PACE Society

An update for members, allies, and community partners

Today, on Sex Worker Pride Day, we are proud to stand in solidarity with our communities by resharing this powerful video of Sam speaking at the Vancouver Dyke March. Sam’s words remind us that sex workers have always been part of all liberation struggles. We are leading with courage, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to justice. Sex Worker Pride is about refusing shame, resisting stigma, and celebrating the strength and joy that sex workers bring to our communities. It’s a call to honour sex workers not just for surviving in the face of systemic barriers, but for thriving, organizing, and leading with pride. We are here. We are proud. We are not going anywhere. #SexWorkerPride #SexWorkIsWork #CommunityCareIsResistance

Join us for the Red Umbrella March on June 6 in Vancouver. 📍 Meet at Emery Barnes Park at 2:30 PM 🕒 March starts at 3:00 PM The Red Umbrella March is a time to come together in solidarity and advocacy for sex workers’ rights, safety and dignity. We would also like to thank Health Initiative for Men (HIM) for their leadership in organizing the march. Come say hi to us at the march for a free gift. Bring your red umbrellas, friends and community.

Huge thank you to our friends and community members who have recently supported us through third-party fundraising events. Your creativity, care, and willingness to rally your networks means so much to us. Because of community support, we were able to provide honoraria, meals, supplies, and cultural safety supports during our three community engagement sessions. We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who has chosen to stand alongside us in this way. Interested in hosting a fundraiser or community event in support of our work? We’d love to hear from you. Feel free to dm us or email [email protected] ❤️ Thank you @luminesquedance and @emilysarataylor ❤️ Thank you @melnychuk.art and @crossandcrows ❤️ Thank you @protofutures and @orchidfactory ❤️

No matter what the work looks like, the best part is always being in community ❤️✨🌼

Call to Action: Email the City of Vancouver to reinstate the Sex Work Social Planner Template letter: tinyurl.com/wtc-letter or click the link in our bio. WISH Drop-In Centre Society, PACE Society, SWAN Vancouver, Living in Community Society, and RainCity Housing released a joint statement after learning the City of Vancouver eliminated one of the two Sex Work Social Planner positions. This position helps prevent violence, reduce vulnerability, and strengthen communication between sex workers, police, community organizations, and the City. To support our calls to immediately reinstate the position, @WomenTransformingCities created an email template that supporters can copy, personalize, and send to the Mayor and Council. The Sex Work Social Planner’s work is especially critical as organizations report increasing violence against sex workers, and Vancouver prepares to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which comes with additional risks of sex workers being displaced from street-based work, and/or disconnected from services due to a heightened police presence and surveillance across the city. . . . . [image description: Graphic images. 1. Title text reads: Email the City of Vancouver: Reinstate the Sex Work Social Planner! Subheading below reads: Template: tinyurl.com/wtc-letter. Link icon with text: link in bio. Image of a white and orange envelope with a megaphone. PACE and SWAN logo in bottom left. 2. Body text explains how sex worker support organizations released a joint statement recently after learning the social planner position had been cut. The position helps prevent violence, reduce vulnerability, and strengthen talks between organizations, the city and the police. Women Transforming Cities created a template email for supporters to copy and send to mayor and council by May 20. Email icon in bottom right. 3. Body text explains the social planner’s work is especially important amid increasing violence and risks associated to FIFA in Vancouver. 4-6 Light blue text block with quotes from WISH Drop-In Society, SWAN Vancouver, PACE Society, RainCity Housing and Living in Community Society. End image descriptions].

