourselves, so they must intervene on our behalf,
for, after all, they do know best. These wealthy and
educated women, who profit and make huge salaries
from the desperation of others, conveniently
overlook the lack of sustainable incomes for women
and poverty in general. Community-based solutions
are the only way to go, and the harm-reduction
movement has given us some hope. The abolitionist
movement is a relic of the past and thankfully fewer
and fewer people are listening to their rants. They’ve
shown themselves for the exclusionists they are,
and people aren’t buying in as often. In spite of this
constant barrier, sex workers continue to organize
for self-direction, dignity, freedom from violence,
and a community of our own. If the industry were
stabilized it could be safe for those who choose to
engage in it. The key word here is choice—it’s our
choice and our right!
2922
the
Arts
by susan davis
Sex work and art have always been closely linked.
Having knowledge of current events, history, and
business, or a talent such as dancing or singing has
always been directly reflected in a worker’s wages
and quality of life. In fact, in the 1600s, while
most women weren’t prohibited from educating
themselves, sex workers (or courtesans, as they
were known), were allowed access to art, news,
and education and were even granted admittance
to the libraries. The wives were expected to stay
home and make babies, while courtesans needed
knowledge in order to entertain men.
In the early years of our city, women, such as
Sarah Bernhardt, who performed at the Orpheum,
and Klondike Kate, who also performed in
Vancouver and eventually settled in the Yukon,
are remembered as artists. Their contributions to
the pioneer era were too many to exclude these
great women from the history books. They were
celebrated as community leaders, and Klondike
Kate even donated a bust of Queen Victoria to the
city of Vancouver during a ceremony attended by
many of Vancouver’s finest. The small bust is still
in the Vancouver Museum historical collection
today and is one of the only artifacts that can be
directly linked to a sex worker of this time.
In the early 1930s, the rise of burlesque and
vaudeville reached new heights of popularity with
the opening of over-the-top dance production
Siegfried’s Follies. Lavish costumes and a huge cast
of dancers made this probably the largest show
of its kind ever. All over North America, dancers
emulated the show and performed songs like
“Mimi from Trinidad.” The story told by this song
is this: A beautiful woman lives in Trinidad. She
sings and dances and is in love with a man named
2330 Gangster Joe. Someone comes from Hollywood
and convinces Mimi to come to America to make it
big. So, she goes to Hollywood, but she’s unhappy
and misses Gangster Joe. She decides to return
to Trinidad, but when she gets there, Gangster
Joe has died. She declares her love for Trinidad
and vows to never leave again. This song touches
people in a special way. Were Mimi and Gangster
Joe real people? The song makes us think of our
own lives and the tragedies that each of us has
endured. The pain that sex workers absorb every
day translates into art in any time period, but this
story and the show that made it famous affected
generations to come. This song was performed at
the Cave Supper Club until the 1960s.
Today, sex workers of a higher talent or capacity
still make more money than those without.
Women who can dance work in erotic show
lounges, such as the Drake and the Penthouse,
making stable, high-paying wages and enjoying safe
and healthy work environments. Exotic dancers
are not cast in the same light as escorts or street-
level workers and are not criminalized to the same
degree. Dancing, in any form, is considered art and
so is socially more palatable than other forms of
sex work. As a result, exotic dancers enjoy better
emotional health and an over all better quality of
life than workers in other areas of the trade. One
could go further and describe today’s superstars
and supermodels as sex workers. When you look
at it this way, it’s clear how much of a difference
beauty, brains, and talent can make to a worker’s
wages, opportunities, and respect within the
greater community.
One thing is certain, art and sex work go hand in
hand, and workers will continue as they always
have to express themselves through art.
A sex worker’s wardrobe is essential to her trade.
The right outfit or costume can mean the difference
between capturing and losing a potential customer.

In the early years, we can imagine sex workers

hauling trunks full of clothing as they made their
way westward with the wave of pioneers. They
&
fashion
would have had to choose their clothes carefully
for durability as well as sexual appeal. They would
escorts and street-level workers do the same.
have had to have basic sewing skills and tools so
The criminalization of sex work, however, has
they could fix costumes and dresses as they became
unfortunately forced workers into a defensive
damaged along the way. After the Port of Vancouver
position. Instead of wearing the flamboyant
opened and silk began to arrive, workers would have
costumes traditionally associated with the trade,
been able to update their wardrobes. Money to buy
they must try to blend into the community around
fabric and dresses would have been no problem,
them to avoid arrest. This has confused their
but lack of access to the outside world, due to
customers and made it difficult to discern who IS
extremely slow trade routes would have made this
a sex worker and who is not. As a result, residents
silk a welcome sight. Once the train line finally
in areas where sex work occurs find themselves the
arrived here, workers would have had access to
victims of unwanted advances by sex consumers.
clothes and costumes from all over the world and
This side effect of the criminalization of sex work
at least the pressure to conserve clothing would
has significantly widened the divide between sex
have eased a little. However, from the census taken
workers and the community at large.
in the brothel district at the end of the nineteenth
century, we can see that seamstresses were still
Perhaps one day when the criminalization of sex
employed by these businesses to accommodate this
work ends, we will see a return of the traditional
aspect of the trade.
costumes. We look forward to sex workers once
again enjoying all aspects of fashion and costuming
Today, sex workers still carry on this longtime
with pride and dignity.
tradition. Some dancers make their own costumes
and make them for other dancers as well. Some

