Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Project Premise

It was identified during the BCCEC “Confronting Bad Dates: Research, Collaboration and Action to Reduce Violence against Survival Sex Workers project” that:

  • provincial victim services were unavailable to collaborate on strategies like the redesign and distribution of a new Bad Date sheet and a 1-800 line for reporting violence;
  • the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General victim support services were largely unknown and had barriers to accessibility by sex workers;
  • Sex workers who had past experiences with Victim Services shared that their identification as sex workers limited or eliminated their chances to receive supports; inclusive of counselling and compensation.

These issues led to Victim Services attendance at the Confronting Bad Dates March 2007 multi-stakeholder meeting and later collaboration on victimization issues among sex workers. With financial support from the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, monumental alliances were built and sex workers had access to training from a leading professional psychologist in the area of Post Traumatic Stress. Additionally, sex workers and community organization staff members peer reviewed “The 411” a document created by the BCCEC, based on literature developed by the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.

This document reports on that work.

Published by bccec

The British Columbia Coalition of Experiential Communities (BCCEC) is a consortium of sex worker activists who work to eliminate the oppressive systems and forces that create harm for individuals in the sex industry. We support diverse perspectives and experiences in the sex industry however we do not support enforcement or rehabilitation models that promote the continued criminalization of sex workers or perpetuate sex worker dependency on social programs.

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