Sex trade protest in St. Catharines

This is the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. There were pleas and marches across the country Wednesday, asking the federal government to change its controversial new prostitution bill.

“We are sisters, we are sisters. I am she, she is me.”

Carrying red umbrellas, they marched through a neighbourhood in St. Catharines where street level prostitutes work. Women who have been assaulted. Some have been murdered.

Deb Nanson, Terry’s Evergreen Addiction Recovery Services: “We have to end this. This is a fight we cannot lose.”

They stood outside, shivering in the cold reading out the names of hundreds of sex trade workers who’ve been killed.

Today at Queen’s Park, advocates for sex trade workers appealed to the Attorney General to not enforce the federal prostitution bill before it’s deemed constitutional.

It’s a bill that criminalizes purchasing, advertising and communicating for sex.

Valorie Scott, Sex Professionals of Canada: “It will increase violence against sex workers by forcing us to work secretively.”

It gives sex trade workers some legal immunity. Ottawa says it gives prostitutes the ability to create safer working conditions. Critics disagree.

Akio Moroon, Sex Rights Workers: “It’s not only opening the door, but the window for sexual predators to feast on the lives of sex workers.”

Rick Osborne from Truth for Teens says it does nothing for the most vulnerable: “This is how they live, one day to another. These are the marginalized at street level. We’re still not helping them.”

Advocates for sex trade workers say they want this prostitution bill amended or scrapped altogether.

Deb Nanson: “Because if you don’t, the Johns that you charge will be the Johns that assault those women. That is what we’ve created. We’ve created a legal rape system, in my eyes.”

Last year, the Supreme Court struck down three prostitution related laws and told parliament to come back with a new one. That new law is what Premier Kathleen Wynne wants to verify if it’s constitutional.