Okay, so I just got back from Vancouver where I was visiting my cousin, Echo. And she told me she was a professional escort, which at first I thought sounded super fun because she gets to go on lots of dates and sometimes gets to go to some nice places. But then she told me ALL about her job and then I was kind of surprised and also curious. So, we talked all about it for hours and hours. She says she likes her job as much as most people like theirs. She’s really smart, so I guess she knows what’s right for her. In her spare time Echo works with this group in Vancouver that’s trying to start something called a “cooperative” for all kinds of people who do sex jobs so they can be safe and healthy in their jobs like other people like to be in theirs. Because, guess what? Doing sex stuff for a job is illegal and even Echo was arrested once!!! And then I thought that was totally crazy because Echo is really nice and nobody’s making her do this job and she isn’t robbing anyone or hurting anyone and the people who hire Echo are happy, right?
Echo says lots of sex job people don’t have a job as good as hers though and some people do sex jobs because they don’t have other choices or because they have other kinds of problems and they have to do their jobs on the streets where all sorts of bad things can happen to them. She took me to meet some of the people she’s working with and some were super nice like Echo and some were a little scary, and some made me really sad.
So I think the idea of a cooperative is super cool, and I wanted to give them some money to help, but Echo says they’ve got one big step done, but they have to get some laws changed and stuff before they can get the cooperative. I wish I was smarter because I don’t really understand what the problem is. Because when I got back to Ottawa the other day I saw that the police were really proud of arresting a bunch of people on the weekend for doing sex and I couldn’t believe it and it made me a little angry because I thought of Echo and her friends. So, it would be super fabulous if they can get that cooperative because Echo says that will “open the door” and I think it’s a lot better to open doors for people than to slam them in their faces, don’t you?
