Arrival in Canada and diversity of pathways into sex work.

Migration and arrival to Canada: Analysis of qualitative interviews revealed that participants typically came to Canada legally in search of improved economic opportunities, and contrary to popular belief, none described having been trafficked. AESHA data indicate that the majority of im/migrant workers financially support dependents (n = 113, 57.1%), primarily children (40.9%) and parents (21.2%). Im/migrant workers often described barriers to traditional labour markets, combined with economic pressures, as the primary challenges they faced upon initial arrival to Canada:

Although I am a new immigrant coming to a country formed by immigrants, it still takes a process to adapt. It is not as easy as you would think…I didn’t have a specific skill to sell, my limitations make me easily replaceable, and the pay rate was low. It is hard to get by with low pay jobs, as the living cost in Canada is quite high and I have other sources of pressure such as family members to support.

[QE38, worker, 4y in Canada]

“Language was a big barrier”: Language barriers to conventional labour markets.

Although participants typically arrived with some English skills, limited English fluency made it difficult, if not impossible, for most to find work upon arrival. Of im/migrants in AESHA, most reported being most comfortable speaking Mandarin (n = 134, 67.7%), followed by English (n = 30, 15.2%) and Cantonese (n = 23, 11.6%). Participants frequently discussed the language barriers they faced to conventional labour markets during the initial arrival period:

We do not have the country’s official language skills to work. Even after filling out a lot of applications, no one would acknowledge you. I even applied to Chinese-run businesses and did not get any responses. The first three months were of long suffering; I felt that I was a useless person.

[QE15, worker, 10y in Canada]

The language barrier really is difficult to overcome…For many jobs, you need to have in-depth communication with people, so you need to have very proficient language skills, but we are not able to achieve that…It is a very big obstacle…it restricts our entire life.

[QE13, manager/worker, 2y in Canada]

Language was a barrier…I only knew Mandarin. My job selection was quite limited…I needed income to cover living costs. I wasn’t in a position to wait until my English skills improved, I needed to work.

[QE44, worker, 1y in Canada]

Limited recognition of foreign education.

Language barriers intersected with limited recognition of credentials received overseas to exacerbate employment barriers for many women. As a worker who had been living in Canada for eight years noted, “We don’t have the language skills or the required education levels. We all had good jobs in China…but now we all have to start from scratch.” Although most participants expressed a desire to return to school to improve their English or update their professional qualifications, they emphasized the economic and practical challenges they faced in doing so while struggling to get by as a new immigrant:

The professional status we received or achieved in China are not recognized here. Our diplomas and certificates are not recognized here…We have to face many different obstacles.

[QE30, manager, 10y in Canada]

The biggest challenge was that I didn’t have a degree…our Chinese educations are not recognized here…if I had money, I didn’t need to worry about housing, and I had enough to support my children, then I might go to school…but my kids are young, and financially there is a lot of stress.

[QE20, worker, 10y in Canada]

Limited social networks in destination country.

Limited access to social networks and support in Canada also influenced the challenges faced by recent arrivals to Canada. Many participants reflected on the implications of a lack of social support to buffer the dislocating effects of moving to a new country. Importantly, not having social networks that could be relied upon for economic support (e.g., a loan, a place to stay) or to connect recent im/migrants to better-paying jobs were described as critical vulnerabilities faced by new immigrants:

It is very difficult for us, especially when you first get to Canada, after half a year, you spent all the money you brought, and you have to find work, and it’s so hard. Also you don’t have any social networks here, you can’t rely on anyone.

[QE33, worker, 8y in Canada]

If you don't know anyone to refer you [to a better job], you wouldn't be able to get in on your own…But I didn't know anyone with these kinds of relationships…we went to the government or those professional job referral centres, but we just waited a long time and didn't get any jobs either…For new immigrants, this is a big issue.

[QE25, manager/worker, 5y in Canada]

Sex work as a higher-paying and flexible employment opportunity post-arrival.

Upon initial arrival in Canada, most participants worked in minimum-wage jobs such as manufacturing, supermarket work, or waitressing, and described their earnings as grossly insufficient to meet the high cost of living in Vancouver. As one participant put it, “getting paid $8 or $10 an hour is not enough for eating and surviving” (QE21).

Participants in this qualitative study all described entering sex work consensually following arrival in Canada. Most im/migrants in AESHA reported initiating sex work within the prior two years, and that this comprised the primary income source of most participants (n = 182, 91.9%). All participants’ initial experiences in the sex industry occurred following arrival in Canada, and importantly, none reported having moved to Canada or entering the sex industry due to trafficking or other forms of force/coercion. Rather, interviewees contextualized their involvement in the sex industry as a response to their economic and family needs upon moving and settling in Canada, in combination with the higher pay and more flexible working conditions (e.g., flexible hours to accommodate childcare) characterizing sex work:

I tried to do other jobs, but the money I made wasn’t enough…I worked as a tutor, bank teller…I didn’t get off the plane and immediately went to work as a sex worker. I was searching around for a good job and was at a loss for several years, and then I found out people made money at massage parlours.

