A difference a year makes

In August 2013, I wrote a post about how the internet has changed the way the sex industry operates.

I was so happy when I wrote it. I explained how liberating the Internet has been for sex workers. The Internet was designed as a medium to exchange information, and using it for that purpose has allowed sex workers to learn about their clients before face-to-face interaction. “Is he a client, or is he a predator?” It’s hard to tell in a few seconds in an out-of-the-way place; indeed, non-sex workers on a regular date with a man may not realize they’re with a predator until after a few hours of drinks.

As I said in the blog, sex workers control the transaction; sex workers have all the power. Clients consent to this, just as any client of any service consents to terms of conduct. Clients want sex workers to be safe, and sex workers want clients who wish for them to be safe.

It was one of the first blog posts I made to this site. It was made before the December 2013 Bedford decision, a Supreme Court that brought so much joy and liberation to sex workers in this country.

The post was made before Conservative Justice Minister Peter MacKay introduced his incorrectly-named “Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act”, Bill C-36.

The post was made before the summer Justice Committee hearings where women such as me and those I work with were dragged through the mud, dehumanized, and discussed as if we were either victims or simply not mature enough to realize we were victims.

The post was before Senate Committee hearings where the idea was floated for rehabilitation camps in the middle of rural Manitoba, run by churches, for us “fallen women”.

The post was made before the Governor General, a man who represents the very symbol of paternalism and colonialism baked into this country’s DNA, with a stroke of a pen officially signed into law C-36.

The post I wrote in that August 2013 is now not true.

Peter MacKay’s Bill C-36 outlaws every single thing sex workers require for their protection. Peter MacKay’s Bill C-36 says sex workers may advertise, but it outlaws the publication of those same ads. Peter MacKay’s Bill C-36 outlaws clients, leaving only potential predators. What’s more, while activists who hate sex work but claim to be all about “rescuing” sex workers (as though we were lost, mangy stray animals) talk a big game about not charging sex workers themselves, Peter MacKay’s Bill C-36 charges the very sex workers he claims are victims and gives them a criminal record!

With every measure in place to ensure us sex workers cannot protect ourselves, it’s only a matter of time before places sex workers will be forced to work become hunting grounds for violent predators.

“We live in a truly amazing world, gentlemen,” I said in that August 2013 post.

In little over a year, Peter MacKay has turned our world into one of fear, suspicion, danger, and violence.