The COVID pandemic has exacerbated deep vulnerabilities in the sex industry โ especially among racialized and trans sex workers โ while revealing the importance of third-party businesses in sex work. In the virtual world, OnlyFans pushed this discussion into public consciousness with a short-lived ban on sexually explicit photos and videos.
But when it comes to in-person sex work, third-party businesses often operate in the shadows, and are rarely discussed. Third-party businesses have historically been forbidden to profit from sex work in Canada. Despite sex workers persistently advocating for decriminalization since the s, legislative change has been an uphill battle.
The PCEPA is still in force today and continues to criminalize businesses that profit from in-person sexual transactions. Unsurprisingly, the PCEPA has sparked criticism from human rights organizations and the Ontario Court of Justice for driving sex work further underground, and thwarting the benefits of collective working arrangements between sex workers and third-party businesses.
Herein lies the significance of the March constitutional challenge brought by several sex worker rights organizations against existing legislation, in the pursuit of decriminalizing sex work. The extensive influence of escort directories farther afield points both to their importance to sex workers, and their potential to achieve some measure of success in Canada. Importantly, sex workers have noted that widely-used escort directories greatly improved their working conditions , by facilitating contract negotiation with clients, maximizing earnings, eliminating the need for street-based solicitation, and enabling the possibility of thoroughly vetting clients before meeting in person.
Global-scale escort directories have also attracted considerable and conflicting attention for their role in human trafficking. Law enforcement and anti-trafficking organizations applauded the sites for helping them locate of victims and simplifying efforts to apprehend traffickers.
