Unique report sheds light on risks faced by sex workers in parts of BC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APR. 12, 2023

Unique report sheds light on risks faced by sex workers in parts of BC 

Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. — A 100% sex worker-developed and sex worker-run report is shedding light on the unique needs and risks faced by sex workers in the Lower Mainland and Southern Vancouver Island.  

The By Us, For Us (BUFU) report is the first of its size in the area, surveying more than 200 sex workers. The research project was undertaken in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the criminalization of sex work, and set against backgrounds of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a national inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), and a public health overdose crisis.  

Some of the major themes to emerge from the report include:   

  • Risks and unique needs faced by sex workers with intersecting oppressions   
  • Need for diverse harm-reporting and justice systems  
  • Risks of violence experienced by sex workers   
  • Need for robust government response to the overdose crisis  
  • Need for mental health supports  

The report identifies the need for a robust government response—like the response to COVID-19—to the overdose crisis, including raising income assistance and disability rates to COVID-19 support levels. And, because of a general distrust of police among sex workers, there is a need for diverse ways for sex workers to report the harms they experience. 

At a glance: 
  • 73% of sex workers surveyed were living with disabilities 
  • 60% were worried about a loved one overdosing  
  • 46% had difficulties paying for food   
  • 45% were Indigenous   
  • 35% were not safely housed   
  • 29% had dependents   

The report was developed and written by the Metro Vancouver Consortium, a rights-based and sex work-positive collaboration between multiple sex worker rights organizations and service providers who provide a wide range of programming to people in the sex industry in the Lower Mainland and southern Vancouver Island. 

Government calls to action: 

  1. Decriminalize sex work.
  2. Follow-through on stable, long-term funding for the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls Call for Justice.
  3. Increase disability assistance rates to match the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), issued by the government of Canada in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  4. Urgent, compassionate approaches and responses to the overdose crisis.
  5. Increase availability, access to, and facilities of public washrooms.
  6. Funding for experiential frontline workers providing support to sex workers who have experienced harm.

QUOTES: 

“This was a first-of-its-kind, 100% experientially led, highly adaptable process in which the participants and researchers identified ways to meet needs and minimize risks for diverse sex workers in the Lower Mainland and southern Vancouver Island.” – Sylvia Machat, Lead Evaluator 

“Sex workers with intersecting oppressions such as living with disabilities, Indigenous background, gender minority identity, or being a person of colour face unique needs and risks such as higher needs for mental health supports, specific care needs for Indigenous sex workers, risk of homophobic or transphobic violence for men and gender minority sex workers, and added risks of racist aggression or violence towards people of colour. Further, income and disability assistance rates need to be raised immediately to COVID-era support levels to reduce the added risks that people in poverty or living with disabilities are forced to take on to make ends meet.” – Spencer Johnston, Program Manager/Community Engagement, Health Initiative for Men 

Sex workers have been telling us their needs for decades, and now we have robust data and approaches to systemic change for all levels of government to act on. Sex workers’ safety, needs, and well-being must be centred in all systemic, health, legal, and policy changes that impact sex workers’ lives. This report validates that sex workers’ rights are human rights, that decriminalization of sex work must be at the forefront of systemic changes that take place at all levels of government, and that support organizations must shift their practices to include sex workers’ needs” – nour kachouh, Co-Executive Director, PACE Society

“We’re encouraged to see such rich data and information that validates much of what we know and hear anecdotally from sex workers. It’s also a clear and distinct reminder that sex worker rights are fundamental human rights. Many of the calls to action in this report align with those of other sectors and segments of the community. This is a clear invitation for all of us to pay attention to, and advance the rights of, sex workers across BC.” – Mebrat Beyene, Executive Director, WISH Drop-In Centre Society 

Read the full By Us, For Us: A needs and risks assessment of sex workers in the Lower Mainland and Southern Vancouver Island here

For more information and to arrange interviews, please contact Lisa Akinyi May at 236-886-7646, [email protected] 

Women are not acceptable casualties in the response to housing crisis

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUG. 16, 2022

Women are not acceptable casualties in the response to housing crisis

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territory/Vancouver, B.C – Last week, a police operation violently dismantled the encampment along East Hastings in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. We firmly condemn those acts of violence, as well as the continued lack of strategy to address the homelessness crisis.

We also condemn the absence of any consideration for women’s safety despite our organizations’ perpetual warnings about the escalation of gender-based violence in “tent cities.” We are calling for a concerted, nuanced action that prioritizes women’s safety.

Tent cities occur because of multiple, overlapping crises: the housing crisis, opioid crisis and deadly drug supply, lack of appropriate mental health care, and deteriorating access to general health services. For many women, especially Indigenous women and women who are racialized, these hardships intersect with centuries of sexist and racist colonial policies. And like everywhere, gender-based violence goes often unchallenged, unreported and unnoticed.

