The long table event will explore the historical and contemporary realities of sex work in Hamilton through archival materials and discussions
The Centre for Community-Engaged Narrative Arts will host Archiving and Educating about Sex Work in Hamilton, a community long table event on Feb. 12, 2025 in partnership with the Sex Worker’s Action Program.
Jelena Vermillion, the current director of SWAP, will discuss ongoing advocacy efforts in Hamilton. She will explore the past, present and future roles of storytelling, policy and public perception in shaping the discourse surrounding sex work. Amber Dean, a professor in McMaster’s department of English and cultural studies, will facilitate the discussion.
The event is part of a broader effort on the part of SWAP to document and engage with narratives from sex workers in the city. Attendees will be able to interact with archival materials, including books, media and newspapers.
SWAP provides harm reduction, advocacy and education resources for sex workers in Hamilton. The organization advocates for and supports sex workers with material resources, peer-led outreach and community programming that addresses immediate needs as well as broader systemic challenges they face.
SWAP initially focused on harm-reduction outreach, distributing drawstring backpacks containing safer injection and inhalation supplies, condoms, dental dams and other safer-sex materials. Over time, the organization expanded to include curated resource pamphlets, personal care items and seasonal necessities such as hand warmers.
Vermilion is a long-time advocate for sex workers’ rights and has played a leading role in these outreach efforts. She emphasized that SWAP’s approach goes beyond harm reduction and aims to affirm the dignity of sex workers in a society that often dehumanizes them.
“The idea was that it was not just about harm reduction supplies; it was about showing compassion, care, nurturement and real consideration towards how underserved and vilified sex workers have been,” said Vermilion.
The idea was that it was not just about harm reduction supplies; it was about showing compassion, care, nurturement and real consideration towards how underserved and vilified sex workers have been.
Jelena Vermilion, Executive Director
Sex Workers' Action Program
At the height of its operations, SWAP also ran a drop-in centre funded by Women and Gender Equity Canada.
The Greater Hamilton Health Network partnered with the space to host community health initiatives, including sexual health screenings, vaccinations and general health services. However, the network’s funding only covered a year, so the center had to close once the grant period ended.
While the loss of a dedicated physical space presented challenges, SWAP continues its advocacy work, collaborating with researchers, harm reduction groups and policymakers to address systemic barriers impacting sex workers in Hamilton.
Vermilion has spent years advocating for the rights of sex workers and harm reduction. She has facilitated workshops for service providers, guest lectured at universities across Ontario and led discussions on sex-work policy at various levels of government.
The long-table event on Feb. 12 will focus on an archive Vermilion has been curating for the past five years. It includes books, media, ephemera, magazines, legal documents and personal accounts from sex workers. The archive was recently featured on Toronto Metropolitan University’s We Met U When podcast, where Vermilion discussed the challenges of preserving sex-work histories and the importance
“It’s one thing to have an archive of a dataset or materials. It’s another thing to get people to interact with it, to understand the lives, the histories, the struggles and the resilience behind it all,” said Vermillion.
It's one thing to have an archive of a dataset or materials. It's another thing to get people to interact with it, to understand the lives, the histories, the struggles and the resilience behind it all.
Jelena Vermilion, Executive Director
Sex Workers' Action Program
Attendees will have access to approximately 25 banker’s boxes of archival material, containing narratives from sex workers which, according to Vermillion, are in many cases ignored by society and government. Vermilion highlighted that sex workers in Hamilton face casual cruelty and exclusion in political and social spaces.
Vermilion shared with The Silhouette about her experiences at Hamilton City Hall, where she has seen that advocates for sex work and the rights of sex workers are often questioned disproportionately or met with attitudes of dismissal.“
There’s a distinct difference in how many questions I get asked compared to other delegations . . . They’re happy to comply with the law that requires them to let the public speak, but they don’t actually want to engage with the recommendations being made,” said Vermillion.
There’s a distinct difference in how many questions I get asked compared to other delegations... They’re happy to comply with the law that requires them to let the public speak, but they don’t actually want to engage with the recommendations being made.
Jelena Vermilion, Executive Director
Sex Workers' Action Program
This lack of engagement, she said, reflects a broader societal attitude that views sex workers as disposable. She suggests that it is this exclusion from decision-making, combined with ongoing stigma, that places sex workers at disproportionate risk of violence.
“Sex workers are used as symbols to scare women into compliance, to keep people in line. But when sex workers are safe, everyone is safer. The fight for sex workers’ rights is a fight for bodily autonomy, for labour rights, for human dignity,” said Vermillion.
Sex workers are used as symbols to scare women into compliance, to keep people in line. But when sex workers are safe, everyone is safer.
Jelena Vermilion, Executive Director
Sex Workers' Action Program
She encouraged those outside the sex-work community to take an active role in pushing for change.
“People who aren’t sex workers need to take on the stigma too . . . They need to be willing to have these conversations, challenge harmful narratives and use their privilege to push for policies that protect people,” said Vermillion.
The long table event aims to provide a space for conversation where sex workers’ stories are not only archived but engaged with, discussed and recognized as an integral part of Hamilton’s social fabric.
The event is free to attend and open to the public.
