The 1st ever HAPPY HOOKER MOVEMENT! Please participate!!

[Wanker]

Go for it guys.

About

We are a collective of likeminded people, a voice for proud sex workers across Canada. It has become apparent that the government of Canada has not heard enough from a rather large sector of the adult industry: They have not heard enough from the happy, voluntary, consensual sex worker who is enjoying or has enjoyed the financial, social, & liberating benefits of the lucrative trade of sexual services for money.

A happy hooker is a safe hooker, and Bill C-36 does nothing to ensure safety for sex workers. Therefore we are gathering letters from consensual sex workers to send to the Senate before it debates Bill C-36.

It’s important this side be heard because it distinguishes between the experience of consensual sex workers from those forced, coerced, or exploited.
Consensual Sex Work is free-will choice by empowered people choosing sex work as a platform to other life goals. We strongly feel we are the majority, and we need to be heard, understood, accepted and supported by Canadians and our government.

We all can agree that those who are forced into sex work by an individual, a group, or a circumstance deserve assistance if they want to exit.
However, we also all need to agree there are people in this country who freely and willingly enjoy engaging in sex work, and that needs to be seen as acceptable and addressed in a supportive manner in accordance with his or her rights and freedoms as a person of independence.

More information & insight regarding consensual adults exchanging sex for money is needed ASAP!

On this site, we will post the letters written by sex workers, by people who enjoy their services, as well as any media reports, Bill C-36 new updates, relative links and discussions.
Pass this on to as many workers as you can!**

Let’s start the 1st ever Happy Hooker Movement. Thank you!!


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Type the characters you see here:

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[Transient]

Wanker, can you include the link?

 

[User-E]

Good work on the banner Transient! /-Thumbs-up::/

 

[Wanker]

Wanker, can you include the link?

I just copied it from your banner link.

 

[Happy Hookers]

updates on the site ... more letters and comments

 

[Madman]

updates on the site ... more letters and comments

It would seem like you've made the headlines.

 

[Transient]

"Last month, Toronto sex worker Jessica Lee issued a statement on the Toronto Escort Review Board, a website for people who buy and sell sexual services in the Toronto area. In her posting, she urged her fellow sex workers to join her in a campaign to send letters to parliamentarians, informing them about the experiences of people who practice “high end sex work.” Her goal is to convince Parliament to reject Bill C-36, legislation that would, if passed, criminalize many aspects of the sex trade.


Lee christened her campaign the “Happy Hookers of Canada” and explained that her movement is necessary because it “separates the experience of [those] choosing high end sex work” from “those stuck in the survival sex trade.” She argued that high end sex work is “generally a free-will choice” made by “empowered women” and contrasted it with survival sex work, which she claimed is entered into by people facing poverty, battling addictions or experiencing mental health problems.


As a sex worker of nine years and a fellow advocate of decriminalizing the sex trade in Canada, I was dismayed to learn of Lee’s attempt to divide sex workers into categories of either happy or unhappy. I was also disappointed to see her reinforce the myth that addiction and mental illness are problems faced primarily by so-called survival sex workers, and rarely by high end escorts. The reality is that people working in our industry have diverse experiences. Some enjoy doing sex work. Others do not. Some people are ambivalent."

 

[Transient]

"It is also important to recognize that mental health issues affect sex workers across all tiers of the industry, just like they affect people in every segment of Canadian society. Addiction, too, is not restricted to street-based or survival sex workers; I know several “high end” escorts who battle alcohol and drug addiction.


What troubles me most about Lee’s movement is the underlying implication that the perspectives of happy sex workers should be highlighted in the campaign opposing Bill C-36. No sex worker’s experience is more important than any other’s, and happiness in one’s chosen career is irrelevant to one’s right to safety and security.


To the best of my knowledge, no other labour rights movement leverages worker happiness in the struggle to secure safe working conditions. The reason so many people are opposed to Bill C-36 is not because it interferes with anyone’s freedom to choose a career that makes them happy, but because it violates sex workers’ Charter-guaranteed right to safety and security."

 

[Transient]

"Jean McDonald, the executive director of the Toronto sex worker support organization Maggie’s, shares my perspective. On July 16, she issued a response to Lee’s campaign launch to announce that Maggie’s does not support the approach of the Happy Hookers of Canada. McDonald argued that the campaign will cause more harm than good, and urged Lee to take down her collective’s website.


It shouldn’t matter whether a sex worker is happy, sad, a drug user, sober, supporting children, paying for university or paying down debt. All our stories matter
McDonald explained that she views the initiative as “divisive and dismissive,” because it does not acknowledge the harms that criminalization causes to all sex workers, regardless of whether they are happy or not. She encouraged Lee to adopt a more inclusive strategy and abandon stereotypes that reinforce the stigma already faced by sex workers.


Unfortunately, Lee is as yet unmoved by critics of her approach. She recently complained that people who are speaking out against the Happy Hooker campaign are trying to silence her story of being happily employed in the sex industry.


What Lee fails to understand is that critiquing her political strategy is not an attempt to prevent her from sharing her personal experiences. Rather, it is an attempt to strengthen the sex worker rights movement by encouraging everyone involved to question their tactics and ensure that they are including the perspectives of everyone who will be affected by Canada’s new prostitution laws.


It shouldn’t matter whether a sex worker is happy, sad, a drug user, sober, supporting children, paying for university or paying down debt. All our stories matter and we all have a right to stay safe. There is no need to highlight the experiences of “happy hookers” in a fight against Bill C-36, because happiness is not the most important factor in this debate — safety is.


Criminalizing the sex industry will have negative consequences for all sex workers, and we should stand in solidarity with each other, not distance ourselves from those among us who do not measure up to some arbitrary standard of what a respectable, deserving sex worker looks like."