“With every tent city, we see a dramatic increase in gender-based violence. Women are threatened, harassed, beaten, and raped. Their access to our sites is made difficult if not impossible. Our officials need to do more than a mere acknowledgement of the situation” says Alice Kendall, Executive Director of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre.

“We have watched thirty years of planning and policy decisions encompassing addiction, law enforcement, mental health, business improvement, real estate development and housing grind down to the present day. While at the same time, no sustained effort has been made to address the systemic, institutional conditions that give rise to the extreme levels of intimate partner, domestic, and sexualized violence experienced by women in the community. Considering all this violence the last thing we need now is the Vancouver Police Department coming to the neighbourhood to bust heads of impoverished and unhoused people.” says Angela Marie MacDougall, Executive Director of Battered Women’s Support Services.

“We cannot settle for tent cities that re-emerge and grow each year, instead of immediate and concrete action to house people. Women are among those at greatest risk in encampments. The existence and realities of women in this community continue to be ignored. Consistent failure to meaningfully acknowledge and address the violence women face continues to risk their lives and safety. Given the fact that women make up over 40% of the DTES population, the solutions, priorities, and commitment must at least reflect these proportions. Women’s safety cannot wait. Women deserve to be and feel safe in their communities and in public spaces, and women deserve to be safely and appropriately housed.” Mebrat Beyene, Executive Director of WISH Drop-In Centre Society.

“Women must have appropriate, safe, independent and where requested, supportive housing. They must have access to homes where they can see their children, friends and families, and that create opportunities for them to keep themselves and the people they care about safe. Encampments only ensure that we will still be struggling, in another generation, with the same challenges we are struggling with today. We can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different outcomes; and we must not sacrifice women’s health, wellness and safety now, to make this point.” Janice Abbott, CEO, Atira Women’s Resources Society.

Indigenous women are particularly vulnerable to these acts of violence and while we keep seeing new cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Youth, the VPD and RCMP’s response to this reality remains inappropriate, or non-existent.

Women-serving organizations are, yet again, calling for a structured, concerted, anti-sexist, trauma-informed response that draws on the many existing recommendations such as those contained in the Calls for Justice and Red Women Rising. We cannot accept the violence perpetrated against women being minimized or overlooked.

In numbers:
  • 2,095 residents identified as homeless in 2020 in Metro Vancouver;
  • Women represent over 40% of the Downtown Eastside population;
  • Indigenous people are overrepresented in the people experiencing homelessness: they make up to 34% of the general homeless population and 45% of the women homeless population;
  • In the last month alone, DEWC has responded to 40 women who access the drop-in who had experience sexual assault;
  • Over 22,000 homes are empty in Vancouver.

 

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre
Elody Croullebois, Fundraising and Communications Coordinator
778-686-5608
[email protected]

Battered Women’s Support Services
Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director
604-808-0507

WISH Drop-In Centre Society
Estefania Duran, Director of Communications
[email protected]
604-669-9474 (Ext. 124)

Atira Women’s Resource Society
Janice Abbott, CEO
604-813-0851

Women’s organizations denounce VPD spin on arrest outside women’s center; renew calls for real safety in face of increasing gender-based violence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JAN. 19, 2022

Women’s organizations denounce VPD spin on arrest outside women’s center; renew calls for real safety in face of increasing gender-based violence

(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C – Women’s organizations in the Downtown Eastside renew calls for community-led safety following an arrest made outside the Downtown Eastside Women’s Center.

The calls for action come after the Vancouver Police Department sent a press release on January 17, sharing details of an arrest made near the Women’s Center where a man wielding a knife attempted to enter.

“It was our staff’s quick actions, experience, and training, not police action, that kept women safe from any potential harm, and we reject the VPD attempting to turn this into a media opportunity to look like heroes,” said Executive Director of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Center, Alice Kendall. “In their own press release, the VPD acknowledge that the man had already dropped the knife and walked away.”

Women’s organizations in the DTES continue to see sexualized and gender-based violence daily. Women and front-line staff respond and deal with, aggressive and violent predators and incidents that often remain unreported. When police say, “many violent crimes go unreported in the Downtown Eastside,” this is a painfully long-standing and well-known fact to women and women’s organizations. Fear of further retaliation, or of repercussion due to engagement in criminalized and stigmatized activities such as sex work or drug use, is real and extremely harmful.

The VPD’s press release is particularly egregious given that every day we witness how current policing practices, such as coordinated street sweeps, do not contribute to women’s safety and just waste municipal resources.