3124
 Sex and the Fashion Industry
What is this thing we call fashion and
what effects does it have on the sex
industry? Fashion is usually defined as
the prevailing custom in dress, manners,
speech, and so on, of a particular place
or time, especially as established by
the dominant section of society. For
the purposes of my writing today, I will simply
define fashion as it pertains to the outer covers
of an individual. In this particular case, I will be
examining the relationship between fashion and
sex.
One of the most interesting arguments I have
come across in my research is that traditionally
women have turned to prostitution just to wear
finery. Initially, I was incensed at the idea—but,
of course, this research was done in the 1700s
by men. However, as I thought about it more,
I wondered how many blow jobs it would take
to buy one pair of Nike running shoes, and I
thought that there might just be something to it!
Vancouver itself has always been a fashionable
place, where people love to dress up given the
occasion. However, the rain in the winter months
and the overall lack of sunshine make the
environment kind of drab at best. Come summer,
there is a change that is shocking. One has only
to sit at one of the coffee shops on Robson
Street and observe the divas in movement. Yet,
100 years back, when Robson Street wasn’t a
runway, the mode of dress and display were very
different.
In the late 1800s, Vancouver was very young
and the landscape very rustic. The early settlers
were concerned more with survival, and fashion
was a mere indulgence of vanity that could only
be afforded by the wealthy. Also concerned with
survival were sex workers (known as “sporting
2532
Stacey Grayer
women”). These women were considered morally
bankrupt, due to their willingness to exchange
sexual favours for currency. Nevertheless, their
presence in Vancouver at this time was very real.
Of course society was outraged, but the world’s
oldest profession was doing very well during this
period in history.
I imagine that the problem of what to wear
was an issue that plagued many of the younger
harlots. Some distinction had to be made
between them and the other women. Something
that would make their potential clients pitch
a tent in their pants indeed would have been
preferable. Off the hanger simply would not
do, and seamstresses, while expensive, were in
great demand. Modifications would have been
most necessary, for bosoms had to be properly
displayed if a girl was to catch the eye of a
potential client.
Within many of the grand homes of the era, a
seamstress’s room was as much a part of the
home as the kitchen and pantry. Fabric was
sent for as far away as Europe and even Japan.
Countless hours were spent constructing these
uniforms. Waists were cinched, cleavage pushed
up, and the corset was as much a staple as milk
and butter. The hem length was long and the
hem fabric had to sweep the floor, which often
called for a dramatic entrance and an equally
dramatic exit.
I have heard stories passed down through the
community that a lot of these grand homes also
had a secret that was usually known by all, but
only spoken about by gentleman. Those who
were in the know and had the means to enter the
foyers would be greeted by the house madam, an
older woman who wore her beauty like a medal
on an officer’s lapel. Her smile usually set the
mood for the pleasure that was to come from the
visit. Often she would flirt with the patrons, but
it was very subtle as she herself was not a whore,
rather a landlady and businesswoman. After a few
pleasantries such as drink, and the financial aspect
of this calling was taken care of, then would come
the girls of every shape, size, and figure, all vying
for the opportunity to bed this caller. I picture
them smiling, sometimes laughing, always with
hunger in their eyes that was not subtle yet not
gross, all wanting to catch the man, and be the
recipient of a big fat tip. Usually the client would
leave the happiest, while always the madam the
richest.
There were many of these grand homes peppered
throughout Vancouver. One of the most successful
and well-known homes (or brothels) was Birdie
Stewart’s. Birdie was one of the most prominent
entrepreneurial females of her time. Her
establishment was known throughout BC and the
Prairie Provinces. It was rumoured that a Catholic
priest sought after the services of one of Birdie’s
gals… One can be sure that they weren’t praying
together.
Once a girl had made her trap or, rather, filled
her quota, the question once again was what to
wear tomorrow that could help her make even
more money. She had to stand out to be chosen; I
imagine that her seamstress became her best ally
and confidante.
As time went on, the hem length continued to
rise. The Great Depression and prairie drought
were instrumental in women using less fabric and
showing more flesh in hopes of financial rewards.
During the Depression, however, lots more than
just money crossed hands; for instance, I was told
by an “old timer” that during those days two dozen
eggs could get you around the world. There were
many happy farmers during those times, and also
childless hens!
The economy of Vancouver, as well as that of the
rest of Canada, slowed down considerably during
the Depression. Sex workers, whose business was
once very lucrative, felt the impact of the strain.
Once again garments were modified, as material
for new dresses was scarce. As the sex workers
had to adjust their prices, so did the seamstresses.
Frocks were shortened and rearranged, and the
ladies took to wearing stockings, as they were
cheap and, combined with the shorter dresses, they
sometimes accented the bare legs beautifully.
Madams knew that tough times never lasted
forever and that men would always want sex no
matter how broke they were. As hemlines rose,
the prices came down, but never the wages of the
madam: she got paid the same, even if she wore
the same ensemble often.
After the Depression, the corset lost its appeal.
Women no longer felt the need to have a twenty-
four-inch waist and, like Moses parting the Red
Sea, freedom from the corset gave a lot of women
a second breath. Garters and stockings became the
mainstay, along with stilettos, of course.
The above is just a taste of how mainstream
fashion and sex worker fashion intermingled
in Vancouver’s early years. I hope to continue
my research and write more fully on this subject
over the coming months. Additional sections will
be posted on the project website, so watch for
them there!
3326
Exotic Liberation Annie Temple
Reprinted with permission from nakedtruth.ca (originally posted in November, 1997)

“If the aim of feminism is to secure and defend women’s status as men’s
peers, then, far from banning it, feminists ought to participate in
the industry—whether as entrepreneurs, employees, consumers, or allies;
for as long as this culture retains its sexual attitude, stripping will
thrive with or without feminist support, legal or not. With greater
feminist participation, the abuses and inequities of the industry could
be more quickly remedied.” — STACEY REED (cited in Nagle, 184)

In order to address feminist issues of sexual
oppression in Canadian mainstream society, it is
necessary to address issues of oppression within
the Canadian sex industry as they are interpreted
and experienced by sex workers. Such action
is more conducive to genuine women’s sexual
liberation rather than the anti-sex movement it has
predominantly been in the past. Because of the lack
of research material on this topic, I will demonstrate
my points using my experience as an exotic dancer
in British Columbia. However, the resulting
implications may be extended to all parts of Canada
and internationally, considering that many dancers
travel abroad to perform, consequently experiencing
cultural variations of stigma and oppression.
For the most part, the voices of sex workers have
been ignored or unheard in mainstream feminist
circles and society alike. Evidence of this is
apparent in feminist sentiment from Women’s
Studies courses (which teach Dworkin-Mackinnon
anti-porn ideologies) to propagandist mediums
across the board. The image of the abused and
degraded sex worker trying desperately to finance
her drug addictions is an image that we, as a
society, have come to accept as accurate, despite
denial from the sex workers in question. Such
denial has been disregarded insofar as we assume
that the sex worker is not capable of realizing her
own degradation as a result of the abuses she has
previously been victim to. Contrary to such beliefs,
I submit that the role of the sex worker as a victim
is not due to male sexual exploitation of women but
to the feminist and societal “victim” stigma attached
to her. At this point, I would like to add that many
dancers (and other sex workers) are unaware for
various reasons that a sex worker feminist mode of
thinking even exists which could explain why some
are persuaded to accept the anti-porn, mainstream
beliefs as true.
I propose that the oppression inherent in the sex
trade industry (and, for the purposes of this essay,
the exotic entertainment industry), is perpetuated
by such negative stigma, consequentially creating
an industry in which nude dancers are more likely
to be, and are, subjected to sexual discrimination
without benefit of legal recourse because legal
action would result in loss of work. Furthermore,
I challenge anyone who can find an industry in
Canada where the policy-makers and officials
are as free to make decisions without consulting
the workers, or where the thousands of workers
involved have no representation and are deemed to
be as inconsequential to policy outcomes as is found
in the legal industry of stripping.
In the course of my study at Simon Fraser
University, I have been inspired by teachings
discussing the differences of sexual oppression

