Invisible in the System:
Women Who Do Sex Work and
Canada’s Shelter and Transition Housing System
Submission to the House of Commons – Standing Committee on the Status of Women (FEWO) June 6, 2026
Background
Women who do sex work experience many of the same forms of violence that bring women into shelters and transition housing, including intimate partner violence, sexual violence, coercive control, homelessness, housing instability, economic violence, trafficking, and family violence.
Women who do sex work also represent a substantial population of women in Canada. The Population Project, a peer-reviewed Canadian study, identified 169,000 individual sex workers over a two-year period. Approximately 83 percent were women, representing a minimum of 140,000 women identified during the study period alone. These figures are empirical counts, not estimates, and represent only one segment of the sex industry.
Despite representing a substantial population of women, sex workers are rarely identified within discussions regarding shelters, transition housing, or gender-based violence services.
What We Heard
In 2024, the BC Coalition of Experiential Communities conducted a national consultation with sex workers regarding housing exclusion and housing-related violence.
Participants included women who had accessed shelters, transition housing, supportive housing, public housing, homelessness services, and emergency accommodation.
Participants reported:
- Homelessness and housing instability;
- Intimate partner violence;
- Sexual assault and harassment;
- Housing refusal and eviction;
- Exploitation by landlords and property managers;
- Threats involving child custody;
- Discrimination within housing and support systems;
- Violence, theft, harassment, and exclusion within shelters and supportive housing.
Many participants reported concealing their occupation in order to access housing or services safely.
The consultation found that women who do sex work do not stop experiencing violence when they enter shelters, transition housing, or supportive housing. Many continue to experience stigma, surveillance, exclusion, harassment, and threats to their housing within the very systems intended to provide safety and support.
Who Is Deserving of Protection?
A recurring theme throughout the consultation was the distinction between women viewed as deserving of protection and women viewed as responsible for the harms they experience.
Participants frequently described feeling judged, blamed, or treated differently because of their involvement in sex work.
Many expressed concern that their safety was often weighed against concerns regarding the comfort, perceptions, or safety of others. Some reported feeling that they were viewed as a risk to other women rather than women in need of protection themselves.
No woman becomes less deserving of safety because she does sex work. Access to shelter, transition housing, and protection from violence should not depend on whether a woman is perceived as a “good” victim or a “bad” victim.
A Unique Form of Exclusion
Most marginalized groups of women are identified within policy frameworks because they require additional support and protection.
Women who do sex work are frequently identified for the opposite purpose.
The BCCEC Housing Exclusion project identified housing policies, tenancy agreements, and community safety initiatives that explicitly name sex work as a basis for surveillance, exclusion, reporting, or eviction.
The Committee may wish to consider whether any other large population of women experiencing violence is routinely identified within housing systems as a population whose exclusion can be justified in the name of protecting communities or protecting other women.
Recommendations
The BC Coalition of Experiential Communities recommends that the Government of Canada:
- Explicitly recognize women who do sex work within shelter, transition housing, and gender-based violence policy frameworks.
- Ensure women who do sex work can access shelters, transition housing, and violence-prevention services without discrimination.
- Include sex worker-led organizations in consultations regarding shelter standards and gender-based violence strategies.
- Fund research examining the experiences of women who do sex work within shelters, transition housing, and supportive housing systems.
- Develop guidance and training regarding sex work, stigma, confidentiality, and respectful service delivery.
- Collect data regarding barriers experienced by women who do sex work when accessing shelter and transition housing services.
Conclusion
Women who do sex work are already using shelters, transition housing, and violence-prevention services across Canada. Yet their experiences remain largely invisible within the policies that govern these systems.
A woman does not cease to be a victim of violence because she does sex work. If Canada’s shelter and transition housing systems are to serve all women experiencing violence, women who do sex work must be included in the conversation.