“We also witness how ongoing disappearances and reports of missing women, particularly Indigenous women and girls, muster grossly inadequate responses from the VPD and RCMP. Despite a provincial inquiry and a national inquiry into the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, trans and two-spirit people, there is no recognizable change in policing practices nor adequate supports for communities and families who are searching for their loved ones,” further states Kendall.

The Downtown Eastside Women’s Center, along with the WISH Drop-In Centre Society, Battered Women’s Support Services, and Atira Women’s Resource Society, are renewing calls for a community-led coordinated response. One year after expressing outrage of the ongoing sexualized and gender-based violence in the neighbourhood and no discernible outcome, we are once again calling on all levels of government for an action plan.

Access to safe spaces has been significantly reduced during the pandemic, with many spaces remaining closed or operating at reduced capacity. This is exacerbating the already existing, overlapping crises of homelessness, a deadly drug supply, worsening health conditions, lack of access to basic needs, and increased gender-based violence.

While there are multiple reports and recommendations, what continues to be absent is a coordinated and robust response to a shadow pandemic that pre-existed COVID: gender-based violence in the Downtown Eastside.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Battered Women’s Support Services
Angela Marie MacDougall, Executive Director
604 808 0507
[email protected]

WISH Drop-In Centre Society
Mebrat Beyene, Executive Director
604 836 6464
604-669-9474 (Ext. 124)
[email protected]

Atira Women’s Resource Society
Janice Abbott, CEO
(604) 813 0851
[email protected]

Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre
Alice Kendall, Executive Director
778-323-4594
[email protected]

Coalition on MMIWG2S+ Remembers Lillian Howard for her Legacy of Advocacy and Vision of Justice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOV. 24, 2021

Coalition on MMIWG2S+ Remembers Lillian Howard for her Legacy of Advocacy and Vision of Justice

Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ/sel̓ílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. — Our hearts are heavy with the passing of Lillian Howard, who was an active and long-time member of the Coalition and fierce advocate for Indigenous women and peoples. The members of the Coalition share our heart-felt condolences with Lillian’s family, friends, relatives, and all whose lives were touched by her light and presence.

Lillian was a proud member of the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation and was of Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka’wakw, and Tlingit ancestry. Lillian carried herself through life with an unwavering commitment to community and a dedication to justice. Lillian often reflected on the darkness she experienced through the residential school system, domestic violence, and the loss of family members to gender-based violence, and had an ardent commitment to helping others and overcoming injustice.

Lillian is remembered as a fierce social and environmental justice advocate who did not shy away from taking action in the name of justice for Indigenous people. Throughout decades of activism, she was known for having occupied the Indian Affairs office in Vancouver for 28 days in protest of inadequate housing, poor living conditions, and poverty among Indigenous communities in BC – as well as performing a 31-day hunger strike in support of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence who fought for a meeting with former prime minister Stephen Harper.

In addition to her presence on the Coalition, and belonging to the Butterflies in Spirit dance group, Lillian held a number of roles and worked with multiple organizations. She worked at the Union of BC Indian Chiefs throughout the 1970s and played a foundational role in supporting the UBCIC’s work on the MMIWG2S+ crisis. During her time at the WISH Drop-In Centre as the Aboriginal Program Coordinator for the Aboriginal Health and Safety Program she shared care and compassion in her work with women living and working in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and advocated for sustained supports for Indigenous women on the Downtown Eastside. Working on the frontline, Lillian incorporated cultural teachings and life skills in support of the community’s most vulnerable. She served as co-chair for the Vancouver Urban Indigenous Peoples Advisory Committee, sat on the Vancouver Police Department Aboriginal Advisory Committee, was Executive Director of the Aboriginal Policing Centre, and was the co-founder of the Uplifting Indigenous Families Fund which raises funds to assist families during and after the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG2S+).

Lillian’s presence warmed and empowered countless lives and she leaves behind an impressive legacy that will continue to grow as it ripples across community through those who will carry her passion and vision forward in their work and advocacy. We raise our hands to Lillian and thank her for her contribution, for all of us were truly made better by her mighty spirit.
Donations are being accepted via go fund me to support Lillian’s family with funeral expenses during this
difficult time.

With love and respect,

Battered Women’s Support Service
BC Assembly of First Nations
BC Association of BC Friendship Centres
BC Civil Liberties Association
BC First Nations Justice Council
Cheryl Bear, Director of Community Ministry, First United Church
Christina Entrekin, IVAH Consulting
Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre
Ending Violence Association of BC
Feminists Deliver
Gladys Radek, Advocate for MMIWG + LGBTQ
Indian Residential School Survivor Society
Lorelei Williams, Butterflies in Spirit
Melanie Mark, MLA
Myrna Cranmer, February 14th Memorial March
Pacific Association of First Nations Women
Rhaea Bailey
Saa-ust Centre
Union of BC Indian Chiefs
Vancouver Aboriginal Community Policing Centre
West Coast LEAF
WISH Drop-In Centre Society

One year after Canada’s first 24/7 shelter for sex workers opened overwhelming demand continues

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCT. 26, 2021

One year after Canada’s first 24/7 shelter for sex workers opened overwhelming demand continues

Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ/sel̓ílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. — It’s been one year since Canada’s first 24/7 emergency shelter for street-based sex workers opened its doors in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and the overwhelming demand for the space continues.

