Sex Workers Organizations
Health services
Community organizations
Police services
Sexual exploitation concerns
Trafficking concerns
Research
Other resources
Sex worker organizations
PACE Society
Phone: 604-872-7651
Services include counselling, education, advocacy, peer education, support, individual case planning and co-ordination.
Peers Vancouver Resource Society
Phone: 604-681-3044
PEERS Vancouver is a non-profit organization established by former sex workers and their community supporters. PEERS seeks to improve the lives of current and former sex workers by helping them exit from sex work.
HUSTLE
Phone: 604-684-3032
Outreach: 778-868-1776
HUSTLE is the male, transgendered and youth component of PEERS Vancouver offering outreach and support programming in the community.
SWAN (Sex Workers Advocacy Network)
Phone: 604-719-6343
SWAN is a culturally diverse group of women working to provide culturally appropriate and language-specific support, education, research, advocacy and outreach for trafficked, migrant and immigrant sex workers.
WISH Drop-In Centre Society
Phone: 604-669-9474
WISH provides services to women working in survival sex work. The drop-in centre is the heart of the WISH programs—a safe place off the street where women can find acceptance, hot meals, support services and more. WISH also operates the MAP (Mobile Access Project) and the Bad date reporting service.
MAP (Mobile Access Project)
Phone: 604-720-5686
MAP is operated by the WISH Drop-In Centre Society in partnership with PACE Society. It provides overnight outreach to sex workers (support, condoms, needle exchange, basic first aid and emergency services) when no other services are available.
Bad date reporting
Phone: 604-669-9474
Fax: 604-669-9479
Email
Sex workers can make reports about violent and predatory individuals to alert other sex workers in Metro Vancouver. Bad date reports are sent to WISH, which then compiles them and disseminates them through a large network of service providers that are in contact with women working in the sex industry.
Boys R Us
Phone: 604-633-4200
Boys R Us is a referral and outreach program that provides a safe, supportive drop-in centre for men and transgendered participants who work or used to work in the sex industry. This site, connected to AIDS Vancouver requires a password.
Transgender Health Program
Phone: 604-734-1514 or 1-866-999-1514 (BC only)
Email
This peer supported weekly drop-in discussion group is open to those who are exploring their own gender issues and is located at Three Bridges and funded by Vancouver Coastal Health.
Health services
Needle Pick-up Hotline
Phone: 311
Vancouver residents can call this City of Vancouver general enquiry number to request the pick-up of a stray needle.
City Mattress Removal
Phone: 311
Vancouver residents can call this City of Vancouver general enquiry number to request the removal of an abandoned mattress.
AESHA (An Evaluation of Sex Workers’ Health Access) Project
Phone: 778-891-6252
Email
AESHA, a project of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, is an ongoing longitudinal evaluation of female sex workers’ health and safety on and off the street in Metro Vancouver.
Vancouver Coastal Health
This is a BC government agency that delivers multi-faceted health services to BC residents.
Community health centres
Community healthcare, including medical advice, detox services and counselling, are delivered in neighbourhood centres throughout Vancouver.
Street nurses
Phone: 604-707-2790
The Outreach/Street Nurse Program provides expertise to vulnerable populations in outreach settings and provincial leadership in STI/HIV/TB prevention.
Detox services – Access Central
Phone: 1-866-658-1221
This is a listing that links people to detox and addiction housing services.
AIDS Vancouver
Phone: 604-893-2201
Email
This organization works to alleviate individual and collective vulnerability to HIV and AIDS through care and support, education, advocacy and research.
Community organizations
Neighbourhood houses
Association of Neighbourhood Houses BC
Collingwood Neighbourhood House
Kiwassa Neighbourhood House
There are neighbourhood houses serving communities throughout Vancouver. Neighbourhood houses are grassroots, volunteer-led, non-profit organizations that provide a broad range of accessible, free and affordable programs for children, youth, families, seniors and adults. They also provide residents with volunteer and leadership opportunities.
Business improvement associations
Business improvement associations are non-profit associations of business owners and tenants who join together to promote and improve the economic vitality of their business districts. BIAs play an important role in business and tourism development, safety and security and street enhancement for their areas. There are 22 business areas in Vancouver.
Police services
Emergency: 911
When an immediate response from police, fire or ambulance service is required, call 911. If you or others are in danger or there is a crime in progress, don’t be afraid to call 911.
Non-emergency: 604-717-3321
This non-emergency number should be used when an immediate response or dispatch of the police IS NOT required. This is the number to call if time has elapsed since the incident occurred or the crime suspect is not on the scene or you are calling about a nuisance issue (e.g. a noisy party or graffiti).
Community policing centres
If you have a non-emergency concern about a sex worker’s presence, you can call one of the community policing centres in Vancouver. Community policing centres do not take police reports.
Report crimes on-line
In an effort to make reporting crimes easier and safer, the Vancouver Police Department has developed this on-line reporting system. Remember, the more information you provide, the more effective the police investigation! Please do not hesitate to use this form if you have knowledge of crimes or suspicious activities and for property crimes under $5,000. Police will NOT follow up personally with you.
Sex Industry Liaison Officer: 604-516-9854
Sex workers may feel more comfortable speaking with the Sex Industry Liaison Officer, Constable Linda Malcolm. She provides a link between sex workers and the police, through support and intervention services.
Sexual exploitation concerns
Broadway Youth Resource Centre
Phone: 604-709-5720
Email
The Broadway Youth Resource Centre (BYRC) is an integrated, one-stop centre that provides a wide range of social, health, education, employment and life skills services to homeless and at-risk youth between the ages of 12 and 24.
Directions Youth Services Centre
Phone: 604.633.1472
Directions Youth Services Centre provides Vancouver’s homeless youth and youth at-risk with a single entry point to access the tools, support and guidance to make healthy, positive changes in their lives.
ONYX
Phone: 604-708-2647 or 1-877-411-7532
Email
ONYX provides support services to youth, 18 and under, who are being (or have been) sexually exploited.
Sexual Exploitation Toolkit
This toolkit, created by the Justice Institute of BC, shows how to prevent sexual exploitation and support those who are being sexually exploited.
Vancouver Community Action Team (VCAT)
Phone: 604-708-2647
Email
VCAT is a collaboration of organizations in Vancouver that develop strategies to prevent sexual exploitation and support youth who are being exploited.
McCreary Centre Society
Tel: 604-299-1609
Email
The foundation works in partnership with the community to develop and fund programs and policies that support the wellbeing of youth in BC.
Urban Native Youth Association (UNYA)
Phone: 604-254-7732
Email
UNYA works to empower Native youth through education and training, personal support, live-in programs and sports and recreation. It has a manual on sexually exploited Native youth issues in Vancouver.
Children of the Street Society
Phone: 604-777-7510 or 1-877-551-6611
Email
This society works to increase public awareness about the sexual exploitation problem by providing education and prevention strategies for families, educators and service providers.
Safe Online Outreach Society (SOLOS)
Email
This organization provides information and tools about Internet safety to parents and educators.
Trafficking concerns
Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons (OCTIP)
OCTIP, part of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, works to develop and coordinate B.C.’s response to human trafficking.
Research
Professor John Lowman’s Prostitution Research Page
BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS – Maka Project/AESHA Project
BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS – Urban Health Research Initiative
Other resources
Red Book
Phone: 211
This is a comprehensive listing of community, social and government services in Metro Vancouver.
Survival Manual
This is a compilation of services helping those who have difficulty coping with the challenges posed by urban living, including crisis situations, addiction, homelessness, hunger, etc.
