By Peter Berton

TORONTO – Canada’s federal government is beavering away to develop new prostitution laws now that the country’s Supreme Court struck down the old ones for violating sex workers’ human rights. So far, no one knows whether the government will shift its focus to johns instead of prostitutes — the so-called Nordic Model — or allow sex workers to be licensed like other professions.

In the meantime, a group of enthusiastic Toronto escorts have established their own agency. The goal of Allegra Escorts Toronto is to create a non-exploitative vehicle for the safe sale of sexual services. The agency’s sex providers are 21 or older, have embraced sex work as a career of choice and actively work against trafficking and youth exploitation.

“Allegra Escorts Toronto is committed to reclaiming and restoring the ethical honor, spiritual wonder and physical ecstasy of ethical sex work,” said Allegra Esoterica, the agency’s manager. “This is the kind of sex work that protects and respects its providers while at the same time, delivering the best experience, health protection and orgasmic value to clients.”

YNOT: Where did find the concept for Allegra Escorts Toronto?

Allegra: Me and a handful of Toronto-area sex workers came up with the idea of an agency run by current and former workers, largely because we had a variety of experiences, good and bad, in various agencies. We wanted to create a framework that would include the best of our experiences.

The number of escorts represented by your agency keeps growing. Where do you find them, or did they find you?

Workers have contacted us and joined our agency as a result of social media promotions and ads we’ve placed in places where workers congregate. We’ve stressed the fact that we’re sex-worker-positive and owned and operated by current and former sex workers, which has been a big selling point for us.

I’ve also met with potential workers in public locations, usually buying them a coffee or having lunch with them, to help them feel comfortable meeting with us. There’s a lot of distrust towards agency owners, because of some of the bad behaviors that other owners have exhibited in the past, so I try my best to make sure workers feel comfortable getting to know me.

As we understand it, clients aren’t the only people who try to exploit sex workers.

True. One of the things I found surprising was the number of escorts who had to provide “freebies” to other agency owners. I had never experienced that myself, and I found the idea so offensive.

That’s such a blatant and horrific abuse of power, and it’s tantamount to sexual assault. The agency owner is in a position of authority over the worker, and is exploiting the situation towards his own ends, while knowing the worker isn’t in a position to refuse his advances.

Don’t get me wrong. There are some good agencies in Toronto that treat their workers well. But there are also a lot that don’t, and we wanted to raise the bar a little bit in the way we handle our business.

This is why you’re actively pushing for the Canadian government to decriminalize sex work, rather than put new restrictions in place.

Yes. This is why the decriminalization effort is so important: Without proper workplace protections, workers are vulnerable to this sort of exploitation.

It sounds like one of your goals is to demonstrate how a proper escort agency could be of benefit to workers, clients and society at large.

Yes. Once the laws came down in December, we knew there was an opportunity for us to create an agency that would represent the values we considered important.

It’s all well and good to advocate for change, and we have all the respect in the world for those who have fought for decriminalization, but unless it’s followed up by changes within the industry itself, it doesn’t mean much.

I suppose you could say we’re striving to be the change we wanted to see.

Are you a political organization, then?

We’re not a political organization making a statement. We’re entrepreneurs and businesswomen who know exactly how to succeed in this business. It’s unfortunate so many sex workers have forgotten how important the “sex” part of the business is.

We know how to turn on our clients and provide them with an incredible experience, and they have the additional reassurance that their experience is being conducted by a willing, excited and enthusiastic partner.

Simply put, a client of Allegra Escorts will never have to worry whether his provider is under the influence, under duress or underage. All of our escorts have prior experience in the industry, and all are at least 21 years of age.

Participating in hobbies is a lot more fun when it comes without ethical concerns, and that’s how we want our clients to feel.

How are clients reacting to your services, especially since a number of your providers are working to support their college educations?

The client response has been very positive so far. Some of them have told us they really appreciate our support of post-secondary students, and they feel good that their money is going to support a student’s tuition.

Others have told us they really like our philosophy and our approach. Most of all, clients think we have a really great group of sexy providers with a diverse set of services.

We also have an “Alternative Tastes” section where we post profiles of non-normative providers. A number of clients have found themselves intrigued by services they otherwise might not have been interested in, or might have been too shy to inquire about.

Canada’s government is toying with the idea of applying penalties to clients rather than sex workers, instead of just letting sleeping dogs lie. What’s your take on the government’s agenda?

We’re quite concerned about the government’s response to the striking of the sex work laws, especially around the “anti-pimping” and “Nordic Approach” proposals. If the laws are written badly or with a moralistic slant, they could end up putting us in greater danger by removing our means of protecting ourselves.

Also, if the anti-pimping laws are written too broadly, they may prevent sex workers such as ourselves from working together or in small groups. We could be charged with pimping each other out just by providing basic protections to each other.

The best thing the government could do would be to strengthen the laws against exploitation and non-adult sex work and go after those who truly exploit the more vulnerable segments of the sex trade. Otherwise, they should leave the behaviors of consenting adults alone.