The low-barrier shelter has been operating at capacity since day one. Sadly, this means participants are turned away every single day, highlighting the critical need for shelter and safe spaces in the DTES, particularly for women and gender-diverse people.

Run by the WISH Drop-In Centre Society, the low-barrier shelter provides respite and a warm, safe place to sleep to precariously housed and unhoused women and gender diverse people in Vancouver’s sex trade.

“I feel safe sleeping…grateful just to have a place to sleep,” shared a Shelter resident. “I don’t have to exchange low-cost sex work for a place to stay,” shared another.

Thanks to the shelter, more than 70% of residents surveyed reported fewer instances of violence and the ability to turn down dangerous work.

Since opening day:

  • Crash beds have been used more than 1,100 times
  • More than 1,000 participants have been turned away due to high demand
  • More than 15 residents have been in the shelter for more than 4 months
  • The average length of stay is 105 days
  • Only 6 shelter residents have been placed in longer-term housing
  • Staff have done more than 1,541 loads of laundry
  • A total of 119 participants have used the 23 beds available over the last year

The temporary shelter opened its doors thanks to the critical support of BC Housing and the City of Vancouver. The space provides 23 beds along with hot showers, laundry, meals, and critical access to WISH’s supporting programs and services.

“Celebrating this milestone is bittersweet,” said WISH’s Executive Director Mebrat Beyene. “The need for a shelter like this has existed for years and we’re thrilled to have brought it to fruition. But, there is still so much need for additional shelter spaces and housing options for sex workers; particularly women and gender diverse people. A year from now, we hope to celebrate that a significant number of street-based sex workers have secured safe, affordable, and appropriate longer-term housing.”

Spaces like the shelter continue to be critical—now more than ever. We continue to advocate for and work towards a larger, permanent, and purpose-built shelter for street-based sex workers.

About WISH Drop-In Centre Society

For almost 40 years, WISH has been a refuge and an essential point of contact for street-based sex workers who have been made vulnerable due to poverty, homelessness, trauma, violence, stigma, and a lack of access to supports and opportunities. It is the largest organization in Canada supporting street-based sex workers and the only drop-in centre and shelter in the region supporting them 365 nights a year.

Media Contact:

Estefania Duran

Email: communications[at]wishdropincentre.org

Phone: 604-669-9474 (Ext. 124)

Coalition of Organizations Boycott City Panel on Decriminalizing Poverty

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 22, 2021

Coalition of Organizations Boycott City Panel on Decriminalizing Poverty

The following open letter was issued to the City of Vancouver and representatives responsible for convening the City of Vancouver’s Community Panel on Decriminalizing Poverty and Supporting Community-led Initiatives. Organizational endorsements can be made by filling out the endorsement form.


Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ/sel̓ílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.We are a coalition of organizations that have been invited to support the formation of the Community Panel on Decriminalizing Poverty and Supporting Community-led Initiatives. This Community Panel is in response to the July 2020 Motion Decriminalizing Poverty and Supporting Community-led Safety Initiatives.

While we acknowledge and applaud the stated commitment to decriminalizing poverty, we share considerable concerns with the presented process.

Based on the presented process, we have decided to forego any participation in the Community Panel. We recognize and restate the urgency for defunding police while supporting community-led safety initiatives. We see the violence of policing and criminalization every single day: through the use of street sweeps, the surveillance of street stops, the targeting of overdose prevention sites, the inadequate attention or response to gender based and sexualized violence, and the inability to hold police accountable for illegal, unethical and dangerous conduct.

The proposal set forth by City staff outlines an unsafe process that does not respect the realities of people who have lived and living experience of the criminalization of poverty. Notably, the Community Panel involves a number of police and police-adjacent representatives that do not serve the interests of people living in poverty. Communities that experience marginalization are directly harmed by the police on a daily basis. Furthermore, the Vancouver Police Department—including senior force and union leadership—consistently refuse to acknowledge the existence of systemic racism in policing. This is an unsafe environment that lacks any provisions for safety, anonymity, and accountability. To reiterate, the focus must not be on tweaking this proposed panel but to return to the original request to defund the police while supporting community-based initiatives.

