[SWAF-Potluck] TONIGHT! --> Sex Work Storytellers - a PACE fundraiser

[w.jc.pritchard]

Sex Work Storytellers

Thursday, September 25, 2014
7 pm
49 West Cordova St

Tickets available at the door

Celebrate 20 years of supporting Sex Workers and fighting for Sex Worker
rights with an intimate night of storytelling in the Downtown Eastside.

Listen firsthand to the stories of the activists and community leaders who
have led the fight for Sex Worker rights in Canada.

Why celebrate our anniversary with an evening of storytelling? In telling
the stories of our movement, we ensure that they are preserved and shared
with new generations of leaders. We need always remember how far we have
come as we prepare for the next stages in fighting for Sex Worker rights.




<http://pace-society.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=a519229a73b20df83286956b9&id=d97b6c0ee0&e=1253087734>
Purchase Tickets Now
<http://pace-society.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=a519229a73b20df83286956b9&id=5622104df0&e=1253087734>

On Thu, Sep 25, 2014 at 10:54 AM, Chenoa <chenoadj at gmail.com> wrote:

> Too bad that is tonight, as tonight is the PACE event if Sex Worker
> Advocate Storytelling!!!
>
> What's up with that - both are important events!
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>
>
>
>
> On 2014-09-25, at 10:33, "w.jc.pritchard" <w.jc.pritchard at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Vancouver East Liberals will host town hall meeting on Bill C-36, which
> criminalizes prostitution
> by Charlie Smith <http://www.straight.com/users/charlie-smith> on Sep 22,
> 2014 at 4:57 pm
> <http://www.straight.com/files/styles/popup/public/Sex%20workers%202.jpg>
>
> More than three months ago, I suggested that Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau
> was the only hope for sex workers
> <http://www.straight.com/news/660346/justin-trudeau-only-hope-sex-workers>
> .
>
> It came in the wake of the Conservative government unveiling Bill C-36,
> which criminalizes the customers of sex workers.
>
> Some commenters on this website ripped into me for suggesting that Trudeau
> would do this. After all, Trudeau has previously supported the Nordic
> model, which also criminalizes the client.
>
> My response is that Trudeau changed his views on marijuana.
>
> There's no reason he wouldn't reverse his position on prostitution if
> there were sufficient public support and if evidence led the Liberals in
> that direction.
>
> The research by SFU's John Lowman and others is already clear. Sex
> workers' lives are jeopardized when the state drives their industry
> underground.
>
> That's why the Supreme Court of Canada concluded that Criminal Code
> prohibitions on soliciting clients in public, keeping a common bawdy house,
> and living off the avails of prostitution are unconstitutional.
>
> The government's response, Bill C-36, might as well be called the Willie
> Pickton Law. That's because it will make it easier for predators to kill
> sex workers after the Harperites have once again pushed sex workers to the
> margins.
>
> I'm surprised that Justice Minister Peter MacKay would countenance
> something like this, but who knows what's going on his brain?
>
> This week, the Vancouver East Liberals have announced that they will host
> a town hall meeting on Bill C-36. It suggests that the party has an open
> mind on this issue.
>
> Door open at 6:30 p.m. at the Strathcona Community Centre on Thursday
> (September 25).
>
> The panel features sex-workers' advocate Jamie Lee Hamilton, Vancouver
> park commissioner Sarah Blyth, and UBC researcher Becki Ross.
>
> It's taking place in the riding of NDP MP Libby Davies, who's long been an
> advocate for increasing sex workers' safety.
>
> In 2002, Davies introduced a motion in Parliament to review prostitution
> laws. That was the same year that Pickton was charged with 26 murders.
>
> Late last year, Davies issued a statement
> <http://www.libbydavies.ca/news/pressrelease/2013/12/20/statement-supreme-court-ruling-prostitution-laws#.VCC00fldVI4>
> welcoming the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling
> <http://www.straight.com/news/553411/supreme-court-canada-rules-three-prostitution-laws-are-unconstitutional>
> striking down three sections of the Criminal Code.
>
> "The exploitation, murder and violence against sex trade workers in Canada
> happens at an alarming rate, and until today, the laws dealing with
> prostitution remained unchanged and governments remained unwilling to
> realistically deal with this growing public safety issue," she said. "These
> laws have been a failure, both from the perspective of assisting and
> protecting sex workers as well as in mitigating the impacts of street
> prostitution on local communities."
>
> Davies also spoke at a rally this year opposing Bill C-36.
>
> So why is Justin Trudeau and not NDP leader Tom Mulcair the only hope for
> sex workers?
>
> It's because most of Davies' colleagues in Parliament have been silent on
> this issue. And if the NDP forms government, there's no guarantee that it
> will reverse the criminalization of customers and other unconstitutional
> aspects of Bill C-36 until Mulcair delivers an unequivocal statement on
> this issue.
>
> It's fine and dandy for him to stand up in Parliament and put the
> government's feet to the fire with regard to Senate expenses. But Bill C-36
> is legislation that will result in people dying unnecessarily. Why isn't
> the Opposition leader putting as much energy into this?
>
> In the meantime, the federal Liberals are seeking public input. That's the
> first step along the road to developing better policies.
>
> It's why I still believe that Justin Trudeau is the only hope for sex
> workers.
> *Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter @csmithstraight
> <https://twitter.com/csmithstraight>.*
>
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