London police alert women's agencies after sex worker alleges gunpoint assault
London police have alerted women’s agencies across the city after a sex-trade worker alleged she was sexually assaulted by a man with a handgun.
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London police have alerted women’s agencies across the city after a sex-trade worker alleged she was sexually assaulted by a man with a handgun.
A man in a vehicle approached a sex worker on Saturday some time between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. on Rectory Street, north of Hamilton Road, where the woman got into the vehicle and the man drove her to a nearby parking lot, police said.
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The man pulled out what appeared to be a handgun and threatened the woman before driving to a parking lot on Trafalgar Street, east of Adelaide Street, where he sexually and physically assaulted her, police said.
The woman fled to a nearby house and called a relative before going to hospital to be treated for injuries not considered life-threatening, police said.
The suspect is described by police as a brown man in his 30s with a fit build, standing five-foot-11 and clean-shaven. He had shoulder-length black hair and was wearing a T-shirt and black jogging pants.
Investigators released images of a vehicle – a silver or grey four-door sedan – and asked anyone with information to contact London police at 519-661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Following the incident, police said they have also reached out to nearly a dozen agencies and community partners that provide services to sex-trade workers.
“By liaising closely with these organizations, we strive to make them aware of occurrences and provide assistance and advice to any persons at risk. Our goal is to help them stay safe on our city streets,” police said in a statement.
The force has a dedicated persons-at-risk coordinator who is responsible for working with at-risk community members and alerting agencies about relevant investigations.
“This position underscores our commitment to working in partnership and collaborating with various organizations to keep our community members who are at risk as safe as possible and out of harm’s way,” police said.
The chair of the board of directors for SafeSpace – an agency that serves sex-trade workers, women and non-binary individuals – confirmed police alerted the organization to the alleged sex assault.
“I think it is essential information for folks to have,” Rachel Berdan said.
“Of course, we do condemn this act and all acts of violence against sex workers in our community.”
But many attacks against sex-trade workers go unreported, Berdan said, adding cities need spaces created for sex workers.
“Sex workers deserve to be able to access community, timely safety information, along with peer support in a space that is accessible and welcoming,” she said.
London police came under fire nearly a decade ago following the death of 26-year-old sex-trade worker Josie Glenn, whose remains were found at a southeast London home on Oct. 22, 2017.
Oluwatobi Boyede, who was charged with second-degree murder five days after Glenn’s remains were found in garbage bags in his Summerside house, already faced charges for attacking two women – one of them a sex-trade worker – and was under a court order to not seek paid sexual services.
Police initially didn’t issue a media release about the attacks, and local sex workers said police didn’t warn them about someone potentially targeting them while free on bail and under conditions not to seek their services. Police later issued a statement about Boyede’s other charges amid mounting criticism from women’s groups and media coverage.
In 2020, Boyede pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 14 years. He was given seven years for the sexual assault and other attack.
Berdan said sex work isn’t inherently violent, but the laws surrounding it can lead to violence.
She urged the federal government to scrap Bill C-36, legislation passed 10 years ago that gives immunity to people selling sexual services but criminalizes buying sex, advertising sexual services and third parties that profit from it.
“By moving away from the Nordic Model we currently operate under, we can increase safer working practices, increasing the ability to screen and vet clients, and allowing sex workers to build community safety strategies by being able to work together and no insolation,” she said.
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