There have already been numerous recommendations set forth, and we believe the City is positioned to take immediate action on policies related to decriminalizing poverty, as outlined in reports such as:

Previous City of Vancouver planning and consultation processes have failed to adequately meet the needs of the community. These processes (which took considerable time, energy, and labour on behalf of community members and organizations) each failed to engage with the realities shaping the livelihood and survival of the most adversely-impacted communities—women and people of marginalized genders, Black and Indigenous people, people who use illicit substances, people who work in criminalized economies including sex work, and people living at the intersections of these, and other, interlocking oppressions. Ultimately, most of the recommendations generated through each of these—and many other—processes remain unimplemented.

At this time, we are making the difficult decision to cease any involvement with the process. We have outlined our concerns here and to City staff and representatives of Reciprocal Consulting. In order to move forward with defunding police while supporting community-led initiatives, police and/or police-adjacent organizations cannot be at the table. We remain committed to this work and remain open to working with the City to ensure previously-made recommendations are fully implemented.

Sincerely,

  • Ash MacLeod – A Better Life Foundation
  • Adriane King – A. King Law
  • Janice Abbott – Atira Women’s Resource Society
  • Angela Marie MacDougall – Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS)
  • Harsha Walia – BC Civil Liberties Association
  • Lizzie Howells – Binners’ Project – MakeWay Charitable Society
  • Eris Nyx – The Black Lab Artists Society
  • Udokam Iroegbu & Azuka Nduka-Agwu – Black Lives Matter-Vancouver
  • Constance Barnes
  • Ritica Ramesh – Centre for Gender and Sexual Health
  • Eris Nyx – Coalition of Peers Dismantling the Drug War
  • Alice Kendall – Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre
  • Rory Sutherland & Tintin Yang – DTES Neighbourhood House
  • Eris Nyx – Drug User Liberation Front
  • Michelle Lackie –Exchange Inner City
  • Sarah Common –Hives for Humanity
  • Lama Mugabo –Hogan’s Alley Society
  • Sarah Blyth & Trey Helten – Overdose Prevention Society
  • Lyra McKee – PACE Society
  • Meenakshi Mannoe – Pivot Legal Society
  • Eris Nyx – Tenant Overdose Response Organizers
  • Vince Tao –Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU)
  • Tracey Axelsson – Vancouver Community Network
  • France-Emmanuelle Joly – Vancouver Women’s Health Collective Society
  • Irwin Oostindie – Voor Urban Labs
  • Ingrid Mendez – Watari Counselling and Support Services
  • Tracey Draper –Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society (WAHRS)
  • Mebrat Beyene –WISH Drop-In Centre Society
Endorsements received after June 21
  • Health Initiative for Men (HIM)
  • Radical Access Mapping Project
  • Bonfire Counselling
  • Moms Stop The Harm (MSTH)
  • Megaphone
  • hua foundation

Coalition of Organizations Boycott City Panel on Decriminalizing Poverty

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNE 22, 2021

Coalition of Organizations Boycott City Panel on Decriminalizing Poverty

The following open letter was issued to the City of Vancouver and representatives responsible for convening the City of Vancouver’s Community Panel on Decriminalizing Poverty and Supporting Community-led Initiatives. Organizational endorsements can be made by filling out the endorsement form.


Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ/sel̓ílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.We are a coalition of organizations that have been invited to support the formation of the Community Panel on Decriminalizing Poverty and Supporting Community-led Initiatives. This Community Panel is in response to the July 2020 Motion Decriminalizing Poverty and Supporting Community-led Safety Initiatives.

While we acknowledge and applaud the stated commitment to decriminalizing poverty, we share considerable concerns with the presented process.

Based on the presented process, we have decided to forego any participation in the Community Panel. We recognize and restate the urgency for defunding police while supporting community-led safety initiatives. We see the violence of policing and criminalization every single day: through the use of street sweeps, the surveillance of street stops, the targeting of overdose prevention sites, the inadequate attention or response to gender based and sexualized violence, and the inability to hold police accountable for illegal, unethical and dangerous conduct.

The proposal set forth by City staff outlines an unsafe process that does not respect the realities of people who have lived and living experience of the criminalization of poverty. Notably, the Community Panel involves a number of police and police-adjacent representatives that do not serve the interests of people living in poverty. Communities that experience marginalization are directly harmed by the police on a daily basis. Furthermore, the Vancouver Police Department—including senior force and union leadership—consistently refuse to acknowledge the existence of systemic racism in policing. This is an unsafe environment that lacks any provisions for safety, anonymity, and accountability. To reiterate, the focus must not be on tweaking this proposed panel but to return to the original request to defund the police while supporting community-based initiatives.

