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Sex Workers' Rights

Joint Written Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women

On May 5th 2023, Pivot, alongside PACE Society, submitted a written brief to House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women re: its study on human trafficking What we know? The harms that flow from police-led anti-trafficking efforts have detrimental impacts incl. increased criminalization for sex workers and migrant communities with intersecting identities, shaped by race, gender, disability, and citizenship status. For instance, sex work prohibitions, exacerbate barriers to status for migrant workers, which puts already criminalized, migrant communities at risk of various abuses and systemic oppression such as heightened surveillance, detention, arrest, and deportation.
By Simone Akyianu Simone Akyianu | May 10, 2023 | Sex Workers' Rights, Legal Submissions

Situating Pivot’s sex workers’ rights campaign within its colonial roots and possibilities for new directions

A human rights-based, intersectional approach to sex work advocacy is an invitation to rethink the ways in which we approach systemic advocacy that supports the rights of sex workers. This will necessarily involve recentering the lived experiences and voices of sex workers, particularly Black, Indigenous and Asian migrant sex worker communities whose work is traditionally erased from public and organizing around sex workers’ rights. Stay tuned for ways to get involved in our upcoming human rights work!
By Simone Akyianu Simone Akyianu | Apr 28, 2023 | Sex Workers' Rights, Blog

Simone Akyianu

Simone joined Pivot in August 2022.
Feb 02, 2023 | Sex Workers' Rights, Featured Staff

Federal government’s sex work law review doesn’t go far enough

The Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights recently released their report following a review process on the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA) which are the laws governing sex work in Canada. Over 50 witnesses testified and the government received 72 briefs from interested parties. The report contains some very positive recommendations including repealing two provisions of the PCEPA as well as Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations that prohibit migrants from working in the sex industry. These recommendations are contrasted by some that seek to increase criminalization as it relates to exploitation and human trafficking. Read more by Kerry Porth - Pivot's Sex Work Policy Consultant #SexWorkIsWork #DecriminalizeSexWork
By Kerry Porth Kerry Porth | Jul 08, 2022 | Sex Workers' Rights, Blog

Pivot and PACE written submission on the review of PCEPA

Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA) harms sex workers; the people it claims to protect. Pivot and PACE Society wrote to the Standing Committee and will be presenting today calling for a repeal to laws that criminalize sex workers.
By Sozan Savehilaghi Sozan Savehilaghi | Mar 01, 2022 | Sex Workers' Rights, Legal Submissions

Landmark Ontario Case Rules Certain Sex Work Laws Unconstitutional

By Kerry Porth Kerry Porth | Mar 05, 2020 | Sex Workers' Rights, Blog

Stigma and Criminalization of Sex Work Facilitated the Murder of Marylène Levesque

By Kerry Porth Kerry Porth | Feb 15, 2020 | Sex Workers' Rights, Blog

Sex Work Rights Cards

By Pivot Legal Society Pivot Legal Society | Dec 16, 2019 | Sex Workers' Rights, Public Legal Education

Trafficking Hysteria and Citizen Surveillance

By Kerry Porth Kerry Porth | Aug 06, 2019 | Sex Workers' Rights, Blog

Sex Work is Not Human Trafficking: Pivot's Submission to Canada's Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights

Sex work and human trafficking are not the same. Confusing the two harms those engaged in consensual sex work, who, like all of us, deserve a right to safety and security.
By Peter Kim Peter Kim | Jun 01, 2018 | Sex Workers' Rights, Legal Submissions
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Pivot Legal Society is located on stolen lands of the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish Nation), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). We are grateful to Indigenous Peoples for their continuous relationship with their lands and are committed to learning to work in solidarity as accomplices in shifting the colonial default. 

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