2734
concerning women of colour or ethnicity, lesbians,
and disabled women. It has recently become clear
that all these women have been represented falsely
or are without representation in the feminist
debate. Likewise, sex workers, too, have been
represented falsely by non-sex workers. Although
I do not condemn the expressions of women
as wives and daughters of patrons of sex trade
establishments, I feel that it is wrong for them
to speak for us (strippers) as though we are too
incompetent to have valid opinions of our own.
That is simply not the case. Furthermore, the
foundation of women’s oppression residing in our
sexuality demands that sex workers, who primarily
deal with issues of sex everyday, should not be
absent from the sexual liberation movement. In
the words of Sunera Thobani, “It is only when the
concerns of the women who face the harshest levels
of discrimination are addressed that the women’s
movement will remain true to its principles of
empowerment and equality for all women” (cited
in Cohen, Bourne, Masters, and Pierson, 27). The
time came for women of difference to cease the
representation of their issues by white, middle-class
women. It is no longer tolerable or acceptable. Now
I wish to see the same for sex trade workers, for we
should not be considered incompetent because of
our jobs or backgrounds. Jill Nagle expresses the
same idea:
Defined broadly, sex worker feminisms are
nothing novel. What is new is the number and
variety of openly identified sex workers speaking
as feminists about feminism … In recent years,
women from within many marginalized groups
have begun to contribute their perspectives to the
dynamic, contradictory body of thought, action
and narrative called feminism. In response, the
face of public feminism has shifted to incorporate
analyses of other forms of oppression such as
race, class, and sexual orientation. However,
mainstream feminism
has yet to make major moves beyond analyzing
how sex work oppresses women, to theorizing how
feminism reproduces oppression of sex workers,
and how incorporating sex worker feminisms
results in richer analyses of gender oppression. (1)
Beyond the debate between anti-pornography
feminists, such as Catherine MacKinnon and
Andrea Dworkin, and sex worker feminists such as
Jill Nagle, the intention of this essay is to show that
human rights violations inherent in Vancouver’s
exotic entertainment industry and across Canada
are perpetuated by this predominantly one-sided
debate and its dehumanizing policies as an anti-
sex movement. The following quote by a stripper
and feminist Nina Hartley illustrates how much
of radical, feminist, anti-porn activism has led to a
denial of women’s sexuality (hence the term “anti-
sex” used to describe it):
Over the past twelve years, I’ve observed that the
more uncomfortable a woman is with the state
of her sex life, the more outraged and irritated
she is by the existence of porn and the women
who are proud to make it. The angrier she is at
‘the patriarchy’ and the more she blames men for
all the ills of the world (and her own particular
problems), the more she wants to punish men
for their ability to become easily aroused through
visual stimulation. In their efforts to remove
the injustices of rampant sexism in the public
arena, some women have become overzealous
and extended their prohibitionary efforts to the
bedroom, exactly where privacy and tolerance
should be most extended. Speaking as one to
whom a lot of their anger has been directed, it
feels like they’ve cut off their clits to spite their
orgasms. These women appear to be acting like
the worst of their Victorian sisters, with all of their
erotophobic logic: lust is evil, and only romantic
love and its chaste expression are civilized and
acceptable, and it’s up to woman to control men’s
animalistic side (if she’s self-hating enough to
sleep with them in the first place). Collaterally,
any woman who caters to men’s ‘base’ desires
or, Goddess forbid, likes sex (especially sex with
men, or sex outside a committed, monogamous
relationship) is deserving of pity and contempt.
(cited in Nagle, 60)
Accordingly, strippers have not felt that feminist
organizations are a resource available to them
when their rights are violated in the workplace
and only outside of the industry if their career
choices have not been disclosed. Right now
in clubs across Vancouver, many of which are
3528
 considered by dancers to be desirable work
environments, implementation of policies that
are clearly aberrations of human rights is being
practiced. From mandatory floor-time (which
requires that dancers be available and dressed
provocatively to perform private shows) to free
shows (which blatantly disregard our right to
paid labour), dancers are perpetually subject to
outrageous discrimination in policy and procedure.
Furthermore, the recent adaptation of “half-
shows” requires that dancers actually perform two
short shows (quick strips) but only get paid for one
show. Similarly, dancers who choose the route
of private show dancing for its flexible hours and
potential income are required to perform two half-
shows without benefit of pay, as well as requiring
them to pay out $20 or more for the privilege of
working in their establishments regardless of how
much they earn during their shift. In effect, the
dancer gets naked twice for free and also pays to
work. One requirement or the other would not
be such an abuse of power. (Combined with the
prospect of paying to work and delivering free
shows, the private dancer is often shunned by her
stage performer colleagues, being the first suspect
in theft and denied the right to use the more
elaborate and safer change-rooms available to
stage performers. Reasons for such condemnation
ranges from jealousy of money earned in a shorter
time to a deep belief that the private dancer has
compromised her decency to perform so intimately
for “the enemy.” The latter view closely resembles
the scrutiny imposed on strippers by mainstream
feminists and society at large. So it can be stated
that private dancers often face a double censure,
one maintained within the industry and one
maintained without.) Strippers who refuse to
conduct themselves according to bar policies are
“blacklisted” and are subject to assignment in
undesirable establishments and/or low-budget
2936
spots that require long hours and little reward.
One still may be uncertain about how sex worker
issues relate to mainstream sexual inequality.
The answer lies in many arenas, not the least of
which is the ever-present “whore” stigma that
confines women to limited sexual expression.
Sex trade workers are not isolated recipients of
the categorization of “whore.” That the Webster’s
New World Dictionary (1997) defines whore as “a
prostitute” just goes to show what degree of stigma
is attached to that label, for it goes without saying
that prostitutes bear the brunt of criticism and
condemnation directed towards sexual openness
in women. Nevertheless, many a fourteen-year-
old virgin has been called a “whore” for her sexually
“inappropriate” behaviour. The struggle for women
in mainstream society to avoid being recipient
to such an undesirable and stigmatized label has
led to an ingrained sense of hostility towards sex
workers. The opposite belief, that sex workers
perpetuate the labeling system of “whore” to non-
sex workers, in turn perpetuates the oppressive
attitude that leaves a stripper feeling resourceless
and ashamed.
Consistent with the undesirable “whore” stigma is
the resulting suppression and denial of women’s
sexuality. In our fear of being labeled whores, we
have limited our sexual expressions and behaviors
to what is acceptable, the terms of acceptability
being determined traditionally by the male fear
that we will be unfaithful or that we will bear
them bastard children unbeknownst to them.
Women’s fears of unfaithful male partners, who
are traditionally encouraged to freely express their
sexuality, are directed not at the men themselves,
but rather at sex workers because they are the
visible “enemy” to fear. It is apparent how the
women’s movement is undermined by the lack of
unity among women in this sense.
The near absence of women’s sexual expression learned that my body was attractive to many
is demonstrated in the sex trade industry in different men, even though I am many inches
that there is a tremendous disparity between and pounds away from any magazine model. I
found that the majority of heterosexual men will
the production and services of male-centred
follow sexually if women will only lead, and that
erotica/pornography and woman-centred erotica/ men feel victimized around sex just as women
pornography. Such disparity leads us to believe do, only in different aspects of the sexual dance. I
that women are not visually sexually stimulated realized that, as a committed feminist, I had to
and we repress such feelings because we are not be open to men’s pain and see it as equally valid
“supposed” to have them. I cannot help but believe to women’s. I discovered that a woman who is
willing to talk about sex honestly and show her
that if we were to encourage women’s sexual
body can get men to listen, learn, and be better
expression, especially in the form of marketable
lovers with their partners. Finally, I learned that
goods and services, a broader recognition of to be eternally mad at men’s sexual “nature” was
women’s sexuality would result, bridging the as useful as being mad that water is wet. Anger
gap more in our quest for sexual liberation and inhibits intimacy and shared pleasure, to the
equality. Comparatively, I believe that such a detriment of all involved. I seek in my work to
move would lessen the separation of sex workers defuse anger so that the pleasure I invoke can
work its healing magic. (cited in Nagle, 61)
from feminists, resulting in a mutually
beneficial advancement of the roles of all
women, as well as creating an educational
tool available to women in terms of
eliminating sexual sacrifice that aims
to satiate male sexual needs only. We
do not need less porn necessarily, but
more woman-identified porn that
recognizes the needs and desires of
women, recognition that is necessary
for women to overcome their
“second-sex” protocol that has
traditionally been practiced.

Respectively, we would be empowered to

stop creating the “us” and “them” dichotomy
that much of the anti-sex movement has
imposed on relations between men and
women. The ultimate goal of society as
a whole should be the acquirement of
peace and recognition for all people.
Nina Hartley poses an important
ideology:
Through my experiences stripping,
I learned many valuable lessons. I

3730
 This is not to say that anti-porn activism
is backwards and wrong, for it has many
meritable and clearly applicable concepts
that are useful and necessary in the quest
for women’s sexual liberation. Indeed,
images portraying women as recipients of
violence can be extremely victimizing to a
woman’s sense of self. But I would be lying
if I were to say that I have never fantasized
about men being in those positions. Maybe
it is my unconscious resentment of men
that facilitates such fantasizing or maybe
there is not necessarily a reason for it. All
I am saying is that I feel freed now that
I can look on pornography as a valuable
and creative sexual tool rather than as a
misogynist (woman-hating) display of male
power. We must learn to examine the intent
of such images rather than imposing our
own biased views on them. The picture on
the cover of Hustler that depicted a woman
in a meat grinder horrified and sickened
women everywhere. But the intent behind it
was Larry Flint’s decision to stop producing
male-centred porn and start producing more
“holy” forms of sexual entertainment (an
intention which was clarified in the movie
The People vs. Larry Flint). Obviously, Flint’s
intention was obscure, and it is rather
hilarious that the image caused an opposite
and harmful effect. Nevertheless, what
is apparent to me is that while anti-porn
activism works to free women from the
practice of sexual subordination, it also tends
to repress the sexual nature of women.
3138
In conclusion, I feel that, although the
implementation of higher production of
women’s erotica is a worthy long-term goal,
strippers remain at this time being taken
advantage of and discriminated against
within the industry. The only way these
issues will be resolved is if we, as dancers,
come together and agree to stop tolerating
these abuses by refusing to work in
establishments which require free shows, or
mandatory floor-time, or mandatory private
shows, and so on. And if we accomplish this,
then we can only hope that it will inspire or
force industry officials to discontinue their
violating policies that thus far have been
unrecognized and deemed unimportant. As
strippers continue to be subject to unpaid
labour and industry discrimination, so will
women everywhere continue to be divided
and powerless.
Works Cited
Cohen, Marjorie Griffin, Paula Bourne,
Philinda Masters, and Ruth Roach
Pierson. Canadian Women’s Issues,
Volume I: Strong Voices. Toronto:
James Lorimer & Company, 1993.
MacKinnon, Catherine, and Andrea Dworkin.
“Pornography and Civil Rights: A
New Day for Women’s Equality.” In
Organizing Against Pornography, 1988.
Nagle, Jill, ed. Whores and Other Feminists.
New York: Rutledge, 1997.
“Whore.” Webster’s New World College
Dictionary. 3rd ed. New York,
Macmillan, 1997.
R i g h t s M o v e m e
s e x wo r k e r s ’
n t
by susan davis

