Vancouver Eastside prostitutes try to fend off world media
Prostitutes get PR coaching on eve of Pickton trial; advocates worry area’s sex-trade workers will be exploited by the media
Prostitution advocacy groups will team up with the Vancouver Police Department Monday for a special press briefing aimed at deterring the world’s media from swarming the Downtown Eastside and exploiting sex trade workers while here to cover the trial of Robert (Willie) Pickton.
Pickton’s first trial on six counts of murder starts Monday in New Westminster. He is charged with 26 counts of murder in what has been called the Missing Women Case, because the victims were all prostitutes who disappeared from the Downtown Eastside between 1978 and 2001.
Organizations that work with prostitutes have printed and distributed posters and pocket-sized cards containing a list of media-related guidelines for sex trade workers, and advice on how to respond to unwanted filming, requests for personal information, and managing interviews. An information session held earlier this week by the WISH Drop-in Centre Society drew more than 100 women.
Women are also being supplied with a list of safe havens in the neighbourhood, places they can go to avoid unwanted attention from reporters and camera crews.
“These are women who are highly stigmatized and any images that appear of them in the press can be really damaging to them, especially in the future if they decide to change their lives,” said Kyla Kaun, a spokeswoman for PEERS. “It’s too easy for the media to take advantage of a person who is living in a state of constant crisis, who [is] working for their survival.”
from Vancouver Sun
