By Karen Nickel
Dialog Reporter
Logo of Red Umbrella
On Aug. 16, in Sault St. Marie, Ontario, nine women were arrested and charged with crimes related to prostitution. These women were targets of a police sweep in response to ‘community concerns’. This is not news, police engage in ‘sweeps’ a couple of times a year. The troubling aspect was that police released the nature of the arrests, the women’s names and home addresses to local media, who published the details. In the weeks following, stories about re-arrests and the activities of some of the women continued.
They published what one rearrested woman said to an undercover officer regarding the prices and acts she would perform; one woman was reported in the paper as having shoplifted diapers for her child; another was ‘spotted’ riding her bike in the area.
Arleney Pitts and Joni Aikens, originally from ‘the Sault’, were horrified and angered by what was happening in their hometown. Motivated to bring attention to the women’s lack of safety, the increased stigmatization and the lack of respect shown for their human rights they developed an action plan that eventually went global.
Supported by the Kingston Sex Worker Action Group, Aikens and Pitts penned an open letter to the police, the newspapers involved, and to the community of Sault St. Marie. The goal of the letter was as a ‘call out’ for support and to “stop the arrests and to put an end to the public fuelled, media backed witch hunt of steet based sex workers” by the police, the publishing newspapers and the public.
The letter lays out five demands: 1. A moratorium, to stop the arrests until after the ongoing Bedford court case is heard; 2. That the police stop releasing personal information about sex workers to the press; 3. That media stop publishing information that compromises women’s safety; 4. That local sex worker organizations be consulted on issues affecting them; and 5. That local Sault community members, service providers and officials support a Red Umbrella Campaign to show their concern.
The ‘Stop the Arrests campaign’ has collected endorsements from as far as India and it has local support. The Take Back the Night march in Sault St. Marie had a red um¬brella contingent for the first time. Support them by signing the letter and wearing a red umbrella pin on December 17 International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers.