Sex workers all over the world have finally found the
courage to stand up and demand dignity. Human rights
and labour standards should apply to all. In 2005, a group
of sex workers from Vancouver had the opportunity to
attend a conference hosted by a sex worker group called
Stella in Montreal. While there, we had the opportunity
to meet the leaders of the sex worker movement from all
over the world. I was moved and inspired by the stories
they told of the courage of workers in the movement,
some of whom had given their lives for the cause.

Canada presents itself on the international stage as a

leader in the human rights movement. At home, however,
the situation is dismal. At last count, over 1,400 women
are “missing” in Canada, and no end is in sight. In 2006,
after spending millions of dollars, the parliamentary
subcommittee that was struck to examine the issues facing
sex workers in Canada tabled its report, and, once again,
we were hung out to dry. A disaster for sex workers, the
report did not recommend decriminalization, but did call
for more research. Even in India, where the situation is
notoriously bad for women, sex work is recognized labour,
and sex workers have formed a 65,000-member union.
The sex workers’ rights movement in British Columbia is
based in Vancouver and here the struggle continues on.
Safe workspaces and a sex worker co-operative are in the
works, and we all hold great hope that our actions will
produce results.

3932
 Enforcement and Policing Policies in Vancouver
The first jail in Vancouver was a log cabin. It burned
down in . Another early jail, however, still
stands as the bathrooms of the Irish Heather Pub
in Gastown. John Clough, otherwise known as the
“one armed bastard,” was the city jailor. His part-
time job was the city’s lamplighter. The earliest
executions took place in Blood Alley, which also
remains to this day.
The first police officer was named John Stewart,
who worked out of a tent. (A police station would
be built in 1904.) Deputies were recruited for the
job of retrieving whiskey bottles from the harbour.
The first police corruption scandal took place in
, when the local police were caught busting and
fining brothels and madams and then paying the
money from the fines to the informant who had
set up the raid. This person was the force’s best and
almost only informant—and also happened to work
for the authorities as a clerk! In these times, police
officers preferred to give suspended sentences to sex
workers, on the condition that the sex worker agreed
to leave town. (Some things never change!)
Female police officers, Nancy Harris and Minnie
Miller, were hired in . They were among the
first female police officers in North America and
were hired specifically to address issues around sex
work. Patrolling the bars and brothels where the
sex workers were working, these female officers
and the ones that came after them didn’t go on
“regular patrols” or carry guns until 1973, which was,
incidentally, the same year that sex workers were
finally classified as “human beings” when we were
found dead. Until this point we were “NHI” or “non
human individuals.” The explanation for this was
that it cut down on paperwork.
After the law revisions in , the crackdown
or enforcement tactics went into full swing.
Sex workers were pushed from community to
community in an effort to disrupt the sex industry
3340
and, hopefully, end it all together; at least, that
was the idea. These tactics have resulted in the
total isolation of sex workers from the community
and each other. It has pushed them into more and
more isolated and dangerous areas and resulted
in what amounts to genocide of sex workers, their
community, and culture.
Now with the Olympics approaching, police
enforcement is once again on the rise. There was
supposed to be a moratorium in place, preventing
the arrest and charge of sex workers, but the
Vancouver Police Department (VPD) charged 360
times in . This is not to say that all police
strategies are bad and the VPD are not working hard
to change the situation. New recruits now receive
sensitivity training from sex workers before they
do their first tour of duty on the street. Violence
against sex workers is vigorously investigated and
their assailants prosecuted. However, the consumers
of sex or “johns,” if you will, are now the focus of
increased enforcement including a humiliating
“shame the johns” campaign and the now infamous
John School, where, apparently, men learn how
not to be horny! Arresting good, nonviolent, paying
customers is not helping the situation. These men
are the ones who pay our rent and put food in
our children’s mouths. Until there are sustainable
incomes for women, and poverty is no more, how
can the police and society at large disrupt the
industry and its economy? This total lack of planning
for how to financially support the workers whose
customer base is affected, as well as the disregard
for the loneliness and emotional health of these
men, are unacceptable. It is only complicating the
situation further. One can only hope that in the
future the sex worker community will be consulted
before these dangerous decisions are made, so we
can prevent any more harm coming to Vancouver’s
sex workers. The VPD do seem invested in making
the right changes, and we look forward to things
getting better.
A History of Federal Laws:
The Criminal Code
 The newly formed federal government
enacts provisions to prevent the “defilement”
of women under the age of twenty-one.
 Existing vagrancy laws are consolidated
and expanded to include males living off the
avails of prostitution.
 Penalties for these offences are increased.
 Bawdy house provisions are enacted.
 The first Criminal Code of Canada is
finalized.
 The vagrancy provisions in the Criminal
Code are altered, and bawdy houses and
“street walking” are outlawed. Offences
directed at bawdy house owners and
“procurers of women” also come into effect.
The charge is “unlawful carnal connection.”
An additional clause allows for a search
warrant to be used if a person is suspected
of concealing a woman or “luring a girl into
prostitution.”
‒ The government continues to refine
the laws and strengthen the penalties.
‒ The Social Gospel movement is waning,
and the sex industry goes on largely
unabated for the next forty years.
 Maximum sentences for “keepers” and
“inmates” are increased to three years,
and a new charge is added for “knowingly
transporting another to a bawdy house.”
 The Canadian Criminal Code is revised
to include provisions for prostitution with
disastrous results for Canada’s sex workers.
To date, over 1,400 women are missing in
Canada, and the mortality rate of workers
is huge. Experts blame these conditions
directly on the law revisions of this time.
 The Parliamentary Subcommittee on
Solicitation Laws tables its report with no
real recommendations for law reform. The
debate sparked by this extremely expensive
and controversial committee still rages today.
:  is a sex workers’ union
that extends across Latin America and the
Caribbean. It has created labour standards and
has even taken the plight of sex workers to the
United Nations.
:    is a sex
worker outreach project, and a dance troop,
 �    , creates
awareness about issues facing sex workers
through song and dance.
:  fights police oppression at the
local, national, and international levels and
supports community-based research and
health actions.
: ’   
 is a 65,000-member forum of
sex workers and their children and is an active
partner in the global fight against HIV/AIDS,
through a project known as the Sonogachi
project.
 :   ⁽ 
 ⁾ has won the
battle for decriminalization and even has
members who are active sex workers and
members of Parliament … One can dream!
:  supports sex workers in all
levels of the trade with health information and
education. Empower believes every person has
the right to choose their job, not to be exploited
or harassed at work, to work safely, and to
make a livable wage.
 :  ⁽   
 ⁾ actively challenges laws and
mandatory HIV testing of sex workers. San
Francisco’s   is a self-identified
unrepentant whore and a pillar and role model
within the movement. She is the person who
coined the phrase “sex worker.”
4134
 Let us take time to remember the
casualties of Canada’s quiet war
Guest editorial by Susan Davis, written in response to the report of the Parliamentary Subcommittee
on Solicitation Laws and published in The Province newspaper on December 15, 2006.
As International End Violence Against Sex
Workers Day approaches, I remember the friends
and fellow sex workers I have lost to violence.
My friend, Brenda Way, murdered, and her body
thrown into the garbage, and Kelly, whose last
name I never knew, murdered and mutilated in
the East End hotel where we lived. I imagine sex
workers all over the world remembering their
friends and wonder, will reason ever prevail? Will
the safety of sex workers ever become a priority?
I am a twenty-one-year veteran of the trade and
have witnessed the effects of the disastrous law
revisions in 1985 and the resulting spiral from
relative safety in the trade into the dangerous
environment we experience as workers today.
In 2003, a parliamentary subcommittee was
formed in response to rising violence against
sex workers and the unbelievable number of
missing and murdered workers across Canada.
We shared personal experiences and ideas with
the committee and, for a moment, had a glimmer
of hope. We sat patiently as they catalogued the
darkest moments of our lives and then waited.
What recommendations would the committee
bring forward? A year after the report was due
and a change in government occurred, the
report was finally tabled in Parliament this
week. A disaster for workers, the report does not
support decriminalization but does call for (big
surprise) more research. Must sex workers endure
researchers and politicians making their careers
and millions of dollars while discussing “safety
issues”? How long will we wait? Twenty years?
Thirty years? It’s been almost thirty years since
the Fraser Accord recommended changes that
3542
we are still fighting for today. What actions were
taken? None—and this report spells more of the
same. It shows total complacency for the value of
the people affected and a total lack of respect for
those who died. Canada presents itself as a leader
in human rights on the international stage, but
the number of missing and murdered sex workers
tells a different story. The staggering mortality
rate of Canada’s sex workers is a reflection of the
two-faced nature of our society. “END HARM!”
(Not for sex workers.) “END PROSTITUTION!”
(Sorry, no livable wages.) Some feminist groups
even work against safe workspaces and equality
for sex workers! It’s difficult to suppress my anger
and frustration, but I’m learning to heal through
action. In 2005, a group of my fellow workers
and I attended an international conference in
Montreal and met leaders of the sex workers’
rights movement from all over the world. I was
moved and inspired as I learned of the courage,
strength and accomplishments of these workers. I
committed to equality and safety for sex workers
and engaged anyone who would listen. Sex-
worker-driven groups, such as the BC Coalition of
Experiential Communities, of which I’m a member,
continue to organize so the voices of sex workers
will never be silenced.
So, I invite everyone to take some time and
remember the casualties of Canada’s quiet
war. They had families and dreams. The loss to
the community of their potential and light is
immeasurable. They may be gone, but they must
never be forgotten.
 We are the Missing
by chanel martin