There have already been numerous recommendations set forth, and we believe the City is positioned to take immediate action on policies related to decriminalizing poverty, as outlined in reports such as:

Previous City of Vancouver planning and consultation processes have failed to adequately meet the needs of the community. These processes (which took considerable time, energy, and labour on behalf of community members and organizations) each failed to engage with the realities shaping the livelihood and survival of the most adversely-impacted communities—women and people of marginalized genders, Black and Indigenous people, people who use illicit substances, people who work in criminalized economies including sex work, and people living at the intersections of these, and other, interlocking oppressions. Ultimately, most of the recommendations generated through each of these—and many other—processes remain unimplemented.

At this time, we are making the difficult decision to cease any involvement with the process. We have outlined our concerns here and to City staff and representatives of Reciprocal Consulting. In order to move forward with defunding police while supporting community-led initiatives, police and/or police-adjacent organizations cannot be at the table. We remain committed to this work and remain open to working with the City to ensure previously-made recommendations are fully implemented.

Sincerely,

  • Ash MacLeod – A Better Life Foundation
  • Adriane King – A. King Law
  • Janice Abbott – Atira Women’s Resource Society
  • Angela Marie MacDougall – Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS)
  • Harsha Walia – BC Civil Liberties Association
  • Lizzie Howells – Binners’ Project – MakeWay Charitable Society
  • Eris Nyx – The Black Lab Artists Society
  • Udokam Iroegbu & Azuka Nduka-Agwu – Black Lives Matter-Vancouver
  • Constance Barnes
  • Ritica Ramesh – Centre for Gender and Sexual Health
  • Eris Nyx – Coalition of Peers Dismantling the Drug War
  • Alice Kendall – Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre
  • Rory Sutherland & Tintin Yang – DTES Neighbourhood House
  • Eris Nyx – Drug User Liberation Front
  • Michelle Lackie –Exchange Inner City
  • Sarah Common –Hives for Humanity
  • Lama Mugabo –Hogan’s Alley Society
  • Sarah Blyth & Trey Helten – Overdose Prevention Society
  • Lyra McKee – PACE Society
  • Meenakshi Mannoe – Pivot Legal Society
  • Eris Nyx – Tenant Overdose Response Organizers
  • Vince Tao –Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU)
  • Tracey Axelsson – Vancouver Community Network
  • France-Emmanuelle Joly – Vancouver Women’s Health Collective Society
  • Irwin Oostindie – Voor Urban Labs
  • Ingrid Mendez – Watari Counselling and Support Services
  • Tracey Draper –Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society (WAHRS)
  • Mebrat Beyene –WISH Drop-In Centre Society
Endorsements received after June 21
  • Health Initiative for Men (HIM)
  • Radical Access Mapping Project
  • Bonfire Counselling
  • Moms Stop The Harm (MSTH)
  • Megaphone
  • hua foundation

WISH recognizes June 21st as a statutory holiday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APR. 22, 2022

Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ/sel̓ílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. —June 21 marks the 25th annual recognition of National Indigenous Peoples Day. The day was first created back in 1996. However, 25 years later, no further action has been taken to formalize this day.  

Due to the lack of action from the federal government to mark June 21 as an official statutory holiday, WISH has decided to officially recognize the day as an additional paid holiday within our organization 

Although there is still much work to be done, WISH has taken this step as part of our ongoing commitment to recognize and honour the unique heritage, diverse cultures, and outstanding achievements and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. 

We continue to call on the federal government to officially recognize June 21 as a statutory holidayDecolonization is key. We can only move forward if Indigenous peoples can prosper.  

Canada still has a long way to go when it comes to justice recognition and reconciliation. We need to do better. We stand in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples. 

Human Rights Complainants Give New VPD Street Check Audit a Failing Grade in Annotated Response

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEB 18, 2021

Human Rights Complainants Give New VPD Street Check Audit a Failing Grade in Annotated Response; Call on Vancouver Police Board to Ban Street Checks

Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C – A coalition of organizations is giving the Vancouver Police Department’s first annual audit of street checks a failing grade. The VPD audit is being presented to the Vancouver Police Board on Thursday February 18, 2021 at 1 pm.

The groups are releasing their own annotated response, pointing out the many inaccuracies in the summary section of the VPD Street Check Audit and the accompanying memo by the Vancovuer Police Board Governance Committee, available here: https://bccla.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Annotated-Governance-Report-and-VPD-Street-Check-Audit.pdf

Hogan’s Alley Society, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, WISH Drop-In Centre Society, and the BC Civil Liberties Association are also calling on the Vancouver Police Board to stop monitoring and regulating the practice of police street checks and to, instead, ban police street checks.

According to the coalition, “The VPD’s first annual audit of street checks normalizes the practice of street checks. The issue is not whether there are 10 street checks or 10,000 street checks – the issue remains that there is no legal basis for street checks. Even according to the audit, street checks continue to disproportionately harm Indigenous and Black communities. In 2020, Black people were 1.0% of the city’s population, but constituted 5.9% of all street checks; Indigenous people were 2.2% of the population in Vancouver, but constituted 15% of all street checks. The Police Board must ban the racist and illegal practice of street checks once and for all.”

