Sex Trade Workers and Community Safety

Chief Danny Smyth

Prostitution and sex work laws continue to evolve and continue to be examined throughout the western world. At the heart of the matter is finding the appropriate balance: protecting the individual rights of people who choose to provide sex as a service, while at the same time protecting those who have not willingly chosen to provide sexual services and have been exploited into doing so. One way of approaching this balance is through the Nordic Model – an approach that decriminalizes the activities of prostitutes and sex workers while criminalizing the activities of those who purchase sex – a very delicate and challenging balancing act.

Sweden first adopted this approach in 1999. Norway and Iceland followed suit in 2008, henceforth known as the Nordic Model. Since that time Canada, Northern Ireland, France, Ireland, and Israel have all legislated similar approaches.

In Canada, Parliament passed the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA), S.C. 2014, c. 25. This Act established Canada’s current sex work laws after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the previous sex work laws in Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford, 2013 SCC 72, for violating sex workers’ Charter rights. The implementation of PCEPA criminalized purchasing sex and criminalized the activities of those benefitting from or exploiting sex workers through pimping, brothels, or third-party advertising.

When PCEPA was passed, s. 45.1 of the Act required Parliament to conduct a five-year review of the law. And that is where we currently are in the evolution of Canada’s laws. The Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform – an alliance of 25 sex worker rights groups across the country led predominantly by and for sex workers – along with several individual applicants, filed a Notice of Application seeking to strike down the sex work prohibitions in the Criminal Code because they violate sex workers’ constitutional rights to security, personal autonomy, life, liberty, free expression, free association, and equality.

A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights began on February 8th, 2022. Federal Justice officials have been defending PCEPA as part of the five-year review. Their approach has been balanced and measured (not unlike PCEPA itself). The experiences of those aligned with the Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Reform have been acknowledged. That being said, Justice officials take the position that this doesn’t warrant striking down the prohibitions in the Act. Instead, they have broadened the position of others by emphasizing that women and girls are being harmed. Human trafficking and exploitation are occurring in our communities.

The WPS has been involved in the defense. Inspector Darryl Ramkissoon and Staff Sergeant Maria Koniuck have extensive experience in this area. Both have had prominent roles in the WPS Counter-Exploitation Unit. They have seen first-hand the harm that too many women and girls in our community have endured—, particularly Indigenous women and girls. Their team has worked with and supported the outreach work of Indigenous Service providers like Ma Mama Wi Chi Itata and Ndinawe in an ongoing commitment to Indigenous women and girls’ safety.

Diane Redsky is the Executive Director of Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata. She is a long-standing community partner with the WPS. The outreach work, which includes education and awareness, is an important part of the strategy to keep Indigenous women and girls in the community safe.

Diane Redsky, Executive Director
Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre

Having a voice for the most marginalized women and girls victimized through sexual exploitation and sex trafficking in Winnipeg was so critical in defending Bill C36-Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act.  The Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre shared our grassroots frontline experience as community care providers to girls and transgender 13-17 years of age who are negatively impacted by many individuals who intentionally target them for the purpose of greed and power. Their healing journey is a lifetime. We also highlighted the many partnerships that are needed to protect our women and girls from this 100% preventable crime including working directly in close collaboration with Winnipeg Police Service. Our Mobile Outreach Program in just 3-years provided support to over 6,800 women, girls and transgender people from offering safe rides, food, harm reduction supplies and listening to their heartbreaking stories of poverty, violence and abuse at the hands of so many offenders. We know that we are stronger when we work together and we are proud to be part of a large network of helpers, advocates and healers. We also recognize the important role law enforcement plays in being part of the solution and we are grateful to the Winnipeg Police Counter Sexual Exploitation Unit for their leadership in working with the community!

Back in 2015, the CNN Freedom Project produced a series on human trafficking that focused on the exploitation of Indigenous women and girls in Winnipeg. It is as relevant today as it was then. Ma Mawi worked closely with CNN sharing real-life experiences of Indigenous women who were sex-trafficking victims in Manitoba. To view one of those videos, follow the link below:

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/23/world/canada-indigenous-sex-trafficking/index.html

Ramkissoon, Koniuck, and Redsky provided Affidavits outlining their collective experience, and all have testified as part of the hearing process. They have contributed to the importance of PCEPA in its approach to prostitution and sex worker laws.

PCEPA may be imperfect, but it is an attempt to balance the rights of individuals with the greater good to protect those being exploited. The final review of the Parliamentary Standing Committee is expected later this year. In the meantime, the WPS will continue to work with and support of the Indigenous Service providers in our community here in Winnipeg.

Darryl Ramkissoon, Inspector
Professional Standards Unit

Throughout my 30-year career with the Winnipeg Police Service, I have spent the majority of my career involved in the enforcement and investigation of Criminal Code offences involving sexual exploitation and human trafficking. This began in 1996 when I was assigned to the CEU as an investigator, which at the time was called the Morals Unit.

During my time with the CEU, I participated in, coordinated, or supervised hundreds of investigations and projects related to the sexual exploitation of predominantly women and girls in Winnipeg. These investigations brought me into contact with situations involving street-level prostitution, escorts, missing persons and human trafficking. 

I have worked in various capacities in these investigations, including as an undercover officer (UC), part of the UC cover team; arrest team; lead investigator; surveillance officer; an affiant for search warrants, Detective Sergeant, Sergeant and Staff Sergeant. Each of these roles allowed me to observe and gain insight into the various aspects of the sex trade and the individuals involved in it.