esty that
ma rks my 30 th yea r wo rkin g in the sex trade. I can say with all hon
March 15, 2007 y hundreds if not over a thousan
d working women of all type s, good
e met man ips lasted until their untimely
over this period of time that I hav evolved and many of these friendsh
e clos e frien dsh ips
and bad. Throug h it all som (either by tricks or by boyfriends,
ther it be from suic ide, dru g overdoses, accidents or murder
deaths, whe
amongst others). . Of the twenty-eight
r to Rob ert Pick ton and the tragedy caused by his actions
In reference to murders, I mus t refe es, and three were close
killin g, I kne w seve n. Four of them were acquaintanc
women he has been cha rged with en and can say, without a
y thin gs I hav e hea rd and seen written about these wom
friends. There have bee n man a way to exploit this tragedy.
t I hav e hea rd has been completely false or used as
doubt, that the maj ority of wha sion they possessed. Out of
ut who thes e wom en were or the talents and compas from
Very little has bee n said abo put down on paper what I think,
frus trati on I fi nall y mad e the decision to take it upon myself to thin g. I can only hope
anger and k and say one last
g them , wha t they mig ht say to the world if they could come bac
knowin
is:
that it will be enough. So here it

Sit back try and hear as well as listen to what we have to say,
it’s the story of lives forced to choose and the price we had to pay
we are your sisters we are your daughters we are your mothers your lovers your friends,
not a single one among us chose the tragic way our lives came to an end
was any one person at fault, were there many to blame
that made us turn to booze and drugs.... my dear
it was the easiest way and the hardest
to block out pain sadness loneliness and fear
so many dreams left unfulfilled
all we hoped we could be why would so many with sight choose to be so blind
all the things that could have been blinded by their hatred
now we will never see by sexism classism and ignorance from deep within
we did our best to make a life fear and judgment of a place they see
from the cards which we were dealt and a place they have never been
good or bad it makes no difference now they scream rude comments, make terrible assumptions
what matters is that we felt yelling out their car windows while driving by
we felt we were worthwhile they glare with hatred when they see us laugh
we felt compassion we were kind and laugh with contempt when they see us cry
we felt no one tried to see the good in us we tried our best to show respect
was the same so much to ask in return
and so many thought we were completely stupid
yet we were quite willing and able to learn
feeling uncared for could be overwhelming
sadness and loneliness would often make us cry
searching for love and happiness so hard to find
it leaves one wondering why
so often the hurt would lead us down the wrong road
and would often lead to self harm
it’s still no excuse for police to ignore us for so long
and allow our lives to end on a pig farm
4336
Our Community
1 5 0 y e a r s o f c ri m i na li z at i o n
by susan davis
As I began this section, I thought of all the people
and, in particular, the men who have loved us and
supported sex workers, consistently providing
some of the safest and highest paying jobs for sex
workers throughout Vancouver’s history. Often
these men are cast as abusers, rapists, and pimps
and are criminalized in many different ways under
the guise of protecting others, such as sex workers.
The words “organized crime” have great meaning in
the age of enforcement and are used to describe our
community and especially the men whom we rely
on for stability, justice, peace, and friendship. This
interpretation of the stabilizing forces within the
“underground” as “organized crime” demonstrates
how truly deep the divide within our society has
become. Misunderstandings of intentions and lack
of knowledge have led to bad decisions and badly
written laws that target these leaders often cause
more harm then good and always have unforeseen
consequences. To us, it amounts to one side of
society trying to force its idea of “a good life” on
the other. There are things we can all agree are
criminal—the exploitation of children and abusing
the elderly, for instance— but in the world we live
in, it’s one strike and you’re out. One “criminal”
offence, one mistake, can instantly cut your options
for success in life in half. Should these “criminals”
be happy and grateful for their dead-end jobs? The
drive and the pressure to succeed are strong, and all
people want to feel that they’ve made a difference.
Is it any wonder that so-called organized crime and
its natural leaders emerge?
3744
An embedded culture of entitlement, system-
wide elitism, and the total exclusion of the people
affected have resulted in the polarized society we
exist in today. Those you call criminals are our
heroes, and what you call organized crime means
stability, justice, and peace for us.
The total failure of the “War on Drugs,” of which
seventy per cent of the budget was spent on
enforcement, has only created more problems.
It’s time for a ceasefire and a re-evaluation of the
battle plan. The arbitrary arrest and removal of
our community leaders always lead to people dying
on the ground in the trenches. It hurts me to see
these people portrayed as greedy and self-serving,
when I personally believe that I wouldn’t be alive
today if it weren’t for their friendship, support, and
sense of duty. Those with privilege write history,
and, unfortunately, a lot of the actions of these
leaders have been lost. The information I did find
was mostly slanted against our community, and so
I thought I would make an attempt to define what
I could through my own lived experiences. I, for
one, would like to honour these unsung heroes and
acknowledge their contributions to the stability of
the community. For all that you’ve ever done for
me (you know who you are!), I offer my eternal
gratitude.
 Chinese rail workers introduce opium to Vancouverites,
and an estimated 500 Caucasian people became
addicted. This is a lot for a town of only a few thousand.
‒ Youth gangs, made up of orphans and unwanted
children, roam the streets, robbing, terrorizing, and
breaking and entering. The Dupont Street brothels are on
the rise.
 There are only thirty-one policemen and twenty-seven
(usually full) jail cells.
 Racial tensions between Caucasian and Chinese workers
are growing almost as fast as opium addiction, public
drunkenness, gambling, and violence.
 Addiction rates are out of control. The police chief,
Malcolm Mclennan, takes a sympathetic view, but,
ironically, is killed by a drug addict named Bob Tait, who
commits suicide before being arrested. Prohibition begins,
and Vancouver experiences a boom! The port establishes
itself as a smuggling and bootlegging centre for export to
the United States. The rumrunners, known as the “Over
Proof Navy,” use fancy yachts and make midnight runs
from Coal Harbour.
 Prohibition ends, but many prominent Vancouver families,
such as the Riffle family, have made their fortunes in the
meantime.
   Prosperity returns to the “underworld” after the
lean years of the Depression. The black market is thriving,
and men too young for the draft, known as “Zoot Suiters,”
hang out on Granville Street, causing all kinds of trouble.
They wear baggy pants tucked tight at the bottom and
wide-lapel jackets and carry switchblades.
 The end of the war brings the beginning of the nightclub
era. “Blind Pigs” and booze cans spring up, along with
backroom bookmaking. Members of the American mafia
are forced to flee from aggressive enforcement in the
United States, and some of them make it into Canada.
They bring with them organizational skills and a sense
of community that flourishes in Vancouver. This is the
beginning of “organized crime” in our city.
 Heroine becomes a real problem in Vancouver. This
multi-million dollar a year trade is believed to be funded
by sex work (it’s always our fault). Huge profits allow the
underworld to grow and organize.
 Police Chief Walter Mulligan flees charges of illegal
kickbacks from gambling and bootlegging. By this time,
the big legitimate supper clubs like Isy’s and the Cave are
on the rise. Dancers, escorts, gamblers, gangsters, police,
politicians, reporters, and all of their wives rub shoulders
with each other in what was known as Vancouver’s Golden
Era.
 Many American and Canadian young people volunteer
or are drafted into the Vietnam War. When these soldiers
come home, they are not given the hero’s welcome
enjoyed by the soldiers before them. “Bike Gangs” begin
to appear during this time. Like many other people, they
are searching for some sense of community and meaning.
‒ The flower children are coming north to escape the
draft, as well as to seek opportunities in Vancouver’s
blossoming economy. They take over 4th Avenue and are on
the police radar for most of the early ’70s.
  A peaceful marijuana smoke turns violent and is
remembered as the Gastown Riot.
  The flower children camp out on Jericho Beach.
Violence breaks out as the VPD tries to remove them. This
is remembered as the “Battle of Jericho.”
 The Clark Park social housing project sees the formation
of the now infamous “Clark Park Gang,” known in our
community as the “Clark Parkers.”
  Satan’s Angels become the Hell’s Angels. William
Faulder “Fats” Robertson is sentenced to twenty years