The Vancouver Police Department’s 2020 policy on “Conducting and Documenting Street Checks,” based on the Provincial Policing Standards on Police Stops, begins by stating: “When members are operating without lawful authority to detain or arrest, this policy provides direction to members with regards to the completion of a Street Check.” This statement acknowledges that police officers have no lawful authority under statute or common law to conduct street checks. The policy further defines street checks as “any voluntary interaction between a police officer and a person that is more than a casual conversation and which impedes the person’s movement.” However, due to the inherent power imbalance between a police officer and a member of the public, people may feel they have no choice but to obey the police and are effectively detained—especially when the person stopped is racialized or is homeless.

Over 8,983 individuals on a petition, 92 organizational signatories to an open letter, and a Vancouver City Council motion all call on the Vancouver Police Board to ban street checks.

MEDIA STATEMENTS:

Harsha Walia, Executive Director, BC Civil Liberties Association, “The Vancouver Police Board is currently the subject of a provincial review for its gross mishandling of our policy complaint against street checks and its own street check review. Since the media leaked how the Vancouver Police Board authorized the censorship of details regarding racism and inappropriate behavior by VPD officers from their street check report, we have serious concerns about the Board’s governance capabilities and lack of independence from the VPD. The Police Board is supposed to provide independent and civilian oversight over the VPD, but they seem to take everything the VPD says about street checks at face-value. Street checks are not authorized by law and allow for illegal detentions, racism, and invasion of privacy; they must be banned.”

Lama Mugabo, Director, Hogan’s Alley Society, “We cannot rely on any of the VPD reports or even the Vancouver Police Board’s own street check review. All these studies say the same thing: that streets are valuable, even though there is no evidence for that claim. The studies also ridiculously suggest that there is no racism in street checks, even though all the data and our experiences are clear that street checks are harmful for Black, Indigenous and low-income communities. Our city must take immediate action to end the policing of marginalized communities. The Vancouver Police Board must ban racist street checks once and for all.”

Mebrat Beyene, Executive Director, WISH Drop-In Centre Society, “The VPD claims that street checks are not arbitrary or discriminatory and are apparently decreasing in number. But street-based sex workers continue to report being targeted by police for street checks. Street checks are, by their very nature, arbitrary because they are outside of an actual investigation and create a climate of criminalization and harassment for sex workers. Street-based sex workers report being followed, stopped, and questioned by police officers, which can push the trade further underground and jeopardize sex worker safety. Police street checks can make street-based sex workers even more vulnerable to risk of violence and exploitation, and must be banned.”

Chief Don Tom, Vice President, Union of BC Indian Chiefs, “Indigenous Nations are tired of going through these endless reviews and audits that all do nothing. Slapping ‘voluntary’ on a street check policy does not change the fact that it is threatening to be questioned by a person with a gun in a uniform. Indigenous people continue to experience institutional racism in the justice system and a high level of interaction with police, which is clearly and objectively furthered by street checks. It is unconscionable that despite all data and calls for accountability, the Police Board continues to support police authority to conduct street checks. In an era of reconciliation, this is simply unacceptable. The prohibition on street checks is long overdue.”

 

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Harsha Walia, Executive Director, BC Civil Liberties Association: 778-885-0040

Lama Mugabo, Director, Hogan’s Alley Society: 604-715-9565

Estefania Duran, Communications and Media Manager, WISH Drop-In Centre Society: 604-669-9474 (Ext. 124)

Chief Don Tom, Vice President, Union of BC Indian Chiefs: 604-290-6083

 

Annotated version of the VPD Street Check Audit: https://bccla.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Annotated-Governance-Report-and-VPD-Street-Check-Audit.pdf

First of its kind B.C.-wide Bad Date Reporting system for sex workers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEB 2, 2021

First of its kind provincial Bad Date Reporting system for sex workers to be created in B.C.

Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ/sel̓ílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. — A province-wide Bad Date Reporting system for sex workers in B.C. is now one step closer to becoming a reality. Making it a first of its kind in Canada.  

Sex workers in British Columbia experience substantially higher rates of violence than the general population, and this vulnerability is often higher for Indigenous, homeless, im/migrant, and trans sex workers.  

Due to stigma, criminalization, and other legal barriers, the vast majority of the violence toward sex workers is not reported to authorities—forcing sex workers to take safety into their own hands.  

