The issue of prostitution in Canada has been left mostly uncovered. The debate in the public sphere tends to centre around questions of “women’s choices,” and the left chants “sex work is work” in an effort to frame the problems in the sex trade as being resolvable via regulation and labour standards. Meanwhile, the men who pay for sex and exploit women in trade are ignored.
In this episode, I speak with Andrea Heinz and Kathy King, co-authors of a soon-to-be-released book, When Men Buy Sex: Who Really Pays? Canadian Stories of Exploitation, Survival, and Advocacy.
Andrea Heinz is a Canadian feminist who spent seven years in Edmonton’s licensed and regulated sex trade. She is completing a University degree in Governance, Law & Management and is married with three young children.
Kathy King is a clinical social worker (BA, BSW, MSW) with over five decades of professional employment and volunteer advocacy. In 1997, her passion became personal when she lost her only daughter to drug addiction, mental illness, and exploitation. Her story is shared at MissingCara.ca. Kathy lives in Edmonton with her husband.