2019: A Call to Action
Sex workers, support organizations, and allies from across BC came together for Living in Community’s Safer Province for Everyone Conference to discuss best practices for responding to violence in sex work.
During the conference, the following recommendations and renewed commitments were made to develop a provincial bad date reporting system:
- Development of the system should be made by consulting and collaborating with sex workers and organizations who support sex workers.
- Consultations must meet the diverse needs of sex workers.
- Comprehensive funding must be acquired to develop databases that are functional and protected.
- The project could become a way to collectively lobby for systemic change at policy and legislative levels.
2020: Turning Vision Into Action
In response to these recommendations, a dedicated working group was formed, bringing together representatives from Living in Community BC, PACE Society, PEERS, SWAN Vancouver, and WISH Drop-In Centre Society. Together, the group successfully secured funding from the Law Foundation of BC to make the system a reality.
2021: Laying the Groundwork
With funding secured, the project officially launched! We hired our initial staff team and began laying the groundwork for strategic planning.
2022 – 2023: Community Consultation
Sex worker guidance was at the heart of our research phase. We engaged directly with 400 sex workers and 21 community organizations across BC to understand their unique experiences and needs. Every insight directly shaped the design and security of our upcoming platform.
2024 – 2025: Building & Launching the System
Guided by our Peer Advisory and Working groups and working alongside our web development team, we built and beta-launched our secure, province-wide bad date reporting system, created by, with, and for sex workers.
Ongoing Impact: Today, BC BDAR continues to operate as a peer-led, community-driven safety tool, constantly evolving to serve sex workers across BC.