OrilliaMatters welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following letter from fromer local provincial and federal Green party candidate Krystal Brooks is in response to LETTER: Province needs to act on housing crisis published Dec. 26.
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David Howell has made some very good points in his letter regarding the current housing crisis. It’s certainly a strain that has been felt locally as well, although I’d describe it as more of a tragedy.
Amongst the skyrocketing rent costs, affordable housing back and forth, and looming homelessness or houselessness for many, there’s another crisis pertaining to housing that has become just as severe. One that involves the exchange of housing for sexual services.
Those that know me know I have experienced both; human trafficking and working as a sex worker. I often saw myself, when working as a sex worker, as a voluntary participant.
As I’ve grown to understand this chapter of my life better, I don’t believe I was ever a prostitute of my own free will. I take ownership of my decisions, but I have never made the decision to engage in sex work at a time of my life when I wasn’t desperate to have my basic needs met or the needs of others I shared my life with.
That being said, I support and respect all workers in the sex industry. I simply believe in consent and the absence of basic needs not being a factor. That is where it is no longer a choice. It’s a survival strategy. I was a sex worker, yes. But I did what I had to to survive, and that sometimes meant paying for housing with all I had at the time; my body.
When I was being trafficked, what kept me there was fear, trauma, abuse, drugs and a false sense of security. There were many reasons, but those were the main ones.
I walked away from that life and those who were involved. They keep an eye on me, which isn’t hard. I’m easy to find and very loud. I made a conscious decision to be seen and heard not only because I’m just one of the thousands but also because not a single person could dump my lifeless body in a landfill without countless voices shouting 'Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit' on my behalf.
How sad it is that we, as Indigenous people, actually think in this way. Advocating is something I do because I went through many years of heartache and trauma alone, and I want to be who I need to be in those moments. It’s also my life insurance policy. Whether you live loudly or silently, as someone who has lived a similar life, I’m proud of you, though, and I have so much love for you.
When I went back to sex work, though (at various different times in the past decade), I saw this work as something I was choosing. I would never have chosen that lifestyle had the element of desperation not been there, though. This is what survival sex work looks like. It often is lived in silence by those who experience it firsthand.
Twice in that time, I had dealings with landlords willing (in fact, preferring) to exchange housing for sexual services. One instance dates back to 2016. Another in more recent years.
I’ve had similar situations where sex was an expectation, but those instances simply involved a man willing to lend me his couch or air mattress for a short period of time. The dynamic was still predatory and exploitative but not quite on the severity level of legitimate landlords, or even individuals posing as landlords — because that happens too — who are targeting one of society’s most vulnerable populations that disproportionately affect marginalized groups like Indigenous people.
This brings me back to the point of this letter, which is this: there is no possible way to talk about the housing crisis without also talking about human trafficking and sex work. None. They go hand in hand. My past situations and experiences are in no way unique. I am not unique. I’m not alone, and I have never been alone.
What’s important in this conversation is that those who have experienced anything even remotely similar or who are considering this line of work, particularly those who simply want what should never be considered luxuries such as food security, housing, clothing, etc., know that they aren’t alone and they have a safe place or person to speak to about it. I urge anyone reading this to be that person. That’s the kind of person I try to be, and I think you should all try to be too.
The people whom I speak of, the ones who are targeting society's most vulnerable, are, quite literally, anywhere and everywhere. You’ve driven by a residence or business of a sleazy landlord in this city. You’ve also walked by a person who has been victimized by a sleazy landlord.
You’ve seen how horrific the housing crisis is, but you haven’t seen the full extent. It’s there. There are many officials within our city working together to act on this issue, but I think more public engagement is needed. You need to know what you’re up against when you’re advocating for affordable and accessible housing. Victims and survivors come forward when you empower them to do so. So, empower them.
I echo your words, David; it is time for strong government intervention to help with the affordable rental problem.
I also believe it’s time for a strong intervention on the public’s part. Simply be a good neighbour and watch out for others. Advocacy doesn’t require lived experience. It does require understanding, compassion and a strong desire for change.
Krystal Brooks
Orillia
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