Remembering & Resisting: Reflections on Resilience
An advertisement for newly-formed SWAT that appeared in the 1992-93 Maggie's Newsletter.
In the early 1990s, some felt that Maggie’s incorporation as a charity threatened its ability to install sex workers in positions of leadership and perform on-the-ground activism. At the same time, internal disputes plagued CORP, halting its operations. Maggie’s formally severed ties with CORP in its 1992-93 newsletter, endorsing a new support group, the Sex Workers Alliance of Toronto (SWAT), as an avenue for sharing “opinions and grievances” alike on a biweekly basis (Maggie’s Newsletter, 1992-93).
In this declaration, Maggie’s reasserted their dedication to worker-led activism: “We expect to be able to turn our attention to meeting our goal of having sex workers comprise at least half of the members of the board. The board is elected by the membership of Maggie’s which is made up entirely of sex workers… Our AIDS-prevention program, the Prostitutes’ Safe Sex Project is, and it has always been, run for and by prostitutes” (Maggie’s Newsletter, 1992-93).
The Maggie's logo from the early 1990s.
Maggie’s members also dedicated considerable time to addressing misconceptions about AIDS and prostitution in the public and political worlds. Danny Cockerline wrote to groups like the National Hemophilia Foundation in the United States and the Toronto Metropolitan Police Commission to correct details of AIDS transmission risk and advocate for prostitutes’ property rights (Maggie’s file, AIDS Committee of Toronto fonds, 1987-89). Maggie’s 1993 annual report details the impact of economic recession on sex workers: simultaneously swelling their numbers and cutting their clientele (“Annual Report,” 1993).
Cockerline was integral to the organization’s early operations and activism; his death in December 1995, aged 35, was a serious blow. In March of 1996, a vote of non-confidence by Maggie’s members led to a complete restructuring of the board (Wazana, 1996). The new board planned to carry on public advocacy while continuing their worker-led and community initiatives.
“… Constant arrests and harassment by police, residents and abusive clients (abuse that is encouraged by criminalization)… all take their toll on street workers.”
- “Annual Report,” 1993
Maggie’s decriminalization advocacy grew out of the needs of sex workers. In 1999, police crackdowns on strip clubs and massage parlours saw Maggie’s partner with the Migrant Sex Trade Workers Alliance to establish a phone line for workers facing charges (Collins, 1999). But sex workers fought for security on multiple fronts: in Vaughan, Council enacted by-laws that empowered the city to directly evict sex workers from certain areas altogether (Collins, 1999).
In 2001, Maggie’s joined two other groups in condemning the elected Police liaison committee for failing to represent members of the queer community convicted of indictable offenses or facing criminal charges (Brown, 2001). As sex workers, Maggie's members recognised that Toronto Police's 'compromises' with the community came at the expense of the most marginalised.
An advertisement for the Bad Calls List, 1990s.
Maggie’s Bad Calls List, a successor to Gwendolyn’s Bad Tricks Sheet, was formed in 1993 in honour of Grayce Baxter, who was murdered by a client a year prior (Maggie’s Zine, 1993). Criminalization of sex work meant that sex workers victimised by clients faced legal risk – and possible further abuse – if they reported to police. And even when they did involve the police, action was often insufficient to protect other workers: speaking in 2003 to Xtra!, Maggie’s outreach worker Lauren Gallinger charged Toronto Police with failing to report violence against sex workers to the organization, or issue public warnings at all (Gulliver, 2003).
The Bad Calls List was (remains) a valiant project to protect Toronto’s sex workers from violence. But the prevalence of violence against sex workers reflects broader societal attitudes. On Victoria Day in 1996, three Toronto sex workers – Brenda Ludgate, 25, Shawn Keegan, 19, and Deanna Wilkinson, 31 – were murdered by a man who referred to sex workers as ‘scum’ despite patronising their services (Ling, 2021). A 1999 news article fixated on the killer’s “pretty” appearance in court and his possible motivations, rather than the victims or the impact of their loss (Blatchford, 1999).
Lyn Antsey was murdered at 21, in 1997; Donna Oglive, 24, a year later; Lien Pham, 39, was killed in 2003, two months after Cassandra Do, 32 (Verma, 2003). All were sex workers. Only Oglive’s case has seen an arrest – but not until February 2025 (Wilson, 2025).
DNA was collected at the scene of Cassandra Do's August 2003 murder and linked to a 1997 sex assault against another escort (Gulliver, 2003). However, police only issued warnings to Toronto sex workers at a closed meeting in October of that year (Verma, 2003). Despite this DNA connection, Do’s case remains unsolved. Keegan, Wilkinson, and Do were trans, demonstrating the added layer of risk gender diverse workers face.
Maggie’s matters because sex workers care about sex worker safety when it seems like nobody else does. The discriminatory treatment of sex workers – especially trans sex workers – persists to the present. Speaking in 2021 to Justin Ling for CBC about her campaign to find Alloura Wells, a trans woman found dead in 2017 at age 27, Monica Forrester said:
“Well, you know, this is concerning to not only the participants that we serve at Maggie's, but to the community... We still have a killer on the loose that killed Cassandra Do.”
- Forrester for CBC, 2021.
Each of these people were valued members of their community. Maggie’s advocates asserted this fact, drew on community networks to keep each other informed, and continued to fight for decriminalization. In 2011, Maggie’s published a zine in observance of December 17th, the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. 17 Reasons: Sex Workers, Resilience & Resistance contained reflections from sex workers of all genders on the world and their place in it. This is what Maggie’s is all about: giving sex workers a platform to share their perspective and speak up for what matters to them.
A double-page spread from 17 Reasons where Maggie's patrons respond to the question: "What does December 17 mean to you?," 2011.
A collage artwork by Monica Forrester that appeared in 17 Reasons.
Maggie’s has challenged bills like C-36, which came into law in 2014. The bill makes advertising sex for sale illegal, and practically targets street-level workers and those who work in groups while, while restricting workers’ ability to vet their clients. They submitted a brief for the 2022 review of Bill C-36, using Alloura Wells’ shockingly mismanaged disappearance as a case study of how criminalization undermines sex worker safety efforts (Brief, 2022). Ultimately, the review recommended that the Bill be amended, not repealed. The fight for decriminalization continues (PIVOT, 2022).
Sex worker safety is about more than condoms and spermicide. Sex workers in Toronto, especially trans workers, face disproportionate risks of violence because they are forced to conceal their work and navigate oppressive social stigma. Groups like Maggie’s provide an avenue for workers to look out for each other and advocate for their rights with numbers on their side.