Hi Mary-Anne,
Sex work laws in British Columbia are fairly much in line with the rest of the provinces in Canada, which is to say often bewildering and contradictory. As an example, prostitution is not illegal--I can't for instance be arrested for exchanging sexual favors for money. However, the government in all its wisdom, while not declaring prostitution illegal, instead passes laws which make it very difficult to work as a prostitute. One interesting example is Section 213 of the Criminal Code--the 'communication law' which criminalizes soliciting in public. This is aimed at curbing, for the social good, the selling of sex in public. I would be in violation of the law if as a street walker, I were to enter into verbal or visual communication with an interested client discussing what I had to offer and for how much. Now let's say I go to a club, bar or pub hoping to score a client or two--I would still be in violation as these are also considered to be public places or venues. So too would be soliciting in a car, taxi, public conveyance, hotel lobby, etc. This pretty much criminalizes nearly all forms of bargaining employed by street workers, never minding that the law violates the basic Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The reasoning of saving the law in spite of its basic violation of freedom of expression, was simply because its object was to eliminate street walking as a social nuisance.
Another law is Section 210 of the criminal code: prohibits maintaining, owning, or being an “inmate” of a common bawdy-house. A bawdy-house is what you would call a brothel in Australia. An inmate of course is a brothel sex worker, while the 'maintaining' criminalizes anyone that works in the brothel even though employment is of a non-sexual nature--receptionists in this case would be liable to arrest, as would the owner of the property and of course the manager of the business. Of course, never mind that the bawdy house itself complies with Section 213 in taking communication for sex out of public places.
Section 211 of the Criminal Code: prohibits knowingly transporting or directing a person to a bawdy-house--watch out taxi drivers and chauffeurs and or anyone giving directions to a bawdy house.
Section 212/1: prohibits procuring, attempting to procure, or soliciting a person to have illicit sexual intercourse with another person; inveigling or enticing a person to a bawdy-house for the purpose of prostitution; and living on the avails of a prostitute.
Section 212/3: This is the notorious Procuring Law--it places an evidential burden on an accused who lives with or is “habitually in the company of” a prostitute to prove that s/he is not living on the avails of prostitution. In other words, if I have a room mate with whom I share expenses for rent and groceries, I had better not let him or her know that I am a prostitute or they could wind up charged under Section 212/3.
Under these sections, the landlords, tenants, agents, employers, and family members of prostitutes may be charged with procuring or abetting, even though there is no formal law prohibiting prostitution itself which for all intent and purposes is a legit business.
So where does this leave me, as an independent escort. Well there are loopholes in the laws. While I cannot bargain in public, there is nothing to prevent me from private negotiations. I am allowed to advertise my services on the internet, in papers and magazines, in private hotel rooms and residences. As long as I stay within the bounds of the law, I can be a legal sex worker, but it requires a double life if for no other reason than to protect friends and family from possible prosecution--not because of shame.
In British Columbia it is wise to go the extra step and become a licensed social escort. A social escort license is required of all escort agencies and their escorts as well as dating services. As an independent escort, I find it wise to hold a license as well. They are not hard to get. One has to register as an escort with the Social Services and with the police (usually the RCMP). Supposedly a social escort is just that--a professional date, though I remember when I applied for my license, the official told me, "you know, don't you, that you will be exchanging sex for money and that it is not the safest profession you could choose?" Curious though, that the government which collects the fees for my license is totally exempt from its own procurement laws.
Currently the various parts of the criminal code are being challenged here, in particular by a group of independents that are trying to get a license for a co-operative brothel in time for the 2010 games, and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association is actively advocating sex workers who are increasingly marginalized and driven underground.
Personally, I enjoy being an escort and sex worker, and let me say that I entered into the profession of my own choice. It is a shame that myself and others like me cannot be free to pursue the vocation in a more open manner and that we have a society that victimizes us in order to prevent us from becoming victims.
