History

During the “Developing Capacity for Change Project” - Coop development work shops, workers expressed how a trade association and a branding or certification process could support safer work conditions over all and stabilize the existing safer indoor venues that exist now. The development of occupational health and safety training was also seen as a way to give people entering and in the sex industry the tools to make safe decisions about their work. It was agreed that all stake holders including business owners and consumers should be engaged to contribute to the design of the future of our industry.

Currently a charter challenge is underway to bring down the laws governing sex work. This action will only be successful if as an industry we can prove our ability to self govern and police ourselves. In the next 10 years we must agree to respect each other and treat each other with dignity. This will be an enormous task but an absolutely necessary one none the less. If we cannot demonstrate the ways in which we have traditionally maintained the stability of our industry, the system at large will most likely impose whatever laws it sees fit and we as an industry will be faced with another disaster.

With this in mind, the BCCEW/C set out to engage sex industry workers in beginning the process and determining whether or not there is industry support for such an action and what the structure of such an organization might look like.

Recommendations

The following actions and recommendations emerged as common themes from dialogue with all stakeholders including consumers, business owners and workers.

"Establish a consortium of sex industry stakeholders to develop an Industry Association and negotiate where there are areas of commonality. ie. violence, consumer theft, health and safety, and industry stability."

"Develop Standardized Health and Safety Training for Sex Industry Workers and consumers in partnership with ALL stakeholders including business owners."

"Develop and implement a certification process in partnership with all stakeholders to stabilize and promote sex industry businesses (inclusive of independent workers as businesses). Design an industry association seal or brand to distinguish those businesses that support and have received certification for the negotiated health and safety standards and training."

"Design a complaints process and penalty system in partnership with all stakeholders to provide a system of self governance and enforcement for the sex industry."

"Support the formation of craft unions or trade guilds for all aspects or jobs within the sex industry."

"Establish a system of communications between the sex industry and those agencies who have traditionally had the role of policing or monitoring the industry such as the police, license inspectors and social work/ support agencies to prevent misunderstandings about safety issues within the industry."

All over Canada, law enforcement seem to be stepping up attacks on our community. Raids in Halifax, Winnipeg, Grand Prairie, Ottawa and Vancouver have left the indoor escort and massage community shaken. 20 show lounges in Vancouver have closed since 1990 and neighbouring Coquitlam have just passed a by-law outlawing “sundry” or “undesirable” business including massage parlours and exotic show lounges.

We know historically how the elimination of employment choices and safe work environments has slowly but surely whittled away at the safety and stability of the sex industry and its workers. The lack of job opportunities caused by enforcement against us is forcing people to choose sex industry work outside of their comfort zone and contributing to increasing numbers of workers forced into the dangerous street level trade.

Recent raids also revealed another risk to our safety and I quote “It was like- bang crash - and I was on the ground…I looked up to see 5 guns pointed at my head, my husband also on the ground and my son….with a gun pointed at him”. My friend expressed that she looked up at one young “rookie” officer and thought “this is the guy who is going to kill me…”

Police Services in Canada do not have a good record for showing restraint and our fear is a worker or business owner will be accidentally shot or killed during one of these enforcement actions. The emotional impacts of standard police procedures are immeasurable as well. Long terms effects of trauma on people are well documented and will no doubt play a role in the lives of affected business owners and workers.

In conversations with affected business owners and workers I described our industry association plans in an attempt to offer some hope. Many I spoke with were interested in joining…immediately…so I felt maybe we could push our plans forward just a little so workers and business owners in other parts of the country could begin to organize but with a unified thread/ set of goals/ vision.

Terms of REference

• CAEC Term of Reference

So to begin BCCEC members decided to draft Terms of reference for a national industry association and present them to the sex industry community for scrutiny, concerns and editing.

700 people reviewed and contributed the terms of reference and BCCEC members have formalized what will be known for now as the Canadian Adult Entertainment Commission or CAEC.

It has been acknowledged these “Temporary/ Draft Terms of Reference” are an emergency measure intended to support workers and businesses who are under scrutiny and that and a far more detailed description of governance and conflict resolution will be necessary to attain our goal of self governance for the sex industry.

• CAEC Term of Reference
• Sex Industry Association - the original group which has since become the CAEC 

How to Join

• CAEC Membership Application

Are you a sex industry stakeholder and interested in unifying our industry?

Please submit an application and signed terms of reference on behalf of yourself or your organization if you are:

• An active or former sex industry stakeholder, inclusive of but not limited to; street level, bath houses, massage parlours, ads/ internet, dancers, adult film, off street, phone sex, web cam, customers, support staff and business owners.;
• Organizations that provide services for, are run by, or have a vested interest in the sex industry.
• 19 years of age

Contact: caec@wccsip.ca

Members of CAEC

Congratulations to the following groups who are members or locals of the CAEC:

• WeSwear - Winnipeg Sex Workers Education, Advocacy, and Rights
• C.U.N.T. - Canadian Union of Naked Trades - Surrey BC
• FTWA - Flesh Trade Workers Association - Vancouver BC
• NakedTruth.ca - Surrey, BC
• WCCSIP - Vancouver, BC
• BCCEC - Vancouver BC