for importing drugs. He has been brought down using
wiretaps, which means that now the telephone can’t
be trusted. This knowledge drives these groups further
underground.
  The VPD breaks up a huge heroine-importing
operation, and the drug becomes hard to come by. Cocaine
takes hold, at least among those who can afford it. At $100
a gram, it’s not for a person on a budget.
 The lead-up to Expo 86 is a construction boom in
Vancouver, and men from all over the world come to
Vancouver looking for work. A huge infrastructure to access
all manner of pleasures evolves to accommodate the needs
of these young men. American-style pimps try to take
over Vancouver’s sex trade, and young Asian street gangs
battle Los Diablos, a mostly Hispanic gang, for control of
the street-level drug trade. They are arrested often, as they
wear colours, red and black, so they know each other on
the street.
  Triad gang leaders meet with Vancouver’s young
Asian gangs and promise them unlimited access to heroine
if they stop fighting amongst themselves. The “Russians”
are taking a bigger and bigger chunk of the cocaine trade,
and intravenous drug use has skyrocketed. Overdoses
become a daily occurrence.
 All aspects of criminalized activity are suffering from
instability brought on by outside factions trying to “own”
a piece of Vancouver. An alliance is formed to address
the issues, and, after difficult battle and some bloodshed,
stability returns to the underground. With their forces
depleted, however, the underground leaders who have
emerged have to watch their backs more than ever as new
recruits join up. Using undercover operatives, the police
take this opportunity to infiltrate the inner workings of the
underground.
 The government and the VPD continue to attack
“organized crime.” For those of us who live within the
community that benefits from the stability that peace brings
within the underworld, this is unacceptable. We resent the
removal of our community leaders, and often we see the
casualties of these badly planned actions.
38
 1. Excerpt from an interview with VPD
Sex Work Liaison Person, Dave Dickson
31 October
* The following two interviews arre included to demonstrate the contrast between
what sex workers believe about their situation with what the police believe
JA: What does your new job require you to do?
DD: My official title is a Sex Trade Liaison Person,
and the reason it’s a “person” is because there was a
problem with me coming back in uniform, so the police
department decided— because of my experience, years
of service, and relationship with the organization and
sex workers—[to bring] me back as a civilian position,
so the lack of uniform doesn’t act as a barrier. So,
I’m still doing the same thing I’ve done for twenty-
something years, I’m an advocate for the women and
kids down there. I work with the organizations trying
to keep the kids out of the sex trade. And I work with
[women and men in the sex trade] as an advocate and
sometimes as a bridge between the police and them.
Because, historically, our relationship hasn’t been
as good as it could be, a lot of people for a variety of
reasons don’t trust the police. I try and bridge that
by helping them put in reports, I help them to follow
up after, I’ll even hold their hand if they have to go to
court, and I’ll explain the system to them, how it works,
and, sometimes, how it doesn’t work.
JA: How long have you been with the VPD?
DD: I started in 1980, so twenty-six years now.
JA: In your opinion, why does your job need
to exist?
DD: Sex workers are one of the more vulnerable groups
in society, because of their job, so they need someone
they can trust and rely on. [A] lot of police are more
interested in enforcement, where they’re arresting
the girls and reacting to different 911 complaints.
So it’s nice for the women and kids on the street to
have someone they can call up, and trust, and relay
information to, or just ask for help in a whole bunch of
different ways.
39
2006 | Jennifer Allan
JA: Has a new plan of action that addresses
the missing and murdered sex workers of the
Downtown Eastside (DTES) been developed since
your job began? If not, then what is the plan of
action?
DD: Well, before my job actually started, myself and
another inspector, John McKay, were already doing
a number of things. We had one thing we called the
“Confrontation Management for Women at High
Risk” program, whereby ninety per cent of the course
was verbal—how to de-escalate situations, how to
avoid violent confrontation—and, if all else fails, then
physical defence, with two or three basic moves for
emergency situations. So that was one thing we did,
and we actually won an international award [Women’s
Safety Award, 2004] for that, which was one of the
first times the VPD had ever won anything like that.
This was a big step for the police department, I think,
and John McKay and I both agreed when people asked,
“Why would you do that?” It was a no-brainer, I think:
[the women] deserve the same protection as everyone
else. […]
JA: What is the difference between your approach
ten years ago, versus your approach today, when
dealing with violence against sex workers?
DD: My approach has always been the same, I’ve been
an advocate for as far back as I can remember, and I do
things differently. My pager is on seven days a week,
pretty much twenty-four hours a day. […] Everyone
knows they can contact me. Sometimes it’s just legal
advice, but other times its serious sexual assaults, and
if I’m not working I’ll get a hold of someone who is and
then help them out. So my approach hasn’t changed
one bit. But we’re trying to make the department’s
approach a little better. One of the other things we’re
doing is trying to educate police officers who are coming
on to the job, where we’re talking to new officers out
of the academy. Before they go out, they have a week
of orientation at the police station. […] We talk about
stereotypes, and we talk about the new DNA thing we
want to do, so if you come across a scene and a girl
wants to leave, don’t just drive away: look for DNA,
identify the person that’s there, and get his name
recorded.
JA: When you started doing this with the new
recruits, in general, what was their attitude towards
sex workers?
DD: We got a lot of good feedback. A lot of them were
very naive, and were quite honest about it and are eager
to learn. […] But you certainly do get the odd guy who
has a bad attitude towards sex workers, and no amount
of training is going to change that. That’s why I tell my
class, if you have one guy who has that attitude, or treats
sex workers like crap, or degrades, it’s going to reflect on
all of us. So it is okay to speak up. I’ve gotten into a few
discussions with a couple of policemen over the years,
and I have no problem jumping all over a guy if he’s
degrading some girl or just being an idiot. I’ll tell them.
JA: How do you send a message to sex predators
that the VPD does care about sex workers and won’t
tolerate their behaviour?
DD: Well, I think, through the
media, for one thing. We’re
starting a program where
we’ve hired a lawyer to act
on behalf of a number of
girls, and he’s actually going
to go after a suspect who
was tried and convicted
and went to jail for what
he did to these girls; he’s
going to go after him
civilly. We’re just sort of
setting this up now, so
when it happens we’ll do
a press conference, and
what we’re gong to say
is, “No longer will you
be able to come down
to the DTES and prey
on or victimize the women down here and get off with
probation or house arrest. Separate from the criminal
proceedings is another venue, and that’s the civil trial. If
you have a house or a car, or money, this lawyer is going
to come after you civilly.” That’s a whole different trial;
it’s a whole different ball game in civil court. […]
JA: How do you ensure that officers don’t mistreat
sex workers?
DD: That may still happen, but we’ll have to find a way
around that and deal with that police officer when he
does that. I do a lot of talking, where I say [to a sex
worker], “Well, I’m sorry he said that, but we’ve got
to find a way around this because you’re always going
to meet guys like that.” But that’s why I make myself
available. And now we have a couple of other officers
that are working down there who are really good, Dave
Hancock and Colin Downton. And they’ve been around
for a while, are very compassionate, and are good at
what they do. So it’s getting better; I can see more and
more guys turning that corner. […]
JA: What characteristics must a sex work liaison
officer have?
DD: Number one is compassion. I think people skills has
a lot to do with it. I was sort of lucky, and at an early age
I developed some really good people skills. I left home
when I was 15 years old,
went upcountry, and lived by
myself. I think that’s where I
learned respect for everybody.
It’s that old saying: “There
but for the grace of God go I.”
Treat everybody with the same
respect. And that’s what I try
to tell new recruits. You can go
out there and kick in doors and
arrest people and have all sorts
of fun, but don’t treat people
like assholes. Do your job, treat
everyone with respect, and it will
come back to you. I think that’s
the biggest one, don’t stereotype
people, be compassionate, and be
respectful.
Read the full interview at
www.historyofsexwork.com
40
 2. Excerpt from an interview with VPD Inspector
John McKay 27 July 2006 | Jennifer Allan

