September 2006

Stability. That's the one thing Kate Gibson knows survival sex trade workers really require.

As Executive Director of the Women's Education and Safe House (WISH) she heads a group that offers female-identified survival sex workers a place to go for a meal, a shower and some friendly conversation for a few hours every night. Three years ago, WISH saw a dream come true, when it was awarded $1 million award from Vancity Credit Union, to establish its own safe house that will eventually remain open for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Gibson said WISH is just negotiating for a site and hopes to announce the new location in October. The new drop-in centre will move from its current location in First United Church on East Hastings to another Downtown Eastside location, near where the women work.

Sex workers desperately need the safe house. Gibson said there are about 1,500-2,000 sex workers on the streets of Vancouver, which she estimates represents approximately 10-15 per cent of the total in the city. She explained that some female sex workers are on the street full-time, while others work part-time, usually when they run out of money close to the end of the month.

WISH serves about 500 women. "The women we work with are all fully street involved." Gibson said these women are generally poor and lack options, access to treatment and support. In many cases, they are homeless. "They don't have the option to refuse sex work (and) will do whatever you've got to do to survive."

She said many self-medicate with drugs, in order to escape the shame they feel or to forget the violence they often suffer at the hands of sex consumers. "When you do what they do to survive, you're pretty much going to be high," Gibson said, adding "not everybody who works in the sex industry uses drugs, but many do."

Gibson said the average age of entry to the sex trade is 14, usually a girl who has fled to Vancouver from elsewhere. Typically, they're isolated from friends and family and become introduced to drugs. They soon enter the sex trade, to pay for the drugs. "Their family becomes the street family and agencies like ours."

At the WISH safe house, they can get off the street, from 6-11 pm, shower, get some clean clothes, rest, and get something to eat. "They're not in that vulnerable position they're in on the street," she said. "Pretty much all of them need that safe place."

WISH also provides nursing care a few nights a week, usually for health concerns such as HIV and Hepatitis C, skin problems, bed bug bites, foot problems and malnutrition. WISH also provides the women with links to shelters and referrals to other services they may require. Gibson said about 150 women drop by WISH each night.

Gibson said some of the women approach WISH staff about getting into detox; she knows, however, that the choice is challenging because even if they get a bed immediately, there is often nowhere for them to go when they leave detox. If they're homeless - and many are - their best option may be a shelter. But people need a safe place where they can feel protected as they recover, Gibson said. "If you have the flu do you want to be in a stinky shelter with guys in the bed next to you and no private bathroom? No, you want to be safe."

She also knows that women who can stop using drugs are more capable of exiting the sex industry. "It's still a pretty big climb out."

The first step, though, is to offer the women stability and Gibson said she's seen the difference it can make. WISH used to have a program that offered women the opportunity to do some weekly volunteer work at the safe house. For their efforts, they were paid an honourarium of just $25, but they had to show up every week. The stability of even that small amount of volunteer work made an enormous difference in their lives. WISH found that the women who did the work consistently managed their drug use better, tended to avoid binge drug taking and made healthier decisions. The program ended after the funding ran out.