In April of 2013 the Service changed strategy from directing enforcement initiatives toward the workers. Before this change in strategy, thousands of women had been arrested for this activity over the past decades, and the problems have continued in these communities. It became very apparent that simply arresting sex trade workers was not going to help; more had to be done to address the social issues that brought many of the women and children to prostitution in the first place.  

Then on December 20th, 2013 The Supreme Court of Canada struck down three sections of the Criminal Code that made a number of activities surrounding prostitution illegal. It should be noted that currently in Canada prostitution is NOT illegal but many of the activities around it are. In the Attorney General of Canada v. Bedford, the court ruled that the three sections violated the right to security of the person under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The following sections were struck down; s. 210 (being found in or keeping a common bawdy house) s. 212(1)(j) (living on the avails of prostitution), and s. 213(1)(c) (communicating in public for the purpose of prostitution).

The government was given one year to revisit the Adult Sex Trade laws, and in December 2014, The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (also known as the Nordic or Equality Model) received Royal Assent and became law. The law does not criminalize women and people who are bought and sold in the sex trade. The law protects those who sell their own sexual services from criminal liability. The law mandates the government to provide services to prostituted and sex trafficked individuals, who are mostly women and girls, while prohibiting the purchase of sexual acts; owning or operating a brothel; pimping; and trafficking.  

Winnipeg used to have an elevated street level sex trade compared to other cities. Starting in 2008, WPS saw an increase in online advertisements for sexual services being offered indoors, using platforms such as Backpage and Craigslist. However, at the time, the street level trade remained prevalent. By 2016, the WPS noticed a decrease in street level prostitution as the sex trade moved to indoor venues, such as hotels, motels and Air bnbs. As a result, what remains of street-level work in Winnipeg is now confined to very specific city areas.

For Winnipeg, in particular, the overrepresentation of Indigenous women and girls in the sex trade makes it a priority for the WPS to pay particular attention to the needs and safety of this vulnerable population. Without the current laws that give police the authority to investigate and target exploiters early, it would become increasingly difficult to identify and protect persons who are exploited or who are at risk of being exploited.

I knew that a key aspect to supporting the safety of sex trade workers was to build rapport and trust with the women in the sex trade so that they would become comfortable in seeking out help from the police. Several social service organizations already had trusting relationships with women in the sex trade. Starting in 2013, I undertook steps to engage these organizations and build bridges with them to learn how the police could better support these women and earn their trust.

This engagement was critical in order to be able to share information across organizations and in order for police to better understand the concerns specific to Indigenous peoples involved in the sex trade. It was hoped that through this collaboration I would be better positioned to address these concerns and work towards improving communication and breaking down barriers on both sides.

These partnerships evolved to where we began new initiatives to combat exploitation together and develop a united media strategy. Our media strategy involved featuring our partner agencies in reports about the projects or investigations we did. This showed the community that our enforcement actions were done alongside trusted organizations, with the goal of being able to foster outreach and trust.

In October 2018, I was asked to present at the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Inquiry alongside Chief Smyth.

I was asked to present at the Inquiry by one of the Indigenous social service organizations with which we have had a partnership since 2013 to combat the exploitation of Indigenous women and girls. This organization wanted to share with the Inquiry the value and benefits of such a partnership with the police and the positive effects it could have.

In June 2019, the Inquiry released its recommendation, and there were 231 calls for Justice. The main theme for police agencies was to build respectful working relationships with Indigenous peoples and ensure all policies, practices, and procedures reflect this. Fortunately, for the WPS, we had already made changes in this respect years earlier.

MMIWG-Commissioners Robinson & Eyolfson, after coming out to Winnipeg and going on a ride-along with WPS, stated, “I have not seen this type of working together between the community and police anywhere else in Canada, and I can feel the love and kindness for the work that they do collectively.”

In March 30, 2021 – The Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform — an alliance of 25 sex worker rights groups across the country led predominantly by and for sex workers — along with several individual applicants, filed a Notice of Application seeking to strike down the sex work prohibitions against impeding traffic (s. 213(1)), public communication (s. 213(1.1)), purchasing (s.286.1(1)), materially benefiting (s. 286.2(1)), recruiting (s. 286.3(1)), and advertising (s. 286.4) in the Criminal Code, because they violate sex workers' constitutional rights to security, personal autonomy, life, liberty, free expression, free association, and equality.

In response to this major constitutional challenge to the adult sex trade provisions in the Criminal Code, I was asked by the Attorney General of Canada and Ontario to provide an affidavit in response this challenge. In my affidavit, I cited that Winnipeg, particularly the overrepresentation of Indigenous women and girls in the sex trade, makes it a priority for the WPS to pay particular attention to the needs and safety of this vulnerable population.

Without the current laws that give police the authority to investigate and target exploiters early, it would become increasingly difficult to identify and protect persons who are exploited or who are at risk of being exploited. I argued that the CEU would effectively function as a sex crimes unit, investigating violence only after it occurs.  It would be better to initiate an investigation and come across an individual who says that they chose to be in the trade rather than respond to a serious assault and find out that this has been going on for months or years.

It would be a disservice to those in the sex trade to not at least try to prevent circumstances of exploitation, violence or coercion from continuing or even starting.

In total, evidence was put forward from various social service organizations working with women/girls in the sex trade, police officers from across Canada, and Expert opinions from academics studying the sex trade and human trafficking. 

Overall my testimony and evidence provided to the Attorney General of Canada in April 2022 showed that the Winnipeg Police Service is committed to raising awareness and ending all forms of sexual exploitation and trafficking, particularly for Indigenous women and girls, and to do more for sexually exploited men and boys and 2SLGBTQQIA+ individuals.

Hearings are scheduled in October 2022 to determine the final outcome.