Naming Systemic Violence in Winnipeg's Street Sex Trade (Report‪)‬

Abstract Violence is common in Winnipeg's street sex trade but research about the nature and causes of this violence, as well as what strategies might be undertaken to address it, is limited. To shed further light on the nature and causes of violence, and possible strategies which might be undertaken to address it, qualitative interviews with twenty diverse women who have at times worked in the street sex trade in Winnipeg were conducted. Their views lead to the conclusion that this violence is often caused by the fusion of systemic factors which constitute a pattern that is gendered, racialized, class-based, and spatialized in nature. This violence is made worse by Canada's prostitution laws and the view, expressed by some police officers, that violence simply "comes with the streets." In addition to law reform, long-lasting solutions involve addressing sexist, racist, and colonial attitudes that mark some as less human, as well as root causes--such as poverty and past and present colonialism which lead to the overrepresentation of economically marginalized and often racialized individuals in Winnipeg's innercity street sex trade.