@voiceswithimpact and @pacesociety are partnering! We’re proud to announce our partnership with @pacesociety — a peer-driven organisation in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, by, with, and for sex workers since 1994. PACE is partnering with VWI to promote Cocotte and Five Years in 8mm — two films that speak to the queer community they support. The VWI 2026 premiere is June 3 at the VIFF Centre in Vancouver. Ten short films about real mental health experiences. All filmmakers in attendance. 🔗 Link in bio to register. #vwi26 #pacesociety #cocotte #fiveyearsin8mm #mentalhealthfilm

It’s National Volunteer Week. We love our volunteers! To everyone who has supported PACE with your time, skills, and care…thank you. Community-led work is only possible because of you ❤️✨

✨✨✨ Reposting due to a minor edit ✨✨✨ Help shape what comes next at PACE Society. We’re inviting PACE members and sex work community members to our upcoming engagement sessions. Share your experiences, reflect on what our community needs, and help identify priorities for rebuilding in ways that are grounded in peer leadership. Choose the session time that works best for you: • 10:30 AM–12:30 PM • 2:00 PM–3:30 PM PACE will provide a $50 honorarium, a meal and beverage, and access to free cultural and mental health supports. The timing also aligns well with the relaunch of our Occupational Health and Safety workshops in June, helping ensure this next phase of our work is shaped by community voices. If you’re interested in participating, please reach out to Skyla at [email protected]. We hope you’ll join us. Big thanks to @luminesquedance and @emilysarataylor for helping raise funds to cover honoraria and meals. Thank you so much ❤️

Yesterday, community organizations, including PACE Society, released a statement expressing alarm at the City of Vancouver’s decision to eliminate one of two Sex Work Social Planner positions. These roles were created in direct response to the failures identified in the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. It was intended to ensure that the safety and voices of sex workers are never ignored again. This decision does not exist in isolation. It comes in the context of years of evidence-based research and community organizing, including the “By Us, For Us” report, which highlights the complex and intersecting risks sex workers face—from violence and stigma to the ongoing impacts of the toxic drug crisis, systemic racism, and gaps in health and social supports. At a time when the need for coordinated, community-informed responses is clear, removing the position undermines safety, trust, and accountability. After multiple reports, inquiries, and recommendations, centering community voices should be the bare minimum. We are calling on the City of Vancouver to reinstate this critical position and demonstrate a real commitment to sex worker safety.

We’d like to thank Andrea Werhun, SJ Raphael, and Nicole Bazuin for sharing this moment with us as a community partner. We are truly honoured. We raised a total of $1,182.55 from both Modern Wh🌼re screenings at VIFF. Thank you to everyone who came out and supported us. If you missed the first two screenings, there’s still time to catch Modern Wh🌼re tomorrow at 3 PM and Friday at 8:30 PM at VIFF Centre. Don’t miss this powerful and entertaining documentary. Directed by Nicole Bazuin and featuring performer and co-writer Andrea Werhun, Modern Whore explores the realities of sex work, challenges stigma, and centres the voices and lived experiences of sex workers ❤️

WISH Drop-In Centre Society, PACE Society, SWAN Vancouver, Living in Community Society, and RainCity Housing are deeply disappointed to hear that the City of Vancouver has eliminated one of two Sex Work Social Planner positions. These roles were created to prevent violence, reduce vulnerability and strengthen communication and relationships between sex workers, police, community organizations and the City. They were a direct recommendation from Forsaken: The Report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, following years of systemic failure to protect sex workers. It specifically called for the City of Vancouver to “create and fund two community-based liaison positions.” Sex Work Social Planners have worked closely with our organizations for years. With the elimination of one of these positions, the City loses vital expertise and capacity that has demonstrably improved safety and trust between sex workers and public institutions. This loss also comes at a time when support organizations are reporting an increase in violence against sex workers and a decrease in sex work-specific support services, and despite Vancouver City Council recently approving a motion to develop a gender-based violence prevention strategy and task force. We are only two months away from the City of Vancouver hosting FIFA World Cup 2026 matches, which comes with additional risks of sex workers being displaced from street-based work, and/or disconnected to services due to a heightened police presence and surveillance across the city. FULL STATEMENT: swanvancouver.ca/sex-work-social-planner