| CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE
Katrina Pacey, a lawyer from Pivot LLP, an independent law firm that focuses on social justice issues, has been retained by a society of street-level sex workers.
This group, called Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United Against Violence (SWUAV), initiated a challenge to the prostitution laws under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in August 2007.
Read: Sex worker charter challenge denied
Supreme Court rules sex workers cannot challenge prostitution laws
(December 16, 2008)
Pivot’s Sex Work Law Reform Committee, SWLRC, has taken on a supporting role for SWUAV and its counsel.
As we are committed to ensuring the voices of the women most affected by the law are actively engaged in this debate, our involvement with the Charter Challenge represents a meeting of minds between the plaintiff and Pivot’s own mandate.
As this case proceeds through the courts, Pivot’s involvement with the issue will continue. Grounded by our original work, Pivot’s Sex Trade Law Reform Committee will continue with community outreach, facilitation and education.
Download a PDF of the Statement of Claim from the Sex Work Constitutional Challenge
The sex work law reform committee has been busy doing a lot of public presentations. Please check out the following links:
1. Katrina Pacey presenting to the B.C. Teachers Federation, Panel on Prostitution, November 3, 2007 at the Delta Vancouver Airport Hotel, Richmond, B.C. (click on “panelist 1”)
2. Elin Sigurdson presenting at the Workless Party Public Forum "Should Prostitution be Legalized Before the 2010 Olympics"? March 11, 2008 at the YWCA, Vancouver, B.C.
THE CURRENT LAWS
Sections 210, 211, 212 and 213 of the Canadian Criminal Code, also known as the “Bawdy House Law”, the “Procurement Law” and the “Communication Law” have wide-ranging negative effects on sex workers’ safety, health and well being.
As a result of these laws, sex workers experience systematic discrimination, exploitation and violence on a daily basis.
The Communication Law exposes sex workers to violence because they must travel to remote or industrial locations to avoid arrest; they must join a client in his car before talking with and evaluating him.
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The Bawdy House Law deprives sex workers of the opportunity to conduct their work in an indoor setting, including settings that provide increased access to security assistance, condoms, and bathrooms.
The Procurement Law deprives sex workers of the possibility of supporting each other’s safety by using a buddy system and referring good clients.
CHARTER RIGHTS ARE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
The prostitution laws infringe upon sex workers’ constitutional rights to life, liberty and security of the person, their freedom of communication, and their right to equality and dignity.
These are the rights protected under sections 2(b), 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Charter is the highest law in this country. It is meant to protect the rights of every citizen from unlawful government action. SWUAV’s challenge will focus on the how the current prostitution laws violate these rights.
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