“There are many consequences of being criminalized, even if we win in court.” “Even if there’s a chance she can win, there’s always a risk of workplaces being shut down, police being alerted to the activity, being evicted, deported,” she said. Going to court exposes a sex worker - and potentially everyone else she is associated with - to the justice system, Wesley said. The vast majority of sex workers, she said, won’t seek financial recourse via the court system because sex work is still criminalized in Canada. Real change will occur once politicians decriminalize sex work, said Sandra Wesley, executive director of Stella, a Montreal-based organization by and for sex workers. The public is beginning to understand the difference between “extremely harmful, predatory things like sex trafficking, and legitimate sex work by an adult who is a worker, pays taxes, has a business.”Īs a response to the ruling, Halpern and Sheehan said they planned to hold workshops for sex workers to help them understand their legal rights.īut not everyone in the sex industry sees the court’s decision as a step forward. The decision also reflects a changing attitude within society and the law toward sex work, Halpern said. “This type of issue had never been addressed before in court,” Rose said in a recent interview.Įmma Halpern, executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia, says the decision empowers sex workers to seek legal remedies to enforce their contracts. Sheehan’s lawyer, Jessica Rose, says she and her client wanted to expose the court to the “economic realities of doing sex work.” As well, Rose said they wanted to raise awareness about “what is needed as far as access to the civil justice system to ensure sex workers are treated fairly by their clients.”

Paying for sex, however, remains illegal.

Sex work remains criminalized in Canada, but a 2014 law removed criminal penalties for people, like Sheehan, who sell sexual services. Samuelson argued that the agreement was invalid because it is illegal to purchase sexual services, but court adjudicator Darrel Pink said the contract could still be enforced and awarded Sheehan $1,800. HALIFAX - In a legal decision described as the first of its kind in Canada, a Halifax sex worker successfully sued a client for nonpayment of services, but actors in the industry are conflicted about the ruling’s impacts.įormer sex worker Brogan Sheehan took Bradley Samuelson to small claims court after he didn’t fully pay her fee, which both parties had agreed to beforehand.

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