How sex workers have remained resilient in the face of COVID-19 and ongoing criminalization
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the rampant systemic inequality that exists in Canada. Racialized, low-income, precariously housed, disabled and many other marginalized folks in Canada have experienced a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Among the most affected are sex workers.
While the pandemic unavoidably affected the sex work industry, it is not the loss of work alone that has made this pandemic even more difficult for sex workers. It is the criminalization of the sex trade, the lack of social supports for sex workers and the fact that many sex workers are also members of other marginalized groups.
In 2014, Canada introduced laws that prohibited the purchase, attempted purchase, procurement and advertisement of sexual services, among other things. The titled “end-demand” model is based on the idea that targeting clients will end the demand for sex work and thus sex work more broadly.
The desire to end sex work is based on the incorrect assumption that sex work is inherently exploitative and that all sex workers are victims in need of protection.
In practice, these laws have put sex workers at risk. The prohibition of purchase has made it more difficult for sex workers to screen and assess clients as well as organize with other sex workers.
Moreover, these laws reinforce the idea that sex workers are victims of an exploitative industry when, in fact, most sex workers do not characterize themselves as such. These laws disregard the agency of sex workers and the fact that many choose this work. For years, sex worker justice organizations in Canada have been working to repeal these laws.
However, as the government failed to reform sex work laws, this was the state of sex work in Canada when the pandemic hit in March 2020.
“What's happening right now is a crisis. It's a specific crisis for sex workers,” explained Jelena Vermilion, the executive director of the Sex Worker Action Program Hamilton.
“What's happening right now is a crisis. It's a specific crisis for sex workers,” explained Jelena Vermilion.
Throughout the pandemic, the federal and provincial governments have made several decisions that negatively impacted sex workers in Canada.
In March 2020, the federal government announced the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. This monthly funding was part of a plan to ensure that “no one will be left behind” in the pandemic. However, several sex workers were unable to access CERB.
Butterfly, Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network, is an organization formed by sex workers and service providers that advocates and provides support for Asian and migrant sex workers. They ran a survey in April 2020 and found that less than half of respondents applied for CERB.
Some were not eligible because of undocumented work or immigration status, while others were not eligible because they were claiming other social assistance. A number of sex workers also do not file taxes because of the criminalization of their work.
“Some of it is strategic to avoid stigma. Just having the government know that you're a sex worker is such a risk for some people. Some people sincerely don't know how to do their taxes . . . and fear approaching an accountant for the same reason . . . and then many were unable to collect CERB. Or if they did, they were asked to pay it back,” explained Vermilion.
Vermilion also spoke to the specific impact that COVID-19 has had on sex workers in Hamilton.
“I'd say [COVID-19 has affected sex workers in Hamilton] a little bit worse than a couple of other cities, especially with the strip clubs around this area having been closed before COVID due to gentrification and other zoning [and] political issues. People have had to move to or get work in other cities and of course, commuting is its own expense. Having access to a vehicle is precarious for many people. So I would say that honestly we've had a lot more heard a lot more stories of people having housing issues, of people just having no way to get work,” said Vermilion.
Unfortunately, even for Hamilton sex workers who are able to work in other cities, 2020 brought extreme uncertainty.
On Sept. 25, 2020, the Ontario government announced its decision to close all strip clubs, which was made without consultation or notice to sex workers.
Strip clubs were singled out and hit harder with restrictions than other establishments at the time. The provincial government continued to allow restaurants, bars and nightclubs to remain open with added restrictions.
In response to these regulations, the stripper-led organization Work Safe Twerk Safe is pursuing legal action.
“We are concerned that our work at strip clubs is being treated differently than workers at other bars. We feel that the decision to enact these provisions to close strip clubs specifically relates to discriminatory and stereotypical assumptions about strippers as vectors of disease. We want to be treated the same as other bars and nightclubs. We feel we have been left out of decisions that affect us,” wrote Work Safe Twerk Safe on the organization’s website.
As the government has failed to support sex workers, organizations such as SWAP Hamilton, Butterfly, Work Safe Twerk Safe and Maggie's Toronto Sex Workers Action Project have stepped up to help their communities.
These organizations have provided sex workers with guides for working during the pandemic, set up emergency funds and advocated for income support. SWAP Hamilton supported the city’s sex workers during COVID-19 by providing harm reduction packages, gift cards and $100 stipends.
While these actions demonstrate the resilience of sex workers, they are also reminders of the lack of government support for members of this community.
While these actions demonstrate the resilience of sex workers, they are also reminders of the lack of government support for members of this community.
As many sex workers are already members of other marginalized groups, this additional work takes a toll on their mental and physical health.
“Honestly, [SWAP Hamilton is] just trying to survive, just like everybody else. A lot of it falls on my shoulders. So a lot of it comes down to what my capacity is and I'm a trans woman. I'm dealing with my stuff as well during this whole situation. So ultimately it's just been about being able to still remain visible in the community. And even if we're not like active in the exact same way, we want people to understand that [sex workers] still exist,” said Vermilion.
Vermilion encouraged students to educate themselves and to think critically about these issues. She also encouraged all students to sign a petition to repeal the laws that criminalize sex work.