JA: What is the VPD’s
attitude or perspective
towards sex workers?
JM: It’s difficult in every
jurisdiction. In Vancouver,
we realize that sex workers
need protection, just
the same as everyone
else does. I came to this
realization over time.
JA: You say
realization? Can you
embellish on this?
JM: I came into this
late. My degree was in
sociology. I was taught
that sex work was a
victimless crime. Historically, police have chased
down prostitutes based on community complaints,
etc. Today, we see that the victimless crime view is
incorrect. There are a lot of victims.
JA: What programs exist within the VPD to
address the issue of sex-work-related violence?
JM: Our view is to shift our culture to realize the
same things we [some officers in the police force]
have. So, we began a training program and initiated
our officers into the sex trade world through
[sensitivity] workshops [run by] sex workers.
This program will continue into the future. We
also realize that sex work is very violent. [In our
Confrontation Management for Women at High
Risk workshops] we want to teach women to protect
themselves in myriad ways: disengagement, self-
defence, etc… Over the past three years, we have
trained over 100 sex workers. Today, we have
provided certain individuals with the skills to teach
others. Our goal is to build relationships between
sex workers and the police. We have common
ground in our dislike for predators.
This is still a work in progress, and has some
political detractors, but has been a good start in
making women safer. Again, our common ground
is found in our dislike for predators: we can work
together to get at them.
JA: Do you believe that sexual predators
directly target sex workers?
JM: I know they do. We know that because DNA
has enabled us to link people to incidents in certain
places and show us patterns. DNA patterns have
shown us the targeting of sex workers. […] Gary
Ridgeway was tracked through DNA, we know he
committed certain crimes because of it.
In the sex trade, [crime rates are] higher,
because a predator can do it easier. Also, a predator
may find it easier to justify their actions in preying
upon a sex worker. I have spoken to many rapists
and murderers who will give you perfect logic as to
how they can justify their actions.
Part of the problem with the educational
system is that [we’re taught that] sex work is
victimless. Then, when we become police officers,
we see them not as victims, but then they are just a
pain in the ass. I had this attitude up until 2001. My
wife worked on the Pickton case and got to know
many sex workers. She told me about them while
she worked on the Missing Women’s cases. Then
I got assigned to the DTES and met Dave Dixon
[current Sex Trade Liaison Person for the VPD]. At
the same time I met Marika and Char [former staff
members at Prostitution Alternatives Counselling
and Education (PACE) Society]. These four people I
listened to closely, and [they] caused me to rethink
my attitude.

41
I’m very supportive of exiting and assistance, but
I’m against legalization and decriminalization. If
there is no law or it is legalized, then there become
standards, isolation increases, and women become
further marginalized. The way the law so far has
been applied has failed, but we should use the court
system to assist people with issues, and recognize
them as special people. I agree with exiting, PACE and
PEERS [Prostitution Alternatives Counselling and
Education Society and Prostitution Empowerment
Education Resource Society] design for this. I’d like
to see the courts get involved in helping people. This
could happen by employing those who have already
exited. We can link up advocacy with the courts, with
the police, with sex workers. This approach would be
better than a $100 fine or a night in jail. These types
of approaches don’t accomplish anything. But, it goes
back to this idea around it being a victimless crime. We
need to say, in a humanitarian way, what do we want
for people? Sex work doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Even
in the VPD organization, people have had firsthand
experience with this issue.
JA: What is the DISC program?
JM: The DISC program stands for “Deter Interrupt Sex
Consumers.” It was aimed at IDing predators through
a database. It actually worked very well. Since then, BC
has switched to using PRIME, which is a more effective
program for province-wide interaction. […] PRIME
shows not only links to sex crimes, but all crime, and
vice versa. Essentially, it is a very powerful database.
For example, cars will be linked with licence numbers,
which will be linked with a description of the suspect.
JA: Why do you think the sex trade shouldn’t be
decriminalized?
JM: Well, we have decriminalized massage parlours,
etc. … which don’t have too much trouble. We leave
those places alone for the most part. But the survival
sex trade is characterized by isolation. Legalization
helps entrench this situation and isolate sex workers
even further. This wouldn’t help these women. We have
an obligation as moral people to help. The best way is
to empower them with skills. I believe that’s where we
should go. Let’s use the law to help people.
JA: Can you explain the DNA program?
JM: There is one for CI [Crime Investigation] at crime
scenes we take DNA. What we have begun doing is
getting sex workers who are victims to provide us with
DNA, and that can get matched eventually. Patterns
and proof of crime are coming out through DNA to
astounding levels. A sex-trade-specific DNA bank was
never able to be established, as it is too complex a task
for our organization.
JA: Do you believe that John School is effective?
JM: John School has value […] in showing these people
the reality of what they’re getting into. It’s not Pretty
Woman, and these men are suffering from a skewed
perspective. It is education, more than anything.
JA: The title of my project, ”Nothing Has Changed
in 100 Years,” relates to this issue of sex workers
being targeted by predators disproportionately. Do
you agree?
JM: I don’t find it surprising that you think nothing
has changed in 100 years. The problem is that we are
dealing with issues that have gone on for thousands of
years. What do predators do? They hunt the weakest in
society. Sex workers, especially those on the street, are
vulnerable. They lack support systems. But the biggest
issue is ISOLATION. Isolation from the community
makes sex workers that much more vulnerable.
Vulnerability occurs in isolation through a variety of
reasons. This isn’t going to change. We have to open
doors to sex workers and do all we can to bring them
into the community. Human nature hasn’t changed.
But we should care when people’s lives are at risk, and
street-level sex workers are at risk. We can’t stop crime
because it’s human nature. We can’t stop it, but we can
aspire to do better.
Read the full interview at www.historyofsexwork.com
42
 Work in P r o g r e s s
t h e fi g h t f o r ou r r
ights continues

