March 17, 2020
Dear Ladies and Gents
The province of Ontario has declared a state of emergency in the city as an effort to thwart the spread of COVID-19 this morning. As the owner of Toronto Girlfriends, I want to take a moment to explain just what this means. I would then like to address how this will affect the operations of Toronto Girlfriends, its invaluable staff, beloved clients and stakeholders.
What is ‘State of Emergency’?
The Government of Ontario announced this morning that it is declaring an emergency under s 7.0.1 (1) the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act . In doing so, Ontario is making the following establishments legally required to close immediately:
- All facilities providing indoor recreational programs;
- All public libraries;
- All private schools as defined in the Education Act;
- All licensed child care centres;
- All bars and restaurants, except to the extent that such facilities provide takeout food and delivery;
- All theatres including those offering live performances of music, dance, and other art forms, as well as cinemas that show movies; and Concert venues.
- All organized events with a gathering of 50 or more individuals
How does this affect Toronto Girlfriends?
As a sex worker myself, having been in the industry for many years, I can fell the immense anxiety and pressure that a lot of the girls in the industry must be feeling. This is an unregulated, vastly unprotected industry, with no benefits or social protections besides the ones we can afford for ourselves. Because of this I feel it would be irresponsible to leave other women in this industry without an income for an indefinite amount of time. Also because of this, we have decided the best way to help is to provide these women with a safe, accountable, sanitary environment to work from until our society is normalized again.
I am proud to announce that we are also creating a GoFundMe campaign for those who wish to help all the lovely ladies who work in the industry. This fund will be used to help any sex worker in Toronto that works in the industry and has dire needs for their survival. Not just the girls working with Toronto Girlfriends. I will update you about this tomorrow, but for now please check out this:
Why do we feel this can work?
In addition to moral issue behind our decision to move forward, we have taken into consideration the following factors:
(1)The state of emergency only applies to public venues, and events with 50 or more people gathering at a time. Our incall locations are all private 1-on-1 with only 1 girl and 1 client at a time, each time after a client leaves there is a designated down time during which the location is disinfected. We are also enforcing a maximum number of 4 clients per day allowed. At the end of each day the location will be thoroughly disinfected again with hospital-grade disinfectants.
(2)Similar to the restaurant industry, where it is deemed safe to provide delivery of food services. We will be offering more people the opportunity to stay at home and safely have Girlfriends visit them. The Girlfriends will arrive with gloves and masks for each outcalls. These items will be removed and replaced upon exiting the hotel room/residence. While in the car, the driver will be wearing N95 mask at all times, gloves and constantly disinfecting the vehicle. During this time all outcall appointments will be billed at $250/hour within Toronto, Scarborough, Etobicoke, Mississauga, Richmond Hill and Markham for our customers’ convenience.
(3)During this time we will be offering optional “touchless” experiences at a reduced rate.
(4)During this time the Girlfriends have every right to deny any unsafe service to anyone for any reason.
(5)Lastly, every Girlfriend choosing to work during this time is bound by a strict social distancing agreement during their off time to ensure they are safe.
How are we taking care of our invaluable staff?
To get through these unusual times, some adjustments are needed from everyone. All our staff are required to:
(1)Constantly abide by handwashing and cleaning protocols set forth by public health ministry.
(2)Abide by the social distancing agreement during off times.
(3)Constantly clean with hospital-grade disinfectants to keep facilities sterile throughout the day.
Toronto Girlfriends will be performing the following duties:
(4)The agency will be performing a deep disinfecting clean of locations daily.
(5)The agency will be monitoring and screening clients to make sure they are safe
(6)Humanitarian aid will be provided as needed (rent, groceries, etc) from the funds available in our fund raiser campaign.
(7)Receptionists, drivers, and support staff will not see a disruption of income. Supplementary salary will be given to piece-work employees.
How are we taking care of our beloved clients?
Once again, in order for us to successfully navigate through these unusual times, it will take some adjusting. It is a team effort, and we ask out clients to do their part by:
(1)Constantly abide by handwashing and cleaning protocols set forth by public health ministry.
(2)Disclose any travel outside of Canada within the last 14 days.
(3)We are asking clients during this time to make use of EMT (Email Money Transfer) to pay in advance for services as cash transfers hands many times, electronic payment methods are deemed safer as the transaction is now touchless. We will be offering $10 off all EMT bookings.
(4)Be considerate, if you feel sick please stay home.
In return what you (a beloved client) can expect from us:
(5)A clean disinfected location
(6)A clean and safe companion that is practicing social distancing and has your best interest at heart.
To Our Stakeholders
Sex workers are a very disadvantaged segment of the population with no help from government agencies or programs to aid during these times. We are well aware of our social responsibilities and are doing our part to ensure we can all get through this period of time overseeing the strictest hygiene
standards and thoroughly screening out clients.
We are happy to provide guidance and assistance to any sex worker in the industry wanting to seek more information or adopt any of our practices. We are well aware that many of the other agencies in the city are going to suffer during these times and I will openly discuss any topic with anybody via email
Lastly, anyone who wishes to contribute or raise awareness to our fund-raiser please share this article and donate whenever possible. As the situation evolves so will our attitudes and actions, but one thing we are sure of, we have to look forward with optimism and look after those who need protection in
trying times.
Sincerely,
Taylor Miller
Ontario government press release (state of emergency)
World Health Organization – About Coronavirus
Amnesty International – Sex Workers as a Disadvantaged Segment of Population