As members of this world, we have rights and responsibilities. Our rights and responsibilities are outlined in laws and human rights legislation (discussed later in this chapter).

However, due to stigma, sex industry workers are sometimes denied our legal rights, or treated so poorly that we don’t demand them. Recent changes to laws not only here in Canada but in the US and at the United Nations are having a devastating impact on the health and safety of sex working people.

This chapter explains our rights, laws that impact us, and what we can do when our rights are violated.

Some of the sections of this chapter were donated by Pivot Legal Society.

Words with *asterixes* are defined in the glossary section, at the end of this chapter.