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Michelle Martin
 Sep 6, 07 - 4:38 PM |
Sex Workers Remembered on Day of Mourning
Fifty-seven balloons, each representing the memory of a person who has lost their life to the sex trade and has ties to Saskatoon, were released into the sky yesterday evening as part of the city's eight annual Day of Mourning. "That's too many," said Bill Thibodeau, executive director of Egadz Centre, a youth agency based on the west side that does street outreach. The agency has only been tracking the number of victims since 1995, he added. The event kicked off at 6:30 p.m. in Pleasant Hill Park with a prayer and was followed by a candlelight march along 21st Street, then the balloon release honouring those who have died from violence, suicide, drug overdoses and disease. The name of Thidbodeau's younger sister was on one of the balloons, as was the name Marie Lasas in remembrance of the 19-year-old who was found murdered June 30 behind a vacant house off 33rd Street West. Though she wasn't involved in the sex trade, she was well known in the community. She lived in a safe housing project run by the Egadz outreach program and was also one of the organizers of last year's Day of Mourning. Dee Eyahpaise, who lives in the same housing project as Lasas did, said Lasas, whom she didn't know personally, was on many of her friends' minds. The 20-year-old who was helping to organize the event said that she's had many friends who've passed away. "People think it's the only lifestyle they can live . . . It breaks my heart," she said. "They get so caught up in the drug world, they feel like no one cares." Families of relatives who've lost loved ones involved in the sex trade attend the event every year, said Thibodeau. "It provides a little more closure to them. Mothers have thanked us for acknowledging their child." An outreach worker for 16 years, Thibodeau said the sex trade is a complex, multi-faceted issue and people get trapped in its vicious cycle. "Getting into it's easy, but getting out of it is the trick," he said. "I've never met a young woman who said, 'This is what I choose, this is what I wanted to be today.' " He said a girl he knew once ran away from her pimp, but then he found her and stabbed her in the foot as an ever-present reminder not to run again. "When these people tell you they're going to kill your family, it's hard not to believe them." In Saskatoon, about 300 people turn to the sex trade at least once a year to make money, he said, noting that violence is so common that the agency has a violent customer list. One of the main goals of the Day of Mourning is awareness, but not just of the severity of the issues, but also of social stereotypes, he said. "They often become society's throwaways," said Thibodeau, noting the media continues to dehumanize sex trade workers by referring to them as prostitutes. "Those are somebody's daughters and sisters." Last year, 384 people signed the guest book, however attendance was down some this year, with a crowd of nearly 200. Each year, the event is held on Aug. 14 to mark the anniversary of the murder of a young girl who was a victim of the sex trade in Calgary. |
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