zens have expressed a

The City of Vancouver and its citi
ety and quality of life for
desire to improve the health, saf
ght for human rights and
sex workers who live here. The fi
us, but through this project
labour standards continues for
ding of our place in the
we have gained a new understan
become as dangerous as
community, how the situation has
were contributing factors,
it is, what decisions and actions
and who made those decisions.
h and resolve in our
We have gained renewed strengt
project is still a work in
cause through this process. This
erations of sex workers will
progress and we hope future gen
nce the empowerment
continue to contribute and experie
our heritage.
that comes with understanding
History of Sex Work:
In addition to this publication, the
in the collaborative creation
Vancouver project has resulted
(with the help of Consulting
of a multimedia art installation
ituates our history
Artist Anne Marie Slater) that res
e. We plan to share
within our own unique perspectiv
ple and communities
this installation with as many peo
g efforts to create
as possible, as part of our ongoin
understanding and change.
y at the Dominion Hotel
The installation will be on displa
) from April 12 – May 3
Lobby (210 Abbott in Vancouver
seum & National
and at the Langley Centennial Mu
eet in Fort Langley)
Exhibition Centre (9135 King Str
from May 6 – June 15.
a schedule of
For more information, including
ways to contribute
upcoming venues and events, and
ject website at
to the project, please visit the pro
.
..

43
Participants in the    : 
project have made every effort to accurately cite every
source used in this publication. We have also made a
conscious decision to put forward our own voices and
opinions whenever we felt it was appropriate—this was,
in fact, one of the foremost motivators for producing this
piece. We thank all of the people and organizations involved
in supporting us through this project. Any mistakes or
omissions are our own.
image sources include
Vancouver Museum
Vancouver Public Library
City of Vancouver Archives
Pamphlet: Labour, Work, and Working People
(Published by Simon Fraser University Initiative for
Labour Education, 1994).
Original photographs by Susan Davis and Anne Marie Slater.
 ii, ‒, ‒, ‒, ‒, , 
Collages created by group members Susan Davis, Candice Hansen,
Chanel Martin, Jennifer Allen, and Stacey Grayer; Photographs of
collages: Anne Marie Slater, 2007.
  Archival photos from the Vancouver Public
Library and City of Vancouver Archives. Photo: Anne Marie Slater,
2007. Photos include: Palomar Supper Club dancers in costume,
tambourines, Vancouver Public Library, VPL 83194; Interior,
Palomar Supper Club, Vancouver Public Library, VPL 81618;
Interior, nightclub choristers, Cave Supper Club, Vancouver
Public Library, VPL 82042. View of Granville Street at night, 1959.
Photographer/Studio: Jennings, B.C. City of Vancouver Archives,
CVA 672-1.
. ‒ The Brunswick Hotel, City of Vancouver Archives, CVA
677-5
.  Decorated Red Cross Brewery carts in the 400 block
Cordova Street [ca. 1890], City of Vancouver Archives, BU P128.
. ‒ Sun Publishing Co. Ltd. Society Girls, 1929,
Photographer: Thomson, Stuart, City of Vancouver Archives, CVA
99-2408.
    
Bathing beauties at Greer’s Beach (Kitsilano Beach) [ca. 1898].
Photographer: Hunt, William. City of Vancouver Archives,
BE P67.
Exterior of Carnegie Public Library — S.W. corner of Westminster
Avenue (Main Street) and Hastings Street
[ca. 1903]. City of Vancouver Archives, BU P116.1.
Exterior of Carnegie Public Library — S.W. corner of Westminster
Avenue (Main Street) and Hastings Street [ca. 1903]. City of
Vancouver Archives, BU P116.3.
Decorated Red Cross Brewery carts in the 400 block Cordova
Street — North side [ca. 1890]. City of Vancouver Archives,
BU P128.
Group portrait in the entrance to Hayes and McIntosh Butchers — 36
Cordova Street, Dec. 1890. Photographer/Studio: Bailey Bros. City of
Vancouver Archives, BU P551.
Exterior of British Columbia Market Co. Ltd. — 19 Water Street [ca.
1890]. City of Vancouver Archives, BU P557.4.
Visit of H.M.S. “Vancouver” [sailors with young women], July 1928.
Photographer: Thomson, Stuart. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 99-
1671.
Sun Publishing Co. Ltd., society girls, 1929. Photographer: Thomson,
Stuart. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 99-2408.
[Exterior view of the] Hotel Vancouver [from Georgia Street],1940.
Photographer/Studio: Coltman, Don/Steffens-Colmer Ltd. City of
Vancouver Archives, CVA 586-438.
The Brunswick Hotel [ca. 1890]. Photographer/Studio: Bailey and
Neelands. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 677-5.
View of Dupont Street, later Pender Street, Chinatown area [ca. 1906].
Photographer Timms, Philip T. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 677-
530.
Full length studio portrait of an unidentified woman [191–?].
Photographer/Studio: Wadds Bros. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA
1376-46.
Palomar Supper Club dancers in costume, tambourines,1950.
Photographer/Studio: Artray. Vancouver Public Library. VPL 83194.
Interior, Palomar Supper Club, 1951. Photographer: Jones, Art.
Vancouver Public Library, VPL 81618.
Regent Hotel, September 9, 1936. Photographer: Frank, Leonard.
Vancouver Public Library. VPL 11475.
Interior, nightclub choristers, Cave Supper Club, 1952. Photographer:
Jones, Art. VPL 82042.
Stag and Pheasant Hotel, [ca. 1887]. Vancouver Public Library. VPL
818.
Arrests during 1912 free speech demonstration at Oppenheimer Park.
BCARS: D-06368
Gogo trio. Vancouver Sun, August 1, 1969.
Reverend Andrew Roddan with unemployed at 1931 United Church
soup kitchen. Vancouver Public Libary. VPL 12749.
Strathcona tenement housing in the 1940s. Photographer: Lindsay,
Jack. City of Vancouver Archives. CVA 1184-2615
View of Granville Street at night. Photographer: Jennings, B.C. [1959].
City of Vancouver Archives. CVA 672-1.
She May Look Clean — But. Syphilus prevention advertisement. US
Army, circa 1940.
Rue des Moulins, the Medical Inspection. Henri de Lautrec-Toulouse,
1894.
Davie Street track, c. 1986. Photographer: Mark van Manen, courtesy
of the Vancouver Sun.
Demonstration against the inaction on the rising number of missing
women in the Downtown Eastside, 1999. Photographer: Steve Bosch,
courtesy of the Vancouver Sun.
    
www.penthousenightclub.com http://coroun.com
www.radio.cbc.ca http://discovervancouver.com
www.intheknowzone.com http://discovervancouver.ca
www.caroun.com http://en.wikipedia.org
http://vancouverhistory.ca
44
 

who we were/who we are

HISTORY OF SEX WORK : VANCOUVER 

project sponsors

Simon Fraser University:

Continuing Studies Development Fund
Dr. John Wighton Community
Partnership Fund

OT L
O U T T O L U N C H
C A T E R I N G
EST. 1985

Published by Community Education Programs, Continuing Studies, ISBN#: 978086491-290-9

Simon Fraser University and History of Sex Work: Vancouver © 2007