Sharing Our Voices

Written By Samantha Kearney - BWSS Counsellor

I believe it is through sharing our voices whether it be our thoughts, feelings, experiences, or knowledge, that we, women, become stronger and more resourceful.

I would like to share with you a letter I recently sent to the Editor of the Province regarding an article published about prostituted women. It is how I view prostitution, which might be of interest to many of you...

 

Editor Province
200 Granville
Vancouver, BC
Fax # 604-605-2099

Dear Editor,
I would like to address a few points made in the article "Arrested sex-trade workers given chance to deal with drug woes" published October 6, 2002.

Firstly, I prefer to use the term "prostituted women" rather than "sex-trade workers" because it better reflects the reality of the issue.

The reality is these women are put on the streets to work for pimps, being prostituted by men for men. I do not agree with Constable Baher of the Nanaimo RCMP statement, "We don't have pimps here, we have drug-addicted hookers". What Nanaimo and other cities have are women who are put on street corners by men - call them pimps, johns - to sell their bodies to men. Therefore, dealing with only the women who are being prostituted will not eradicate prostitution. The suppliers and the buyers both remain untouched and able to continue.

It is often the prostituted women who are targeted by the police, the court system and the media. The ones supplying and buying these women rarely are dealt with or even addressed. Why is that? Why is the responsibility and accountability put fully onto the shoulders of prostituted women? I believe it is because these women are a more vulnerable group. They are the ones walking the streets, thus more visible to the police. They are the ones in need of immediate funds to pay their rent, food and support their families. With services to welfare, legal aid, and women's advocacy centres being slashed, it means less resources and support for women, making prostitution a more appealing source of survival for them. Prostitution is not a "drug" issue or a "community problem", it is a social problem. It is about the inequality in how women are perceived and treated in our society. Prostitution will not be eradicated by offering drug counseling or making it a community project. It runs far deeper than that.

Sincerely,

Samantha Kearney

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