Supportive housing improves safety for female sex workers: B.C. study
VANCOUVER - A new study in B.C. says female sex workers suffer less violence and have better relations with police if they can operate from a safe indoor environment.
The study, published today in the "American Journal of Public Health," was based on interviews with 38 women living in supportive-housing units in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
The women say living in and working from such venues allows them to refuse unwanted service, negotiate condom use and avoid violent predators.
They say they also have better relations with police because they don't have to worry about the kind harassment they may face on the streets.
The study, led by a University of B.C. researcher, comes just over a month after Ontario's top court struck down a ban on bawdy houses stating they increased the dangers to sex workers.
The federal government has applied to the Supreme Court of Canada to appeal the Ontario ruling.
