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Research on sex work has documented the harmful effects of criminalization on sex workers' safety. Despite this body of research, the effects of criminalization on the organization of labour within the sex industry and sex workers' suggestions for labour improvements have been largely ignored. In part, this is .due to the mostly hypothetical nature of sex work labour organizing, as many common work-related activities are illegal. When one cannot work from a fixed location, have a manager or employer, or communicate about the terms and conditions of services, focusing on labour improvements can become secondary to protecting oneself from criminal charges. However, the 2010 Ontario Superior Court ruling to decriminalize aspects of prostitution opens the door for a mole nuanced analysis of sex work as a form of labour and for the development of diverse labour organizing strategies. This article presents narratives from a qualitative study with ten current and former sex workers and two allies. It begins by highlighting interviewees' arguments in favour of a "sex is work" paradigm before presenting their suggestions for workplace improvements and ideas about effective labour organizing efforts.

Amid the proliferating scholarship and often sensational public campaigns, Trafficking Harms offers fresh insights and critical analyses. The collection’s four thematic areas — Discourses and Representations; Law and Prosecutions; Policing and Surveillance; Migrant Labour Exploitation — examine an array of issues, including the contested definitions of human trafficking, the application of trafficking law and policy, the conflation of sex work and trafficking, the impacts of anti-trafficking frameworks on racialized communities, questions around “victims” and “traffickers” and much more. Showcasing a mix of scholarly research, public advocacy and first-person narratives, this book is the first of its kind in Canada. The authors include a diverse group of academics, legal advocates, frontline activists who work with migrant and sex-working communities, individuals who have been charged and/or convicted of trafficking offences and those who are directly impacted by trafficking law and policing, such as domestic and migrant sex workers. --Publisher's description

Despite being dubbed "the world's oldest profession," prostitution has rarely been viewed as a legitimate form of labour. Instead, it has been criminalized, sensationalized, and polemicized across the socio-political spectrum by everyone from politicians to journalists to women's groups. Interest in and concern over sex work is not grounded in the lived realities of those who work in the industry, but rather in inflammatory ideas about who is participating, how they wound up in this line of work, and what form it takes. In Selling Sex, Emily van der Meulen, Elya M. Durisin, and Victoria Love present a more nuanced, balanced, and realistic view of the sex industry. They bring together a vast collection of voices - including researchers, feminists, academics, and advocates, as well as sex workers of differing ages, genders, and sectors - to engage in a dialogue that challenges the dominant narratives surrounding the sex industry and advances the idea that sex work is in fact work. Presenting a variety of opinions and perspectives on such diverse topics as the social stigma of sex work, police violence, labour organizing, anti-prostitution feminism, human trafficking, and harm reduction, Selling Sex is an eye-opening, challenging, and necessary book. --Publisher's description. Contents: Introduction / Emily van der Meulen, Elya M. Durisin, and Victoria Love. -- Part 1: Realities, Experiences, and Perspectives. Work, Sex, or Theatre? A Brief History of Toronto Strippers and Sex Work Identity / Deborah Clipperton ; Myths and Realities of Male Sex Work: A Personal Perspective / River Redwood ; Champagne, Strawberries, and Truck-Stop Motels: On Subjectivity and Sex Work / Victoria Love ; Trans Sex Workers: Negotiating Sex, Gender, and Non-Normative Desire / Tor Fletcher ; We Speak for Ourselves: Anti-Colonial and Self-Determined Responses to Young People Involved in the Sex Trade / JJ ; Decolonizing Sex Work: Developing an Intersectional Indigenous Approach / Sarah Hunt ; Transitioning Out of Sex Work: Exploring Sex Workers' Experiences and Perspectives / Tuulia Law. -- Part 2: Organizing and Social Change. Working for Change: Sex Workers in the Union Struggle / Jenn Clamen, Kara Gillies, and Trish Salah ; Overcoming Challenges: Vancouver's Sex Worker Movement / Joyce Arthur, Susan Davis, and Esther Shannon ; Né dans le Redlight: The Sex Workers' Movement in Montreal / Anna-Louise Crago and Jenn Clamen ; Stepping All Over the Stones: Negotiating Feminism and Harm Reduction in Halifax / Gayle MacDonald, Leslie Ann Jeffrey, Karolyn Martin, and Rene Ross ; Are Feminists Leaving Women Behind? The Casting of Sexually Assaulted and Sex-Working Women / Jane Doe ; Going 'round Again: The Persistence of Prostitution-Related Stigma / Jacqueline Lewis, Frances M. Shaver, and Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale. -- Part 3: The Politics of Regulation. Regulating Women's Sexuality: Social Movements and Internal Exclusion / Michael Goodyear and Cheryl Auger ; Crown Expert-Witness Testimony in Bedford v. Canada: Evidence-Based Argument or Victim-Paradigm Hyperbole? / John Lowman ; Repeat Performance? Human Trafficking and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games / Annalee Lepp ; A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Canadian Anti-Pimping Law and How It Harms Sex Workers / Kara Gillies ; Still Punishing to "Protect": Youth Prostitution Law and Policy Reform / Steven Bittle ; To Serve and Protect? Structural Stigma, Social Profiling, and the Abuse of Police Power in Ottawa / Chris Bruckert and Stacey Hannem ; Beyond the Criminal Code: Municipal Licensing and Zoning Bylaws / Emily van der Meulen and Mariana Valverde.