 

[Madman]

I'm totally on Jessica's side and love her initiative and passion. It is a shame the industry cannot get on side and work together to fight this bill.

I agree safety is an issue but the fact that many women choose sex work as a career and enjoy it's rewards should also be stated in the face of the morals judging crowd crying otherwise.

 

[Jasper]

Jean MacDonald of Maggies writes "all our stories matter", and Jessica Lee of Happy Hookers says the same.
Yet both say the other doesn't include them as well? :unknw:

They're both fighting for the same legal rights and safety, the rest is a distraction to the issue.

 

[User-E]

Jean MacDonald of Maggies writes "all our stories matter", and Jessica Lee of Happy Hookers says the same.
Yet both say the other doesn't include them as well? :unknw:

They're both fighting for the same legal rights and safety, the rest is a distraction to the issue.

Well put Jasper. I faced the same type of opposition when I dared to start 'advocating' without the approval or permission of certain people and organizations - most of which I didn't even know existed back then.

Sex worker organizations need to develop a bigger online presence if they want to influence the industry imo. Jessica and Emily have a massive online audience and a national influence due to the amount of time they spend participating online.

I support the HH movement 100%.

I hope the ladies have time to pop over to perb to post an update in the sticky. I noticed someone posted your link on caf in the sex news forum too, so you could do some promoting there.

 

[Jasper]

It doesn't help that we on review boards often look down on streetwalkers. They deserve a basic respect.

Twenty years ago that was almost the entire industry, and groups like Maggies were there to fight and support.

 

[User-E]

It doesn't help that we on review boards often look down on streetwalkers. They deserve a basic respect.

Twenty years ago that was almost the entire industry, and groups like Maggies were there to fight and support.

I agree. I've been on a couple boards where they allow SW reviews and the guys who reviewed them were looked down upon too.

Some boards don't allow those reviews for legal reasons.

We have a legend named 'Hatrick' on the BC boards. He's famous for his SW adventures and treats the ladies very well.

 

[JustRiley]

[QUOTE]
FIRST: Decriminalize Sex Work Now!


23 mins ·

Celine Bisette critiques the “Happy Hookers of Canada” campaign, because it divides the sex worker movement, and the issue is not whether sex workers are happy, but whether their safety and constitutional rights are protected.

[/QUOTE]

 

[Madman]

Ladies and all sex workers unite and fight the man before it's too late!

 

[Acolytes]

Why is Miss Jessica Lee and Emily so quiet lately on this subject?.

 

[Art Mann]

Hmmmm .... a rather demanding question:

Why is Miss Jessica Lee and Emily so quiet lately on this subject?.

Maybe it's not the only thing in their lives that demands their attention.

 

[Madman]

Why is Miss Jessica Lee and Emily so quiet lately on this subject?.

It's August so not much of anything is happening politically this time of year. I'm sure things will heat up once the Senate begins debate of this horrific bill.

 

[Ms.FemmeFatale]

Jean MacDonald of Maggies writes "all our stories matter", and Jessica Lee of Happy Hookers says the same.
Yet both say the other doesn't include them as well? :unknw:

They're both fighting for the same legal rights and safety, the rest is a distraction to the issue.

The HHC was started because there was no success stories out that they were aware of. The HHC has been told to take their site down by Maggies and I do not believe it is because it is exclusive at all. I believe it is because showing successful and happy hookers in this industry is not showing harm to women and some organizations feel that is ALL that should be shown to further their personal agenda's in this fight.

There is a clear lack of support for the woman who freely choose this line of work and is able to make herself safe in her practice. That goes against anything most people believe. I personally feel that some advocates are scared, wrongly so because it would never happen, that if successful stories are heard, if more people see this as simply a normal job like everyone else, then legalization is around the corner and the tax man won't be to far behind.

I know the stats on legalizing it and the failures else where. I believe that is because of the social stigma which I feel is because of lack of support from the government. At one time the LGBT community were shunned and even now many fight for equal rights but there is now government support and the shock factor of person coming out is lower. It took time, but it happened and continues to head in the right direction of fairness, equality and respect for a personal sexual choice in partner. Again, legalization will not happen, but I think it is said that it won't. I think that this job is just like any other and should be treated as such.

[QUOTE]
FIRST: Decriminalize Sex Work Now!


23 mins ·

Celine Bisette critiques the “Happy Hookers of Canada” campaign, because it divides the sex worker movement, and the issue is not whether sex workers are happy, but whether their safety and constitutional rights are protected.

In her incorrect opinion, it is exclusive but that is not the case at all. It would still be a problem if the site was simply called hookers of Canada. Because again stories of success seem to not be welcomed.

I also disagree that the issue of happiness is a moot one. I think it is just as important as safety. I do not want to be unhappy in my life, I don't want others to be unhappy.

Riley, you have spoken out and said that you feel you are a survival sex worker and I have seen over the years just how unhappy you have been at time in this line of work. Clearly you have wished for another line of employment, one that you would be happier in. I believe that you should strive for that. I would never take away your right to work in this industry, and I would fight for your right to safety with every bitchy bone in my body, but personally I would love to see you out. Why? Because even if you are safe, you are not happy sweetie. I would encourage anyone in ANY field or industry to change jobs if they can if they are not happy.

In the wake of Robin Williams death, even though he is bipolar which is a little different then depression, many people have come out about being depressed. In the mental health community I see it all the time. There are environmental triggers for depression. Stress at work is a HUGE one. So maybe that is why I come to this happiness opinion differently, but I feel happiness is a big key factor in life and it should be for everyone.

Why is Miss Jessica Lee and Emily so quiet lately on this subject?.

Besides having full time jobs of making clients happy, they are working behind the scene. I don't want to blow the whistle but there is something in the works for next week.