Group helping sex trade workers hopeful about opening office in Moncton

MONCTON – A Halifax group called “Stepping Stones” that works with sex trade workers says opening a satellite office in Moncton is on their radar.

Representative TL Johannesson was in Moncton Friday to lead open discussions on the issue of violence against sex workers with the city’s public safety committee.

She says sex trade workers are not being treated fairly.

“That is sort of the general feeling of the public that you have chosen this dangerous profession therefore you should not have the same rights and protections,” she said.

Kim Allain spent five years working the streets of Saint John and British Columbia selling her body and her soul for drugs.

“I ate out of dumpsters and at one point I had a boyfriend who would lock me in a room with the door shut and beat me for days,” she said. “I had a man hunt me down and threaten to kill my family.”

Allain, who was lured into the sex trade due to her drug addiction, said often wasn’t treated fairly.

“I have gone to hospitals and have them wheel me out into the foyer and not even look at me.”

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Allain moved to Moncton and got off the streets and drugs about two and a half years ago.  Now, she helps other women like herself break free from the violent sex trade.

“You don’t get the help you are looking for because they judge you. You are very much judged.”

Johannesson is hoping to change that so sex workers can have better access to health care, housing and justice.

“There are still constables out there that aren’t believing the stories or are thinking that, ‘hey you are a sex worker, you deserve it.’ It is not really sexual assault or sexual violence if you are selling it,” she said.

She’s asking support groups across the board to show more compassion for sex trade workers.

“They are human beings and it’s a basic human right for safety and security.”

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Terrance Trites is a therapist with the Coalition Against Abuse in Relationships. He helped organize Friday’s forum.

“They are not believed, they are not treated as a normal human being in this country at times so we decided we would do a little conversation in the city to see what we can do in terms of providing safety for them,” he said.

Allain is hopeful their message will help foster change and lift the stigma so sex workers can better access the help they need.

“We really do have people out there dying and we just keep pushing them aside,” she said.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of the story reported that Stepping Stones was opening a satellite office in Moncton, however the group maintains that the idea is only on their radar right now, and they have no immediate plans to set an office up.