Email the City of Vancouver to reinstate the Sex Work Social Planner
Last week, WISH Drop-In Centre Society, PACE Society, SWAN Vancouver, Living in Community Society, and RainCity Housing released a joint statement calling out the City of Vancouver's decision to eliminate one of its two Sex Work Social Planner positions — a role that plays a critical part in keeping sex workers safe.
The Sex Work Social Planner helps prevent violence, reduce vulnerability, and build communication between sex workers, police, community organizations, and the City. Cutting this position sends the wrong message and puts people at greater risk.
In response, WTC created an email template that supporters can copy, personalize, and send to the Mayor and Council.
This is an email template from Women Transforming Cities (WTC) asking Vancouver City Council to reinstate the Sex Work Social Planning Role that was recently eliminated.
Copy and paste this template to send an email to mayor and council - don’t forget to update the highlighted parts. Use this as a guide and personalize it if you have time. If you wish, CC or BCC info@womentransformingcities.org so we can track responses and follow up with council.
To: ken.sim@vancouver.ca, rebecca.bligh@vancouver.ca, lisa.dominato@vancouver.ca, pete.fry@vancouver.ca, sarah.kirby-yung@vancouver.ca, mike.klassen@vancouver.ca, lucy.maloney@vancouver.ca, peter.meiszner@vancouver.ca, brian.montague@vancouver.ca, sean.orr@vancouver.ca, lenny.zhou@vancouver.ca
Subject: Elimination of Sex Work Safety Role Creates Urgent Gap
Dear Mayor and Council,
I'm writing to echo the concerns raised by sex worker-serving organizations about the elimination of one of the City's two Sex Work Social Planner roles. This position advanced health and safety in Vancouver by:
Training front-line city staff to ensure consistent implementation of the Sex Work Safety Response Guidelines, which were designed to promote safety and well-being for all residents.
Bridging communication gaps across city departments, front-line organizations, and police on emerging safety concerns to reduce silos that can have lethal consequences.
Developing the Sex Work Safety Framework, which includes many concrete but unfulfilled actions to improve long-term health and safety.
Following the deaths of far too many women in Vancouver, the Sex Work Social Planner roles were created as a response to the public Inquiry into Missing Women, which specifically recommended the City of Vancouver “create and fund two community-based liaison positions”. The need for these roles hasn’t gone anywhere: sex work-serving organizations are reporting a rise in assaults and abuser alerts. Meanwhile, concerns about the impacts of FIFA on sex workers add a complex dynamic, which requires expertise and trusted relationships to navigate effectively.
Eliminating this position leaves a critical gap in the City's ability to plan for and respond to sex workers' rights, health, and safety concerns. Combined with the pressures of FIFA and the closure of many sex worker-serving spaces, losing this role creates the conditions for tragedy once again.
I’m asking you to demonstrate your commitment to sex worker safety by immediately reinstating this critical position. I urge you to work with sex worker-serving organizations and listen to their recommendations on next steps to ensure that longstanding relationships and trust between the city and sex workers are maintained.
Thank you,
[NAME]
[Postal code (optional) - so they know if you’re a resident of Vancouver]
