Advocating from the shadows, St. John's sex workers have ideas for a safer industry

Their names and faces are concealed for this article — an agreement made with CBC for safety — but the ideas two local sex trade workers bring are long and varied, as they advocate for change in an often unknown and underground world.

Ideas like heightened security, so that clients think twice before pushing what they want on workers, like the violence they may inflict.

Or a client database to alert other men and women working in massage parlours of the names and faces of dangerous clients.

Some of the ideas would require decriminalization and the lifting of a municipal moratorium in an industry often mired in debate.

"Sex work has been something that's been around since the beginning of time," said Alex, 19, who worked in a St. John's massage parlour for about six months and has worked as an independent sex worker.

"Involve sex workers to make sure the new regulations don't increase risk of violence or allow for further discrimination when the regulations are interpreted and applied," Alex said.

Earlier this month, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Chief Joe Boland told CBC News about a lack of oversight at massage parlours, and concerns he has from violence to underage workers.

After learning the City of St. John's can only control zoning of adult massage parlours, Boland approached the provincial government to ask for regulations to strengthen industry safety. That discussion is ongoing.

Strained relationship with police

"I see a lot of areas where regulation could help but hearing it come from the police chief … it was difficult in the sense that I'm not sure if sex workers are involved in the regulations," Alex said.

Boland said he is working with local organizations Thrive and Blue Door, which focus on exploitation. However, both sex workers interviewed for this story say in order for regulation to be done right, it must involve the voices of many.

That is a challenge as police attempt to bandage a strained relationship with sex workers, walking a tight rope with pushing workers further into the shadows on one side, and making better connections on the other.

"I think in order for sex workers to really build up a good relationship with the police again, it's going to take a lot of work on their part, as they've slipped off in the past. And I think they will continue to do so," said a 20-year-old woman we'll call Sarah, who was involved in a hotel room sting with police.

The RNC and the RCMP had been participating in Operation Northern Spotlight, a nation-wide enforcement campaign targeting sex trafficking, which began in 2014.

The RCMP said in 2017 that the goal was to identify and assist those working in the sex trade who might be victims of human trafficking. And, indeed, 16 people were removed from exploitative situations.

But others were doing the work willingly — like Sarah.

"I got taken out to a hotel and it ended up being the cops there. It was a very unpleasant and scary experience. And ever since then I've honestly been very wary of the police," she said.

Violence happens at massage parlours, too

In an emailed statement to CBC News, the owner of Hush and the Red Room said his businesses haven't experienced any "violent instances where people got hurt" and encouraged the RNC to visit the two massage parlours.

Like most all other subsections of the sex industry, violence can happen — and that includes in massage parlours, Sarah said. She currently works at a local massage parlour.

"There are times when people can get very aggressive and they push things that they want on you when those aren't things that you're willing to give them," she said.

"It's really an issue of disrespect. I think it all comes back to misogyny and the fact that a lot of times men look down on women who do sex work."

Creating a database of clients who have shown violence would be a start, she said, and would be a good avenue to warn others if there are dangerous people taking advantage of workers.

Having the ability to end a session without financial penalty because a client is violent or threatening is also a good step, says Alex.

Currently, there is no regulatory oversight of the industry, and workers rely on individual owners to have their safety in mind.

For that reason, they say having the City of St. John's lifting its moratorium on new massage parlours, which has been in place since 2015, would be a positive step that would allow higher safety standards.

"People are going to want to work at the ones where they're going to be treated best and where they're going to be the safest, so the places that don't have those same types of standards, they're probably not going to be around for as long as the places that really care about their workers," Sarah said.

Cameras at the entrances

A seemingly small step toward safety would be mandatory cameras, they say, pointing at the door to identify who the client was before they're let inside.

"We've wanted to print off the faces of people who have been violent or have assaulted us and be able to more clearly ban people and that hasn't been able to happen," said Sarah.

While neither worker says they've seen underage girls working in massage parlours, Alex began in the industry when he was 16. Having checks in place to ensure workers and clients are of age is something all sides can agree upon.

"As someone who was underage working, there is a lot of terrible stuff that happens and I don't want any other underage person to experience … like I saw the worst in people," Alex said.

"Clients being of age and workers being of age and just people that are adults consenting to sex and paying for sex is what I believe in for sex work."

Being an advocate for change is difficult where you're operating anonymously, but speaking out, they hope, will help chip away at the stigma of sex work.

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