In this edited collection, Leslie Nichols weaves together the contributions of accomplished and diverse scholars to offer an expansive and critical analysis of women’s work in Canada. Students will use an intersectional approach to explore issues of gender, class, race, immigrant status, disability, sexual orientation, Indigeneity, age, and ethnicity in relation to employment. Drawing from case studies and extensive research, the text’s eighteen chapters consider Canadian industries across a broad spectrum, including political, academic, sport, sex trade, retail, and entrepreneurial work. Working Women in Canada is a relevant and in-depth look into the past, present, and future of women’s responsibilities and professions in Canada. Undergraduate and graduate students in gender studies, labour studies, and sociology courses will benefit from this thorough and intersectional approach to the study of women’s labour. Features include tables, case studies, a glossary of key terms, and chapter introductions and conclusions to assist with student comprehension encourages further learning by concluding each chapter with discussion questions, a list of additional key readings, and an extensive reference list provides a broad portrait of women’s work in Canada with contributions from over 20 scholars. --Publisher's description. Contents: Women, work, and intersectionality: An introduction */* Leslie Nichols -- Unions are definitely good for women—but that’s not the whole story / Anne Forrest -- Women’s occupational health and safety / Katherine Lippel and Stephanie Premji -- Unemployed and underemployed women in Canada / Leslie Nichols -- Immigrant women’s work: Paid and unpaid labour in the neoliberal economy / Leslie Nichols, Vappu Tyyskä, and Pramila Aggarwal -- “Not just a job”: Disability, work, and gender / Esther Ignagni -- Young women: Navigating the education-employment divide / Leslie Nichols -- Childcare: Working in early childhood education and care in Canada / Susan Prentice -- Minoritized faculty in Canada’s universities and colleges: Gender, power, and academic work / Sandra Acker and Linda Muzzin -- Black women’s small businesses as historical spaces of resistance / Melanie Knight -- Black women in Canadian university sports / Danielle Gabay -- The public women of Canada: Women in elected office / Jocelyne Praud, Alexa Lewis, and Jarod Sicotte -- Women, aesthetic labour, and retail work: A case study of independent fashion retailers in Toronto / Deborah Leslie and Taylor Brydges -- From the woman’s page to the digital age: Women in journalism / Andrea Hunter -- Equity shifts in firefighting: Challenging gendered and racialized work / Susan Braedley -- Women in manufacturing: Challenges in a neoliberal context / June Corman -- The nonprofit sector: Women’s path to leadership / Agnes Meinhard and Mary Foster -- Understanding the work in sex work: Canadian contexts / Kara Gillies, Elene Lam, Tuulia Law, Rai Reece, Andrea Sterling, and Emily van der Meulen.