Advocates championing the rights of sex workers in Richmond are strongly opposing the move to shut down massage parlors, emphasizing the urgent need to create safer working environments rather than implementing punitive measures.
SWAN Vancouver, an organization advocating for immigrant and migrant sex workers, vehemently opposed the recent motion proposed by Richmond city Coun. Kash Heed to employ city bylaws for the closure of massage parlors. Angela Wu, SWAN Vancouver's executive director, criticized the motion, stating, "This committee is considering imposing dangerous policies on systemically marginalized people under the guise of protection."
Wu continued, highlighting the misrepresentation of sex work and trafficking: "When you conflate sex work with trafficking, you disregard someone’s choice to earn a living by working at a massage parlour, and inaccurately paint them as victims to fulfill your moral agenda."
In 2018, Coun. Alexa Loo had previously requested city staff to review the bylaws governing "body-rub establishments" in Richmond. However, this matter was not addressed in open meetings, and no changes to the bylaws were brought before the city council.
Efforts to gain information regarding this referral through a freedom-of-information request were met with refusal by the city, citing reasons such as falling under policy and legal advice, and being potentially harmful to law enforcement and intergovernmental relations or negotiations.
Heed, upon introducing the motion, asserted concerns about human trafficking allegedly facilitated by these businesses. He claimed there was a significant market and demand for sex-trade worker services in Richmond, citing online advertisements of licensed massage parlors featuring scantily clad women as evidence.
Contrary to Heed's claims, Sylvia Machat, a researcher specializing in the occupational health and safety of sex workers, refuted the perception of indoor sex work venues as hubs for exploitation or human trafficking. Machat emphasized that harms experienced in these workplaces were connected to Canada's criminalization of sex work, which limits occupational health and safety measures.
Machat advocated for a different approach, suggesting that the City of Richmond engage directly with sex workers to provide access to occupational health services, avenues to report employment standards violations, and involvement in the criminal justice system.
Mark Corrado, the city's director of bylaws and licensing, highlighted Richmond's stringent regulations concerning body-rub licenses. These regulations encompass various aspects such as clothing, age, locks, insurance bonds, lighting, and criminal record checks.
Kit Rothschild from Pace Society, a sex worker advocacy agency, stressed that legislation aimed at eradicating sex work had historically failed. Rothschild warned that attempting to eliminate body rub parlors would only drive this work further underground, jeopardizing the safety of those striving to earn a livelihood.
Rothschild underscored the need to acknowledge sex workers as integral members of the community, asserting, "Sex work isn’t a moral or ethical issue to be debated or outlawed, it’s a labour issue and should be treated as such."