[QE32, worker, 8y in Canada]

Sex work was often framed as a comparatively high-paying and flexible job opportunity, and most described substantial improvements in their economic wellbeing with time in Canada and experience in the sex industry. Indeed, most participants valued the steady income (median: $3200/month) and flexibility that sex work provided:

[When I first arrived] I could only find jobs that don’t require a lot of English…[such as] a Chinese restaurant or factory… it pays only 8 bucks an hour…you start around 10 or 11 am, and finish work at night…the working hours were very inconvenient for me to look after my child. The work I’m doing right now offers me more flexibility to take care of my child. A lot of the workers are like me.

[QE34, worker, 6y in Canada]

Policing and language barriers to health and human rights during long-term settlement.

Following entry into sex work and concomitant improvements in economic security, participants routinely identified the legal and social ramifications of stressful interactions with police and language barriers to be the most crucial determinants of their health and safety during settlement in Canada.

“We’re afraid of leaving a bad record”: Fear of sex work disclosure or legal consequences of police interactions: AESHA data indicate that im/migrants in Vancouver’s sex industry experience high levels of criminalization, including police arrest or harassment (e.g., raids, fines, detained, property taken) (n = 42, 21.2%). Interviewees expressed deep concern regarding the legal and social ramifications of this. Due to stigma and legal concerns, most undertook great efforts to conceal their work from family (e.g., spouses, children), and feared that police visits or criminal proceedings could result in public disclosure of sex work involvement. For example, the stigma, family conflict, and exposure an arrest could entail (e.g., having one’s name or photograph in the news) was a serious source of stress for most participants:

I worry about being found out by my family. It would have a psychological impact on my daughter and cause conflicts between my husband and I…If I do indeed get caught by the police, my work will get exposed, and the thought of that gives me a lot of stress.

[QE44, worker, 1y in Canada]

Most working women are afraid of getting caught [by police] when they are engaging in sexual activity in the room. They are also afraid of the police telling their families, relatives, and friends about their job. Having their name exposed publicly and facing a criminal charge are also concerns.

[QE37, manager/worker, 10y in Canada]

I am the most afraid of having my name exposed publicly. I am also afraid of criminal charges and being looked down by my child.

[QE36, manager/worker, 10y in Canada]

Whereas most interviewees had legal immigration status in Canada (i.e., citizenship, permanent residence, or a temporary work permit), those who were not naturalized citizens worried that interacting with law enforcement could jeopardize this status or their future citizenship prospects, particularly in light of immigration policies explicitly prohibiting sex industry work for work permit holders:

[What do most working women worry about when seeing police?] We are afraid of leaving a bad record, and we are afraid our identity or names would be exposed…I’d be afraid of this affecting my immigration status, and losing it.

[QE41, worker, 2y in Canada]

The new immigrants are afraid of their status being revoked or taken away. They are also afraid of not being able to apply for citizenship.

[QE37, manager/worker, 10y in Canada]

Discriminatory and racialized treatment by law enforcement.

Some participants attributed the heightened scrutiny of law enforcement towards Chinese-run and staffed establishments to ethnic discrimination, noting unexplained documentation checks and raids to disproportionately target Chinese businesses. Unexplained police visits and document checks, combined with discriminatory and disrespectful treatment, fostered deep mistrust between venue personnel and law enforcement:

Immigrants like us rarely have contact with police, so we are all quite nervous. This is only natural…we should not have to interact with the police much here, unless we are in danger, or if we commit crimes. So now, even when we didn’t do anything, there are police here asking us many questions, which is very strange, and it is very uncomfortable. Especially their attitudes when they question us, it’s as if we are doing something wrong.

[QE29, manager, 3y in Canada]

The police are driving me crazy. Why do they come here? They scrutinize us so closely…it’s discrimination…Sometimes we can understand why we were treated this way. Even though we are Canadian citizens, we do not feel we are treated equally as local people. It’s really difficult for foreigners to survive.

[QE30, manager, 10y in Canada]

Criminalization and policing as barriers to im/migrant workers’ health, safety, and access to support.

Rather than perceiving the role of law enforcement as protective, the stress created by police presence was framed as yet another risk to be managed by im/migrant workers and managers. As one participant explained how undue stress regarding law enforcement raids could compete with other priorities, such as sexual and mental health:

Many who work in this trade feel burdened because they have to think about possibly contracting HIV, other STIs, worrying about their own health, being found out by the police, and their own emotional suffering–altogether, it’s a large burden. However, if sex work is legalized, then their burden would decrease quite a bit–since this is a job like any other job, only they would have to take care of their health. They would not have to worry about much else, such as hiding once the police enter the parlour.

