How the Separation of Sex Workers from 'Communities'
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Governmentality gone wild: How the separation of sex workers from ‘communities’ contributes to violence against sex workers By Megan Danielle Lonergan A thesis submitted to the Graduate Program in Gender Studies In conformity with the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada July 2016 Copyright © Megan Danielle Lonergan, 2016 Abstract Sex workers are members of our communities, whether they are local or national communities. In law, mainstream media representations, and research sex workers are positioned as outside of or in opposition to communities. Even within marginalized communities sex workers are excluded when appeals to respectability politics are made. In this thesis I analyze three analytic sites from three areas of social life. The first chapter performs a textual analysis of The Bedford Decision (2013) and the resulting Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (2014) as an examination of law. The second chapter is an analysis of filmic discourse on community, sex workers, and violence in the mainstream film London Road (2015) as an examination of mainstream media. The third chapter draws upon empirical research, i.e. in-depth interviews with three current and former sex workers in Ottawa, Canada and analyzes the transcripts using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to center how sex workers’ understanding of their work, community, and the laws and policies that are supposed govern and protect them. In my preface and conclusion I discuss some of the ethical dilemmas I encountered while conducting this research. My findings suggest that sex workers are being positioned and understood as outside of communities in ways that contribute to violence against sex workers. The implications of this research suggest that people who speak in the name of communities—communities in the sense of local neighborhood communities, activist communities, and national communities—need to recognize that sex workers are part of their communities and be accountable to ensuring they are treated as members. Researchers who conduct research on sex work and sex workers need to be accountable to their participants and the impacts their research may have on laws and policies. Sex workers are an over- researched population yet their voices are largely misappropriated or silenced in popular research and policy debates. i Acknowledgements For Shirley Ellis, who always said I was too smart & for Matt Courneya, who taught me life is too short. I would like to thank my parents and my brother Myles for their love and support over the years. Thank you to my partner Charlie for his love and support during my graduate studies at Queen’s; I could not have done this without you. Thank you to Margie and Bill for their kindness and support. Thank you also to Dorian for his patience and kisses. I would also like to thank my amazing supervisor Dr. Trish Salah for all of her patience, support, feedback and inspiration. I could not have asked for a better supervisor and feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to have had her as a mentor. Her belief in my abilities has meant more to me than she may ever know. I would not have finished this M.A without you! Thank you to the participants of the research that makes up the third chapter of this thesis, as their words, input, and support are the heart of this thesis. Thank you also to Dr. Jackie Davies for her support of my work since day one and for all of her feedback as my second reader. Thank you to Dr. Lisa Kerr for agreeing to serve as my external, and Dr. Barrington Walker for chairing my thesis defense. I would also like to thank Dr. Scott Morgensen and Dr. Margaret Little for their early feedback which helped shape my methodology and thinking on this project. A special thank you to Dr. Melissa Houghtaling for her mentorship and friendship during the past two years. We’ll always be disgruntled sociologists. Thank you to Cuba Pictures for providing me with a copy of the shooting script for London Road. I would also like to thank the professors who encouraged my passion for research and social justice during my undergraduate studies at UOttawa: Dr. Chris Bruckert, Dr. Naomi Goldenberg, Dr. Shoshana Magnet, and Dr. Deb Landry—I would not be where I am today without all of you. Thank you also to Andrew Pump, my mentor, my T.A, and my friend. Finally, I would like to thank the undergrads I was lucky enough to T.A during my two years at Queen’s. Your passion for learning and engagement was a reminder of what I was doing here when I needed it the most. ii Table of Contents Title Page Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables .............................................................................................................................................. vi Key Terms.................................................................................................................................................. vii Preface ......................................................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1: Colonialism, Community & Prostitution Law: The Bedford Decision and The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act ................................................................................................ 1 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Theoretical Framework .................................................................................................................... 3 3. Choice of Ottawa as Analytic Site ................................................................................................... 8 4. The Four Major Models of Legal Responses to Sex Work .............................................................. 9 1. Prohibition .......................................................................................................................... 9 2. The Nordic Model ............................................................................................................. 11 3. Legalization ...................................................................................................................... 11 4. Decriminalization ............................................................................................................. 12 5. A Brief History of Canada ............................................................................................................. 14 6. The History of Prostitution Laws in Canada .................................................................................. 15 1. The Feminist Sex Wars ..................................................................................................... 18 1. Radical Feminists et al ......................................................................................... 19 2. Sex Radical Feminists et al .................................................................................. 19 2. Think of the Property Values: Gentrification & Sex Work ............................................... 20 3. The Fraser Committee ...................................................................................................... 23 7. The Bedford Decision .................................................................................................................... 27 1. Living on the Avails of Prostitution .................................................................................. 29 2. Public Communication for the Purposes of Prostitution .................................................. 30 3. Keeping, Being an Inmate of, Or Being Found in a Common Bawdy-House ................... 30 4. Community Safety ............................................................................................................. 31 8. The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act .......................................................... 32 1. The Canadian Model ........................................................................................................ 33 1. The Criminalization of Advertising ...................................................................... 34 2. Redrafting Living on the Avails of Prostitution ................................................... 35 2. The Violence Against Women Discourse .......................................................................... 36 3. Future Charter Challenge?............................................................................................... 36 9. Red-Zones for Prostitution Offences in Ottawa ............................................................................. 37 10. Violence Against Sex Workers in Canada & Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women ........... 40 4. The Murder of Pamela George ......................................................................................... 40 5. The RCMP Failure to Apprehend Robert Pickton ...........................................................