Beyond Tales of Trafficking: A Needs Assessment of Asian Migrant Sex Workers in Toronto

Abstract

<p>[Introduction]: "Butterfly (Asian and Migrant Sex Worker Support Network) provides support to, and advocates for the rights of, Asian and migrant sex workers. We are an organization founded upon the belief that sex workers are entitled to respect and human rights regardless of type of work, place of origin, or citizenship status. We engage in outreach to sexual service establishments, including apartments, hotels, massage parlours (which can include holistic centres and body rub parlours), and spas across the City of Toronto, meeting with hundreds of migrant Asian sex workers annually. We have found that the majority of the workers in the city’s massage parlours and spas2 are migrant women from Asian countries. They often face unique challenges based both on their work in the sex industry and their immigration status. Such challenges include sex work stigma, racial and gender-based discrimination, substandard working conditions, language barriers, gendered relations of power, surveillance by police, immigration, and bylaw enforcement officers, and precarious living arrangements. Asian sex workers also have to contend with dominant notions that deem them trafficked victims in need of “saving,” thus denying them agency in their decision making.”</p>