PEERS is a non-profit society established by ex-prostitutes and community supporters. They are dedicated to the empowerment, education and support of prostitutes. They respect those involved in prostitution and they work to improve their safety and working conditions. They assist individuals who desire to leave the sex industry and strive to increase public understanding. PEERS has developed interactive workshops for all audiences including youth, students, service providers, other community organizations, parents, school boards and teachers, police departments, etc.  Workshops focus on youth and adult prostitution, myths and stigmas associated with the Sex Trade, the risks and dangers of prostitution, recognizing common recruitment methods used by pimps, avoiding exploitation, long term effects of prostitution, where to go for support, and how to support a loved one in the Sex Trade. They also offer workshops on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. PEERS staff provide information to former and current Sex Trade workers on training programs, other government programs and appropriate community resources. They document the needs of Sex Trade workers, young and adult, in relation to education, training, employment, support, housing and health. PEERS helps to identify barriers to existing programs that sex trade workers encounter and attempts to assist in overcoming these barriers. PEERS strives to develop new services to meet identified needs. They encourage feedback from Sex Trade workers as their programs and their organization as a whole is completely accountable to them. An International Summit of Sexually Exploited Youth was held in Victoria, BC. Out from the Shadows was a follow-up project to the World Congress against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, held in Stockholm in August 1996.  Of the thirteen hundred delegates in Stockholm, only fifteen were youth and of these only three had experience as sexually exploited children. Prior to the Victoria conference, twenty focus groups were held with youth involved in commercial sexual exploitation in Canada, the United States, Central and South America. The initial three days of the Victoria conference brought together forty-five youth delegates identified at the focus groups (Youth were young people between the ages of 14-25 active in or from the sex trade).  They developed their own Declaration and Agenda for Action. In the final two days policy makers, lawmakers and professionals came. They listened, heard the voices of the youth and made a commitment to implement the recommendations in the Declaration.  The public forum provided an opportunity for a group of delegates to present the Youth Declaration and Agenda for Action to a public audience, including media representatives, through theatre, music, visual arts, and/or the written word.

Contact: Jody Paterson (Executive Director)

http://www.peers.bc.ca