Nearly 3 in 4 sex workers live with a disability, rare B.C. report finds

The cover page of "By Us, For Us" is shown.

A first-of-its-kind report is highlighting the needs of sex workers in southwestern B.C., including financial aid and professional development opportunities.

The Transitions Metro Vancouver Consortium published its 52-page assessment titled “By Us, For Us” (BUFU) on Wednesday. The report was developed and run by sex workers in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island. 

The lead evaluator of the BUFU research project, Sylvia Machat, says the work was done to ensure the voices of sex workers were being uplifted in the right way.

“I think it’s pretty rare for sex workers’ voices to be directly heard. A lot of people try to speak on behalf of sex workers,” Machat told CTV News Thursday, explaining most Canadian research on the topic has been conducted in academic settings.

For this assessment, surveying and research was done by a research team comprised of sex workers and the project was run by Health Initiative for Him (HIM), PACE Society and WISH Drop-In Centre Society in partnership with Peers Victoria and Atira Women's resource societies.

'SEX WORK IS WORK'

One of the 236 sex workers who participated in the study is a 67-year-old Indigenous woman from Vancouver, who CTV News has agreed to call Tess due to safety concerns.

She’s engaged in sex work for more than four decades, and says it’s how she supports her children and grandchildren.

“Sex work is work. It needs to be addressed to government so that we can use that income for income tax purposes,” said Tess, who only works with regular clients out of her home.

However, respondents to the survey also highlighted a need for professional development in areas other than sex work, which could, in turn, help organizations that support sex workers.

“Maintaining a professional (but not friendly) relationship with police while maintaining credibility among sex workers may be easier to achieve for staff members coming from a background of active sex work,” Machat wrote in the report.

According to Machat, a lot of sex workers have other skills, but don’t know how to identify or apply them to other jobs.

Some workshops suggested by respondents include ones on resume-writing, financial literacy skills, home economics, and computer and internet literacy.

“I think starting with the basics of self-esteem—getting self-esteem back, getting your Grade 12—that was a big accomplishment for me,” Tess said.

She’s hopeful that the report will result in at least one additional resource for sex workers in Vancouver.

“It would be really great if we could get a mobile health clinic specifically for sex workers only so they don’t have to put up with the racism and degrading,” said Tess. “That would help with the safety issues, especially for disabled individuals.”

NEARLY 3 IN 4 SEX WORKERS LIVE WITH DISABILITES

Researchers found that 73 per cent of sex workers who took part in the project are living with at least one disability.

Tess, for example, has osteoarthritis and requires a knee brace.

The report is calling on provincial policy makers to raise monthly disability assistance payments from under $1,500, where they stand today, to $2,000.

“Which is what the federal government says the average Canadian needs to get by on,” Machat said, referring to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments made during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the report found sex workers are experiencing a variety of overlapping disabilities, many are related to mental illness.

“Mental health services are not covered under (B.C.'s Medical Services Plan). Keeping people legislated in poverty forces them to enter sex work when that may not be their preference, and take more clients or riskier clients to cover costs of living and medical costs,” said Machat.

THEY’RE NOT GOING TO GIVE A S**T

Tess says she’s witnessed first hand how a lack of mental health supports has affected the well-being of sex workers.

“We used to have a sisterhood where we looked after each other, looked after each other's kids, hid them from either the ministry or police. Now there seems to be a lot of jealousy against each other out there,” she said.

The challenges facing sex workers are not just a women’s issue, however, as 31 per cent of research participants were not cisgender women.

“They spoke about the historic impact of HIV in their community,” Machat said.

Despite participating, Tess is doubtful that the research will lead to any major change.

“I was part of the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls. We put in recommendations to the government, and none have been followed through—not one--especially dealing with police,” Tess said.

“I don’t even think they’ll bother looking at (the BUFU) recommendations, and if they do, they’re not going to give a s**t,” she added.