Sex workers lose all-night support system
Provincial government failed to renew funding for van carrying clean needles, condoms
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Life/workers+lose+night+support+system/1696026/story.html#ixzz1jv08feZc
VANCOUVER — Four sex workers appear from the shadows on Kingsway at 11:30 p.m. and run over to a parked van. When they come up to the window, they’re handed condoms, clean needles, Gatorade and an updated list of known sex abusers.
They only have a few minutes between johns to get restocked, but sex workers could count on the van being there every night — at least until last Friday.
That’s when it was pulled off the road after the provincial government, citing financial pressure, failed to renew $250,000 in funding for it.
A dozen people, including former sex workers, lost their jobs when the van was parked. Vancouver’s sex workers lost their only all-night — 10:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. — support system.
Every night for the past five years, in a dark alley in the Downtown Eastside, three young women have stocked the van with boxes of condoms, clean needles, sterile wipes, first-aid equipment and refreshments.
On June 4, Larissa Deer and her co-worker Sarah Rogers, with a Vancouver Sun reporter riding along, were in charge of the van. The two women had the difficult job of reminding the sex workers they served that the van would only be coming around for another week.
The van was run by Women’s Information and Safe House (WISH) and Prostitution Alternatives Counselling and Education Society (PACE).
It was fitted with a bench running along the inside for sex workers hopping aboard, and a wall unit stocked with supplies and brochures about support services. The inside of the van was plastered with posters about missing women and abusive johns.
The service was started five years ago to enhance the health and safety of Vancouver’s sex workers, especially those who didn’t have access to a downtown drop-in centre. It was used by 40 to 50 women every night.
“These women are people, mothers of children, and the vast majority of them have had horrendous childhood experiences,” said Dr. Patti Janssen of the BC Women’s Health Research Institute. “It’s because we failed them as a society that they need our help now.”
The van followed roughly the same route each night, unless staff got specific calls for help. It started by trawling through the Downtown Eastside, then moved into dark, narrow alleys further east. Gatorade and condoms were the top requests from women who flagged it down.
“It’s such a good service,” said Selina Thompson, a sex worker in the Downtown Eastside. “Handing out condoms stops the spread of diseases, and of course, it’s the same for the girls using drugs and needing clean needles.”
The van also travelled to isolated strolls, such as near Kingsway and Fraser, trying to help keep women safe in a job that leaves them vulnerable. More than 60 sex workers have disappeared since the 1980s.
Being alone in isolated parts of the city makes these women vulnerable to those who prey on people on the margins of society, said Vancouver police Sgt. Tony Cavezza, and sex workers are victimized more than other women.
“If there’s no van, I don’t know what we would do, said Rawel Ladher, a sex worker who has called on the van when she was being stalked. “The job is often dangerous and the van goes into the dark places to help us.”
On the June 4 outing, Rogers makes a note of each woman the van meets. The records help keep track of the women and how strolls are changing.
“They make me feel safe, just knowing they are out there,” said Sandy Hubert, who regularly flags down the van to check in or check up on friends.
Staff members also take “bad date” reports, which record experiences with abusive or dangerous johns. Ninety-five per cent of all such reports — which go to police officers, sex workers and service providers — are generated by the van, according to WISH.
Police said they use the reports to find out about what’s happening on the street that they wouldn’t otherwise get.
Along the entire route, it’s clear that the women are grateful for the service. All thanked the staff on the van; many said good-bye with a sincere, “Drive safe!”
“It really hit home for me telling the women. It’s sad telling people it’s not going to be here. It’s such a fixture in the community,” Deer said as the van headed back from Kingsway into the darkness of downtown.
rtebrake@vancouversun.com
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Life/workers+lose+night+support+system/1696026/story.html#ixzz1jv0DwJFv
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