
On Friday, over a hundred people gathered in Toronto’s downtown east end and listened as Monica Forrester—a transgendered woman of colour who has been working as a sex worker for 25 years—remembered a friend. “As we come together to rally, remember Carolyn Connolly,” she said. “Murdered at Sherbourne and Dundas and the killer still is walking among us, without any justice for a friend, a sex worker, she is very much missed here in Toronto.”
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“I think it’s really important, that we need more shelter space for everybody in this city,” said one marcher, Danielle Waters, who identified herself as a queer trans woman. “Because there are way too many people that live on the margins, who are homeless, who don’t have safe spaces, even within the shelter spaces we have.”
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Last week the federal government also unveiled its newly proposed prostitution legislation,Bill C-36, which aims to limit sex workers’ ability to advertise, pay for security, or even work in many areas. Friday’s rally and march created a sounding board for women’s cries of warning, as many fear these laws will force sex workers further underground, facilitating an even more unsafe working environment.Given this proposed legislation and the working climate it will encourage if exercised, drop-in facilities like the ones proposed in Toronto may become more needed than ever. Being open 24 hours could even stand as a precedent that other Canadian cities might be inclined to adopt.Toronto is being given an opportunity to step up and provide a means of safety for women. Perhaps after all the publicity the city has received for its trainwreck mayor, it might be nice to get a little attention for doing something positive.After all, Forrester says, sex work is not going away. “This is a global profession… Anyone that does sex work will navigate the system to make money,” she says. “The sad reality is, what is the outcomes of that? How many more sexual assaults? How many more missing women? How many more deaths?”@gracelisascott