SEX, DRUGS AND VIOLENCE ON CAMPBELL RIVER'S STREETS

Drug-addicted and abused prostitutes aren't getting the help they
need in Campbell River due to a lack of services and the fact that
they don't trust the RCMP.

"These girls do not co-operate with police...there is no co-operation
and that is a hurdle if they are subjected to violence," said RCMP
Staff Sgt. Doug Greep.

Greep was commenting on a report released earlier this month by the
Justice Institute of B.C. entitled "Violence in the Lives of Sexually
Exploited Youth and Adult Sex Workers in B.C."

Part of the report focuses specifically on Campbell River where the
three researchers interviewed adult sex trade workers along with
staff from the Transition House and Women's Centre.

"I would say the report is accurate," said Valerie Puetz, the
executive director of the Campbell River and North Island Transition Society.

The vast majority of sex trade workers in Campbell River are women.
Those interviewed for the report said they knew of no men or boys
working in the local sex trade.

However, for women, the problems they face usually involve drugs and violence.

"In Campbell River, participants talked about an escalation in crimes
involving crowbars and weapons," wrote researchers Sarah Hunt,
Natalie Clark and Melanie Mark.

As for drug addiction, a few years ago during a sting operation,
police offered the sex workers a choice: Be charged or enter a
treatment program. The problem, for police, was there was no way to
verify if the sex trade worker entered or completed a treatment program.

"The program needed accountability - we needed to know if you've been
there," said Greep.

As a result, the offers were withdrawn but the new report has
rekindled the effort to restart the program.

"We were kind of surprised by that - most of us on the committee,
including a couple of police officers, hadn't heard about it," said
Puetz, who's on the Sexual Exploitation Action Team (SEAT).

But the other problem is a lack of services. There are four detox
beds for women in Campbell River and only two supportive recovery beds.

"There are always a few people on the waiting list," said Puetz.
"When they get out of detox, they really need to get into recovery bed."

However, SEAT is developing a pamphlet that let's sex trade workers
know about what services are available to them as well as safe places
for them to go to. Puetz hopes that police will hand out the
pamphlets to the prostitutes, rather than arrest them.

The report also dealt with sexually exploited youth. Puetz said this
usually involves girls ages 13-20 who trade sex for drugs or a place
to sleep, and they often don't see themselves as "sexually exploited."

"While people living in certain areas of town may complain about sex
workers when they are in their neighbourhood, the hidden nature of
youth exploitation has resulted in a level of denial in the
community," wrote the report authors.

According to Staff Sgt. Greep, police have received no formal
complaints about child prostitution or youth trading sex of drugs.

"It would be foolish to believe...that it isn't happening here but I
haven't had anything brought to my attention," he said.