Sex workers hold rally at the Supreme Court of Canada to protest prostitution laws.
A coalition of six Ottawa organizations is urging police to stop arresting prostitutes, insisting that such sweeps force sex workers into dangerous places at a time when a possible serial killer is targeting women in the region.
On Dec. 9, Ottawa police announced that six unsolved murders of prostitutes in the Ottawa-Gatineau area over the past 21 years might be linked to a serial killer. The police have not released the names of the murdered women, but police chief Vern White says there is “a pattern” in the Ottawa homicides of sex workers.
A warning was issued to prostitutes, urging them to be careful, to avoid working in isolated areas and to take their time assessing customers, amongst other precautions. The coalition says these practices are what get sex workers arrested.
“Sex workers are faced with deciding between their liberty and the security of their person,” says a letter to the Ottawa police, sent on behalf of the six groups by Galldin Law, a feminist legal practice.
“The police say it’s an oversimplification to link policing and violence against sex workers,” Karin Galldin says. “But if there’s any link at all, they have a responsibility to make things safer.”
Sunny Marriner, of the Sexual Assault Support Centre, says that “street sweeps” of prostitutes are very common.
“Either a policeman will pose as a ‘John’ and arrest the sex worker, or he’ll observe her with a client and arrest them both,” Marriner explains.
She says that forcing sex workers into remote areas because of the sweeps is counter-intuitive to the police’s suggested precautions.
The centre is one of the six organizations calling for an end to the sweeps.
The other five organizations are Prostitutes of Ottawa-Gatineau Work, Educate, and Resist, the Elizabeth Fry Society of Ottawa, Families of Sisters in Spirit, the AIDS Committee of Ottawa, and the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies.
“The sweeps push women out of neighbourhoods where they have security precautions in place,” says Bryonie Baxter, executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Ottawa.
Baxter says the letter was sent out on Jan. 20 and she expects a response. Although the police have not replied to previous requests from the Elizabeth Fry Society to end the sweeps, she is hopeful that this time, considering the danger, the police will pay attention.
“We believe that this is an urgent and pressing issue,” Baxter says.
“The criminalization of prostitutes is not helpful,” adds Kristen Gilchrist, of Families of Sisters in Spirit. “We feel like they need to be putting their forces into finding the killer. It’s taken them 21 years, and their response is to tell women to be more careful.”
Families of Sisters in Spirit is a grassroots organization that supports the families of murdered and missing aboriginal women.
Gilchrist says they have a particular interest in the campaign because “a disproportionate number” of sex workers are aboriginal women and street sweeps put these women in danger.
Marriner says the strong community interest should send a message that catching the predator should take precedence over prostitute arrests.
“We want the police to prioritize safety over public nuisance complaints.”