[QE15, worker, 10y in Canada]

Moreover, police raids and inspections often led managers to avoid anything that could be considered evidence of sex work, such as discussing HIV/STI prevention with workers or permitting large quantities of condoms onsite. As the following worker noted how fear of police restricted opportunities for managers to promote occupational health and safety:

The manager just tells us to be careful…but she doesn’t have the ability to do too much. She’s also afraid of the police coming here and knowing that we’re doing this work. It would shut down her parlour.

[QE28, worker, 3y in Canada]

Interactions with police were particularly distressing in light of language barriers (interpreters were rarely provided) and the value migrants placed on staying out of the purview of law enforcement. A number of interviewees described themselves and their co-workers as “good immigrants” who went to great lengths to avoid what they perceived to be illicit activities (e.g., drug use). Participants recognized that the combination of their status as im/migrants, language barriers and inadequate access to legal information rendered them poorly equipped to handle police inquiries when they did occur, a further motivator to avoid police to ensure their good standing in Canada:

We don’t want to cause trouble. That’s what Chinese people are used to, living in a foreign country; we very carefully protect ourselves, and try to not to commit any violations, because if we were to bring ourselves any hassle, our English isn’t good, and we don’t really understand too much about the law…so of course, the further we stay away, the more careful we can be, the better.

[QE18, manager/worker, 9y in Canada]

The precautions im/migrants took to avoid interacting with law enforcement often directly jeopardized their health and safety. This often took the form of taking extra care to ensure client satisfaction, as one participant expressed, “We can’t offend any client…we don’t want to cause trouble” (QE18). Some workers described the need to be more “accommodating” to clients’ demands (e.g., for activities which could place workers at increased risk of STIs or sexual assault):

Sometimes they will get angry and I couldn’t really say anything because I don’t know English, right? When he gets angry and says that I did something poorly… you just have to be accommodating.

[QE27, worker, 3y in Canada]

Fear of criminalization intersected with concerns of prejudicial treatment by police to pose barriers to seeking assistance or reporting cases of violence. Im/migrants in AESHA reported high levels of client-perpetrated physical and sexual violence (n = 33, 16.7%). Yet, in qualitative interviews, most were reluctant to report violence to law enforcement due to the expectation that their concerns would not be taken seriously and fear of criminal charges. Interviewees were highly critical of this unequal access to legal protections:

People have inherent prejudice against this occupation…I feel that when I’m treated unfairly by the clients, I have no place to report unfair treatment to the police or any authority, or to seek protection.

[QE44, worker, 1y in Canada]

If anything happened, I am not willing to call the police…Why is it that other people, when they have anything dangerous come up in their work, they can call the police? Why don’t we receive the same kind of protection?…if the women had this kind of protection, then people out there also wouldn’t commit these offences.

[QE28, worker, 3y in Canada]

Language barriers to occupational health and safety.

Although most interview participants perceived that their English was sufficient to “learn the basics about a client”, those who lacked English fluency identified language barriers to dealing with difficult clients. Some clients tried to take advantage of workers’ limited English skills to attempt to coerce them into unsafe or unwanted sexual activities, and in some cases, threatened to call the police if workers did not acquiesce to their demands. Criminalization and language barriers intersected to jointly undermine workers’ access to workplace health and safety, particularly for recent arrivals:

There was a client who asked for service without condom and tried to take advantage of my poor English skill. After I refused to provide service without condom, he intentionally broke the condom, but fortunately I found out. So I figured to provide the service again, and asked him to use a new condom–he got mad…He also threatened to call the police…he was trying to threaten to report me.

[QE44, worker, 1y in Canada]

He secretly pulled the condom [off] but I didn’t realize…of course, he just pretended like he didn’t know. I believe that he did it on purpose. There’s no way that he didn’t know, because when he started there was a condom on.

[QE28, worker, 3y in Canada]

Limited English fluency also represented a powerful barrier to accessing sexual health, safety, or legal supports. Most workers and managers were unaware of local organizations or resources offering health, social, or legal support for sex workers. Many participants noted the inaccessibility of resources offered in English only (e.g., websites with descriptions of unsafe clients; information regarding workers’ rights). Poor access and difficulties understanding legal information made it particularly difficult for im/migrants to ascertain when or whom to contact in cases where assistance was desired:

Because of the English language barrier, I don’t understand too much about it [prostitution laws and regulations]. What I have is not a detailed understanding.

[QE13, manager/worker, 2y in Canada]

[Do you know of any social services that can help you in case of client violations?] No, I don’t…There are still many laws in Canada that I am not quite familiar with. Most of the times, they speak English so I can’t understand it.

[QE12, worker, 7y in Canada]