We make this submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Mr. Felipe González Morales, to describe laws and policies that inhibit migrant sex workers and other marginalized communities from enjoying their right to freedom of association, as well as concrete steps that States, international organizations and the UN can take to uphold this right.
Migrant sex workers in Canada have reduced access to the right to freedom of association. Canadian and international policies, outlined below, have created restrictions and barriers for migrant sex workers to movement and migration, collective collaboration, joining or forming organizations and trade unions, and other forms of organizing. The criminalization of sex work, immigration restrictions on migrant sex work, and anti-trafficking enforcement efforts compromise the health and safety of marginalized groups (especially poorer, racialized, Indigenous and im/migrant women) and violate their right to freedom of association.