An outreach worker and a plainclothes Mountie have been working the streets of Red Deer, registering sex workers as recently as last week in a program designed to identify the remains of those missing or murdered.
The importance of the extension of Edmonton-based Project KARE is underscored by a “significant amount of violence” towards sex workers that has been reported through the Central Alberta AIDS Network’s bad date book, says CAANS outreach worker Jill Lanz.
In the last two weeks, there have been three bad dates — sexual liaisons that go awry with violence — reported to CAANS, said Lanz.
“It is quite dangerous. People who work on the street, at street level, are so susceptible to violence, and don’t have as many safe people and places to go, so they’re much more easily targeted,” she said.
Intermittently over the last few months, Lanz and Red Deer City RCMP plainclothes officer Cpl. Lorne Doktor have been going out in an unmarked car, approaching sex workers and explaining what they want from them.
These details include name, home address or a place they hang out, height, weight, hair colour, dental and medical records, and identifying marks such as scars or tattoos.
“It can be a pin in your arm from a broken arm,” Doktor said, explaining that he also takes photographs of those who volunteer for the program and even DNA samples like hair.
Project KARE has been underway in Edmonton since 2003 and boasts 90 per cent co-operation.
Lanz and Doktor say local sex workers have been happy to participate, too.
“The message that we get repeatedly is that it’s really good for them to know there are people out there who care about what happens to them,” said Lanz.
Nine sex workers have so far participated in the program. Information goes directly into the Project KARE database, which is accessible only by its staff. Not even Doktor has access.
He said a big benefit, besides providing comfort to loved ones of those whose bodies can be identified, is cost-savings.
“These people in this high-risk lifestyle normally don’t carry ID (and) normally only have a smaller group of associates, so to identify them would be very difficult,” he said.
“Let’s say a body was to be found and we had no ID. You can spend months if not years trying to identify the person, which is huge man-hours, and man-hours cost money.”
The anonymous bad date book can be accessed in person at CAANS at 4611 50th Ave., online at www.caans.org or by calling the CAANS outreach phone number at 403-896-3879.
mgauk@www.reddeeradvocate.com