Illegal Lives, Loves, and Work: How the Criminalization of Procuring Affects Sex Workers in Canada

Based on interviews with sex workers and advocates of decriminalization in Toronto, Canada, this article argues that aspects of the Criminal Code’s procuring legislation has detrimental impacts on sex workers’ daily realities and relationships. While the direct exchange of sexual services for money is not illegal in Canada, the laws that surround prostitution-related activities criminalize common work situations as well as sex worker’s personal and business relationships. Sex workers’ lived and intimate knowledge lend them a greater awareness of the effects and consequences of the current legislative framework as well as a greater awareness of what social and legal changes are necessary to improve their lives.