Bad Date and Aggressor Reporting (BDAR)—commonly called Bad Date Reporting—refers to systems where sex workers report violent incidents or safety concerns to peers or outreach workers, or track them in online databases. BDAR was born out of the necessity for sex workers to help keep each other safe. However, existing BDAR systems are not available in most of the province, with a notable gap in rural and remote areas. The reports also have very limited distribution and aren’t connected with each other. 

Creating a sex worker-informed, sex worker-designed, searchable database of bad date reports would create a reliable province-wide tool to allow sex workers to quickly look for keywords, licence plates, and other descriptions so they can take informed steps to protect themselves. 

The provincial BDAR system will be the first of its kind in Canada, and one of a select few geographically linked reporting systems that exist internationally. The project will also include province-wide community consultations with a diverse range of sex workers and sex work support organizations. In particular, the BC Sex Work Support Service Network—a group of over 20 sex work service and support organizations from all regions of B.C.—will be a key hub for consultation, input, and design, to ensure this system will meet the needs of the diversity of sex workers across rural and urban areas of the province. 

“As a current sex worker, I am very excited by the idea of a provincial Bad Date Reporting system. When I have experienced bad dates in the past, I have never gone to police,” shared a current sex worker and member of the Peers Victoria Resources Society. “Sex workers and our allies know that police are most often not a safe option to turn to. It is our community and other sex workers who keep us safe and support us in the aftermath of violence.” 

A province-wide reporting system will help address a critical gap in gender-based violence prevention and response work. The project, which has for years been identified as a need, has only now become possible thanks to the financial support of the Law Foundation of British Columbia and an anonymous B.C.-based family foundation. The working group supporting this project to get underway are Peers Victoria, PACE Society, WISH Drop-In Centre Society, SWAN Vancouver, and Living in Community, along with support from Dr. Cecilia Benoit, at the University of Victoria.   

We have secured funding for the first three years of the project. Afterwards, it is our hope that the provincial government will see the need to address the disproportionate rates of violence that sex workers experience and offer its support. 

QUOTES: 

“A province-wide Bad Date reporting tool has been a critical need for quite some time. All of us that work with and alongside sex workers have long been distressed by targeted violence that largely goes unreported, unseen and that allow predators to operate with impunity. We’re extremely grateful to the Law Foundation for this tremendous support.  We look forward to learning what kind of needs will be identified and what kind of reporting tool the community of sex workers and allies across BC will co-create.” — Mebrat Beyene, Executive Director at WISH Drop-In Centre Society 

“A provincial Bad Date Reporting system that is designed and led by sex workers is an alternative to relying on colonial and oppressive structures such as policing for safety. Further, it contributes to the broader movement to defund the police and shift away from carceral feminism within the sex worker rights movement. This is necessary if we aim to be engaged in the work of anti-colonialism and decolonization in our activism and support work.”— Marina Bochar, Program Coordinator at Peers Victoria Resource Society 

“As a trans woman sex worker, I can speak personally to the isolation and precarious working conditions many sex workers face. I am happy to say that a central focus of this project has been making sure that it is led and implemented by sex workers and reflects the needs and experiences of our diverse communities.” — Lyra McKee, Co-Executive Directorat PACE Society 

“Predators target migrant and immigrant sex workers calculating that they will not report violence to police. The BDAR system will provide racialized sex workers a protection mechanism in lieu of reporting to police, which has shown time and time again is woefully inadequate in addressing their safety needs.” — Alison Clancey, Executive Director at SWAN Vancouver Society 

“At Living in Community, we have heard loud and clear from BC Sex Work Support Service Network members that a provincial BDAR system is essential to improving sex workers’ safety. One such member is Positive Living North in Fort St. John, an organization offering programs and services designed to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS/HCV, reduce stigma and discrimination, and improve sexual health and safety across Northeast BC.” — Halena Seiferling, Director of Community Engagement at Living in Community 

“Northeast BC has the highest levels of resource extraction in the country and, therefore, is flooded with transient, temporary workers. The power imbalance and transitory nature of resource-based economies put women who sell or trade sex at increased risk, while providing nothing to keep them safe. A BDAR system will allow women to track predators within and between communities and alert one another to otherwise unavoidable danger.” — Heather Paddison, Community Health Educator at Positive Living North 

“The Law Foundation is proud to support this provincial Bad Date Reporting project. It is an important opportunity to address the unequal access to safety and justice that sex workers throughout British Columbia face. We know, all too well, that sex workers face targeted violence and a deep reluctance to report that violence. We also know that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in increased violence and vulnerability. This is a timely and important project, and we applaud the Bad Date Reporting Working group for embarking on a province-wide response to violence and access to justice.” — Josh Paterson, Executive Director, The Law Foundation of British Columbia 

 

MEDIA CONTACT:  

Estefania Duran 

Phone: 604-669-9474 (Ext. 124)  

Email: [email protected]