Today is the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, and we are amid a provincially declared epidemic of gender-based violence. At the same time the past year has seen a string of closures and service reductions at organizations serving sex workers across Vancouver, a pattern of taking place in the context of sustained underfunding for a highly criminalized and marginalized group.
Currently, our funding is being negotiated, but other organizations who have had their funding paused or ended altogether are not so lucky.
Sex worker-led and women serving organizations in Vancouver, and First Nations, are highlighting the urgency of this moment, and calling on the province to allocate stable and enhanced funding for critical programs serving sex workers, following many existing recommendations including those contained in the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice, Red Women Rising, and Forsaken.
We cannot accept the violence perpetrated against sex workers being minimized or overlooked.
Please read this Press Release calling for support from all levels of government.
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