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More sex-work focus in new PEERS curriculum
April 2007
Nothing stays the same for long at PEERS, and this spring has certainly been proof of that.
Hirings, leave-takings, new projects and some really exciting curriculum improvements in our six-month Elements program have got a buzz going at PEERS. And aside from having to bid farewell to some very good staff members (fortunately, some very good new ones have followed in their stead!), all the change is positive.
The changes to the Elements program have grown out of our work with the National Coalition of Experiential Women, which is piloting a new sex-worker-specific curriculum, Dare to Dream, at PEERS. Sex workers share much in common with other women, but there are some distinct differences peculiar to the trade that the curriculum will be exploring—from intimacy issues and a misplaced sense of entitlement, to getting used to the comparative boredom of mainstream life.
Another facilitator with a sex-work background has developed the new Think Straight curriculum, which also incorporates course work on issues specific to the sex. We’re anticipating the curriculum improvements will help even more sex workers achieve success in making the transition to happier, healthier lives.
Our late-night outreach, which for the last two years has been solely dependent on a year-to-year grant from BC Gaming, now has at least a some security through a three-year contract with the Vancouver Island Health Authority that funds three of the seven days of outreach. We’ll still need to look to Gaming and other funding sources to maintain the other four nights, but we’re pleased to have the support of VIHA for this vital service. Late-night outreach serves 100 or more outdoor sex workers a month on the prostitution strolls along Rock Bay and upper Government streets.
Indoor workers are in our sites as well as we hit the midpoint of a three-year project assessing the needs of this largely invisible population. This year, we’re planning to interview 200 indoor sex workers—primarily escorts and dancers—to get a better idea of working conditions, thoughts on the industry, prevalence of youth, and challenges facing workers wanting to leave the trade.
Organizationally, PEERS is in a positive place. We’ve seen the level of individual donations double to 12 per cent of our total budget, from six per cent two years ago. Our reliance on government in the same period has dropped to 60 per cent from 83 per cent, signaling a much more diverse funding base and growing support from foundations, fundraisers and other private sources.
What’s next? We still need housing, which would also let us provide non-medical detox for women unable to hang on for several weeks until a bed in the regional detox comes available. We’d really like a second six-month program to complement Elements, because it’s hard to turn your life around in mere months. We’d love to be doing more work to support families.
Dreams for now, but not for long. PEERS always has the energy to make things happen.
Say the word “sex worker” and most mainstream folk conjure up a vulnerable woman working the outdoor stroll. In fact, the outdoor trade accounts for just 10-20 per cent of the total industry.
The indoor trade—escort agencies, massage, exotic dance, phone and Internet work—is virtually invisible in Canada. PEERS hopes to shed some light on the workers and their workplaces through our three-year project, Behind Closed Doors.
Funded by the provincial ADM Committee on Prostitution and Sexual Exploitation, the project is now moving into Year 2, with plans to interview 200 indoor workers in our region. PEERS has partnered with John Paul salon for this part of the project, which will see PEERS doing interviews with indoor workers in exchange for free hair and beauty services provided by John Paul’s talented staff.
Project leader Lauren Casey has already wrapped up interviews with municipalities, licensing officials and police. Watch for a full report next year, which will be shared with agencies, governments, sex workers and the agencies that serve them.
“And all of it produced by and for sex workers,” notes Lauren. “This is going to be useful across Canada, because everybody’s looking for more information on what’s known about the indoor trade.”
Survey reveals diversity of PEERS clients
PEERS is essentially in the business of helping past and current sex workers improve their lives, so we really need to understand who our customers are if we want to be sure of having the right services. To that end, we started handing out voluntary surveys about a year ago to find out more about the people we’re working with.
The 57 surveys we’ve collected to date reveal a wide variety of life experiences. The women who have completed surveys to date (and so far we’ve only heard from women) were as young as nine and as old as 45 when they got into sex work. They’ve been in the sex trade for anywhere from a year to 24 years, and half are still working in it.
A third of the group was underage when they first experienced prostitution. The legal age for paid sex in Canada is 18, but these girls were young teenagers – in one case, only age nine - at the time. Sexual exploitation doesn’t tell the whole story, however: Four respondents said they were over 40 when they entered the sex trade.
Half of those surveyed have spent time working in both indoor and outdoor venues – at an escort agency and also on the street, for instance. But the other half divided into two equal camps, one of which had never worked indoors and the other, never outdoors.
The issue that those surveyed were most likely to share was drug and alcohol addiction. Eighty per cent of the women surveyed have experienced addiction, and the struggle is ongoing for almost half of the 57. The drugs being used include a little bit of everything – crystal meth, prescription, alcohol, ketamine – but cocaine and heroin dominate overall.
Our survey results don’t exactly meet the test of genuine research – we’re compiling them anonymously, for one thing, and the information-gathering process consists of nothing more than a simple two-page questionnaire. Still, what’s striking about what we’re seeing is the diversity of experiences and needs among the 100 or so people PEERS provides services to in any given month.
Housing is a major issue: 37 of the 57 women listed it as a big concern. Addiction treatment came in a tight third, edged out of second place ever so slightly by “budgeting.” (Money problems came up regularly.) But the top concern overall is food – it’s cited by three-quarters of the women as a major worry. See the sidebar with this article for more statistics.
As for health, the top concern is dental problems, a worry for half of those surveyed, as is mental health. Many had been diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, or a learning disability. A third of the respondents have hepatitis-C (but only one reported having HIV).
The level of schooling that people had completed ranged from Grade 8 to college/university or trades-training, although this was also the survey question most frequently left blank, which could mean that some women couldn’t bear to write down their actual education levels. The average of those who responded was Grade 10.
What worries the women PEERS serves the most when they look to the future? “Will I ever get my shit together?” wonders one.
“Learning to live life without a constant freeze/fight/flight mode,” writes another, “dealing with emotional scars from being in the sex trade and abuse; addiction (staying clean), health issues; learn where I fit and what I can give back; replace destructive behavioural patterns.” A very tall order.
Another woman fears “that I will die living on the streets from the cold weather or pneumonia or starvation.” For those gripped the hardest by addiction, it’s a realistic fear.
What do the surveys tell PEERS? First, that there are many paths that lead women to our agency, and that our response needs to be flexible enough to accommodate as many different styles of journeys as possible. Finding your way toward mainstream culture and work is a challenging undertaking, and people need individual strategies – and a lot of luck, breaks and well-wishers around them – to succeed.
Thanks to your support, PEERS is gradually developing a continuum of services that we hope will meet past and current sex workers at whatever point they’re at, and put sex workers front and center in figuring out what those services should look like.
For some, it means late-night outreach directly on the outdoor stroll, and clean needles and condoms as needed. For others, addiction is a happily distant memory and what they really need is a job at PEERS, as part of the next generation of PEERS experiential staff. Still others need advocacy, or even just a place to go where it’s OK to talk about your past (or present!) life as a sex worker. We know we need to be all of that and more.
Our thanks to the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance as well as BC Gaming’s direct-access program for keeping our services going, and to private funders big and small for their tremendous support (see our Web site for a full list of funding agencies). You’re making a difference. We’ll keep you posted regularly on what we learn through our surveys, as that’s how effective services are developed. |
