Hello and thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I have written to you today to express my concerns about Bill C-36 and to share about bit about my experiences.
My name is Jessica Rain and I am a sex worker.
Since writing that sentence almost feels like I am in some anonymous support group admitting to some heinous perversion and ready to accept change in my life, I think I will start speaking about my concern regarding the stigma of sex work. I shouldn’t feel that way at all, and I blame my government for this. I find that it is wrong for someone (my government) to speak on my behalf when my voice has not been heard. I find it wrong that my voice is not wanted to be heard by my government and that if it is finally heard, my voice is dismissed because some people (my government) think I don’t know what I want. That I am confused in my feelings based on some assumption that women don’t like sex or shouldn’t enjoy sex outside of the matrimonial bed. That I must have been abused, or on drugs, or mentally ill. I am concerned that this repression of the sexual desires of women is going to go even further in the future. I am afraid of the message being sent by our government regarding women and their sexuality. I fear that the wording my government chose to use adds and supports a stigma against highly sexual beings such as myself. Perpetrating the notion that I am a slut because I enjoy sex. If the men who enjoy my services are perverts then what I am when I enjoy my time with him as well? It is these things that make me feel like admitting to being a sex worker is some how wrong when in my opinion, it is indeed the opposite.
Let me explain first by saying I am not 100% a sex worker yet. I have yet to take my first client. I am sure by the time you read this, I will have enjoyed my first companionship session. I am not coming into sex work ill-informed. I am fully consenting and in actuality, actively seeking this type of companionship arrangement. I am an extremely independent woman with an insatiable sexual appetite. I am single and enjoy all the freedoms of being single. This type of work not only gives me a chance to find some suitable companionship when my personal schedule permits, but allows me the benefit of financial compensation for my time. This type of work allows me to explore and enjoy my sexuality, my fantasies and my desires. This type of work affords me total control. I am a business owner who is in the position to fully retire at an age of under 40, so the money is not my motivation. My sexual and companionship needs, wants and desires are my main focus and goal. Who are you to take away my sexual freedom and what I feel are my rights to happy, healthy and safe sexual living?
I am starting out now mainly because of this Bill. I feel pressured if I am to be honest. Pressured to start getting my name out there now so that I can be verified as safe provider and not as a law enforcement in disguise. If I was able to take more time or if I did not have to compete with the possibility of undercover sting operations in the future, I may have handled my entry into this industry much differently. I may not have chosen the advertising campaign that I have decided on. I may have chosen to be more discrete with my advertising as my role as a sex worker is not predominant in my daily life. I may be a provider who entertains 2-3 clients a month. I would not require heavy advertising, or to even create a “big” name for myself. However with this Bill seemingly being passed sooner then later, I feel I am limited in my choices. That limit is being placed upon me by my own government. A government that last year said I had the to right to work as a sex worker. A government that found the current law limited a sex worker and those limits endangered her. Now it appears my government is finding new laws to limit me and therefore endanger me, instead of allowing me my right to choose what I do with my body. This is quite perplexing since my government says it is my clients who put me at risk, yet so far the only risk to me is based on what my government has and is trying to further enact via their laws. This is already starting before I take my first client. How is this at all helpful to sex workers? I fear that creating a Bill to regulate sex work with the actual goal of eradicating it, has done nothing but make it more dangerous for women in this industry.
I am thankful to the various online advertising and review forums because without them, I would not have been able to do the research I have done into this industry. I would never have known how to start, what type of clients and services I am interested in, what dangers I would have to look out for and how I can avoid them. Having online venues where one can freely search and review privately for months is what made it possible for me to make an informed decision about entering this business. I worry for the new comers after me. Will they be as lucky as I have been? Will they be able to properly make that choice with all the information readily available to them? If this Bill passes and sees to it that these types of forums are shut down, I fear that many ill-guided women will enter this industry under wrong pretenses and can end up being hurt. Maybe if she read what it is all about, she could decide it was not for her. Working against an industry that will never die only supports the harm that some in this industry face.
I personally have a concern about advertising. Not just where I will be able to advertise, as I am sure some advertising venues will close if this Bill passes, but my main concern is the wording I will be allowed to use. I feel that hindering the wording a sex worker can use could do more harm than good. If I am limited in the services that I can list, and potential clients are too afraid to confirm services they want, I could end up in a not so friendly encounter. I worry if I am going to be able to clearly state the safety and discretion that my clients can expect. Advertising, when done right, can be a great tool in screening clients. Quite often I see ads placed by great providers written so wonderfully yet it clearly lays out the terms, or boundaries that she has in place for her safety or enjoyment. Is this going to be able to continue? The wording regarding advertising seems a little unclear to me and therefore it is a concern.
My concern for those exploited or those who are trafficked is that law enforcement is not doing enough for them now with the current laws we have so what are they going to do differently in the future? Personally I fear they will do even less in the future. It is easier to find and arrest normal everyday citizens. You can show big numbers in arrests when you get the average family man caught in your little sting operations. It will show such a good fight against the evil ways of paid sex however that poor 16 year old in the condo across the street is still being forced to work. I fear that because police will take the easier catch, the true big and bad abusers out there will be able to continue what they are doing. If we are suppose to be helping those who do want to do this type of work, how helpful are we going to truly be? I am making this choice to be a sex work because I want to, I do not want ANYONE doing this against their will and I will be very disappointed in my police services and my government if this type of easy picking police work ends up putting more women in harm because it is slightly harder work to find the hidden targets.
I do not envy the position my government is in at the moment. Trying to ensure safety for those who need it while weighing the rights of those of us who enjoy this career in companionship and sex work. However, painting us all with one brush and that brush being of the exploited opinion, does neither side any good. It makes us all vunerable to more dangers, not protections. Please reconsider this Bill, this action against sex, sexual freedoms, and please stop creating more danger and more stigma to an already volatile and sensitive industry.
I think there is so much open to discussion and I would probably write for hours, but I think you have an idea of where I am coming from. Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts.
Jessica Rain
