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.
New initiative by Spectrum and YWCA Hamilton helps newcomers connect with the community
C/O Calum Lewis
There is something incredibly special about cooking with someone. Many of us have happy memories associated with a certain kitchen or certain meals. For newcomers, cooking can not only be a way to stay connected to culture and something familiar in a foreign place, but it can also be the foundation for building a new community.
While building community in a new place is never easy, the pandemic has made it much harder. Noura Afify, the 2SLGBTQIA+ newcomer youth support worker at Speqtrum and YWCA Hamilton, has created an innovative solution in the form of her Food Talks series. Her goal is to help foster a sense of community for newcomers in these difficult days.
Prior to the lockdown, Afify had hoped to organize food tours to showcase businesses that carry important ingredients that many mainstream grocery stores may not and to help newcomers get oriented to Hamilton.
In its place, she has developed a wholesome series featuring conversations between herself and community members about their relationship to food.
“[Food Talks] is a space for us to talk about what food means to us as people — the emotions, the feelings, the memories, the ways that food connects us to those things and connects us to our cultures and to diasporic identities and stuff like that. But also, on the other hand, talking about how food can and has always been used to build community,” explained Afify.
“[Food Talks] is a space for us to talk about what food means to us as people — the emotions, the feelings, the memories, the ways that food connects us to those things and connects us to our cultures and to diasporic identities and stuff like that. But also, on the other hand, talking about how food can and has always been used to build community,” explained Afify.
The episodes serve as a way to introduce newcomers to members of the community and are also connected to the virtual community kitchen, Mother Tongue.
Food Talks is catered towards elders and youth. The episodes of the series are posted on both Instagram and Facebook, which Afify hopes will allow both demographics to engage with it.
So far, the series has been received warmly by both the viewers and the interviewees.
“It's been really sweet. We've been having folks leave really sweet comments. And folks who did partake in the interview said they really enjoyed it and almost everybody wanted to come and co-facilitate a community kitchen with us. It was really lovely to see that because that is my goal, to have them meet newcomers in person or virtually, so that means a lot to me. And I'm sure it will mean a lot to the newcomers to be able to make those nice affirming connections and create support systems,” said Afify.
It's very important to Afify that Food Talks fosters a sense of community for 2SLGBTQIA+ newcomers, showing them that there is a space for them in Hamilton. She hopes Food Talks will help ease some of the worries newcomers have about finding connection and community in a new place during these times.
Afify also recognizes the importance of making long-term connections, especially for newcomer students. She hopes that Food Talks will give them an opportunity to create these kinds of connections with the larger Hamilton community.
“When I was a student, I was fairly isolated and it was hard getting support only from other students because exams and everybody was so busy all the time. Whereas if you want to connect with an elder in the queer and trans community that's off-campus, they will make time for you. So you're also building connections that are going to support you for the rest of your life. You are meeting mentors, you are learning from people. Most of my learning happened from people, not from classrooms,” explained Afify.
As of publication, only two episodes of Food Talks have been released but more are in the works. Going forward, Afify also hopes to film episodes in languages other than English to help overcome any language barriers.
“This whole project is to give a warm, virtual, community hug to newcomers who are super isolated right now and are really, really struggling. It's one thing to be a newcomer, it's another thing to be a newcomer has to go through all the struggles and barriers in the middle of COVID,” said Afify.
A pomegranate, some books, plants and a kiln. On their own, these images may not speak to the inspiring legacy of women’s stories. However, in the hands of the youth leaders from the YWCA Hamilton and Workers’ Arts and Heritage Centre Youth Councils, items such as these have been transformed into powerful symbols within beautiful collages.
This artwork currently hangs at WAHC’s community gallery in an exhibition entitled Portraits of Gratitude: Women+’s History; Women+’s Future. All the pieces came out of a two-hour collage workshop led by Hamilton artist Stylo Starr for the youth council members, all of whom are between 16 and 29 years old.
[spacer height="20px"]The individuals behind these pieces are not necessarily artists by trade, but were passionate about telling stories of woman-identified individuals’ power and leadership. The idea came out of a conversation held during the YWCA Youth Council’s summer book club wherein they were reading Elizabeth Renzetti’s Shrewed.
“[T]here's a chapter in the book that discusses the relationship between Mary Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft and we were remarking on how interesting it was that both of these women eventually got such recognition for their work and about how women's stories and history are often absorbed by their husbands,” explained Daniela Giulietti, the coordinator for the YWCA Youth Advisory Council.
Giulietti approached WAHC with the idea of creating an exhibition to combat this erasure and bring women’s stories to the forefront. This brought the WAHC Youth Council on board and the group decided to hold the exhibit at the WAHC, a massive two storey historic house on 51 Stuart Street.
October is Women’s History Month in Canada and this year’s theme has been designated with the #MakeAnImpact hashtag. The government has set up Women of Impact in Canada, an online gallery celebrating the achievements of remarkable women.
In the same vein, the collage workshop that produced the exhibition’s pieces began with the participants reflecting on women who inspire them. Some of these women were activists, authors and pop culture figures. Notable figures such as Toni Morrison and Beyoncé were highlighted in the pieces.
[spacer height="20px"]However, many were women that would not be found in national collections: mothers, sisters, grandmothers, aunts and friends. Hitoko Okada, a textile artist and Interim Programs Coordinator for the WAHC Youth Council, shared how her grandmother inspires her at this time in her life.
“[W]hen I'm weaving and sewing, I really feel like she is coming through and…even teaching my small movements of the hand…I just feel like that she's really with me and guiding me and encouraging me to connect to my ancestry through craft,” explained Okada.
“I feel like that's a knowledge that was transmitted to me through this…indirect way but it's a hand movement and a practice that…most of the women in our family have shared.”
The influence of family comes through in many of the collages. Several invoke domestic imagery and contain allusions to women relatives. One piece has clippings of a farm that reminded the artist of her grandmother’s farm where she grew up. Another seems to spell out Mom.
It is special that this exhibition provides a place for the stories of women that figure most prominently in our personal histories. In this time where the experiences of women are continuously being cast aside, it is empowering to have a space wherein the narratives of women are valued.
“[T]he timing ended up being really important because this was…when a lot of anti-survivor narratives were present in the media around the Brent Kavanaugh confirmation…[I]t felt for me like the space created was almost a really nice relief. You can see that in some of the pieces where there's survivors and I believe survivors, we believe survivors,” said Jordyn Perreault-Laird, a member of the YWCA Youth Council and Outreach and Partnerships Coordinator at WAHC.
The exhibition will culminate with a closing reception on Oct. 26, during which there will be a screening of the film, Bread and Roses. The film is inspired by the Justice for Janitors movement and tells the story of the janitorial strike in Los Angeles by undocumented immigrants and led by women.
The film sheds light on history that is often obscured by louder male narratives. It also demonstrates the power of young women and marginalized people to change their world. Creating space for the lesser known stories of women was one of the main goals of the exhibition as a whole. Reflecting on the success of the exhibit, Okada summed up the gravity of this impact.
“It really makes me think about the power of an image and the image of a woman in leadership. It speaks volumes. It's really so powerful…[it] gives me chills.”
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