Congratulations to UBC Sociology alum Frances Shaver, who has been appointed to the Order of Canada for her groundbreaking scholarly contributions to the field of sex work!
Frances Shaver
The professor emeritus at Concordia University is one of 64 new members appointed by Governor General Mary Simon this year.
Frances is recognized for her respectful engagement with those working and living in the sex work industry, as well as her approach to research, her advocacy, and her commitment to fighting for legal and policy changes.
After graduating from UBC with her BA in English and Sociology in 1967, Frances worked for First United Church as a community worker for two years. Her work in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside gave Frances her first experience with women in the sex work industry.
“[That experience] developed my skills when engaging with them, established a network with the police and other administrators relating to sex work, and built my confidence in the value of my work,” she said.
“It also contributed directly to my sense that the public and legal perceptions of sex work were limited, biased, and increasing the hazards to the health and safety of sex workers.”
Frances went on to complete a master’s degree in what was then the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at UBC in 1972 and then a doctoral degree at the Université de Montréal in 1987. Shortly after completing her PhD, she became a Canada Research Fellow at Concordia’s Department of Anthropology and Sociology, where she would stay for the rest of her career.
When she began her research on sex work in the early 1980s, the industry was highly stigmatized and misunderstood — a status that transferred to Frances and her research as well.
“My work wasn’t taken seriously — jokes were made about my status as Queen of Sex, or Dean of Vice,” she said. “Colleagues demanded to know how I could claim to be a feminist and support decriminalization. Friends over dinner parties would ask me how I could talk about prostitution and human rights in the same sentence.”
Oftentimes, sex workers didn’t trust her intentions, and the media and the general public didn’t trust her research findings. Frances worked hard over the course of her career to change that status, alongside the students she trained and the sex workers and other allies with whom she collaborated.
For Frances, a membership in the Order of Canada is ultimately a recognition of the significance of that work.
“It is an honour that I want to share with the sex workers, sex work organizations, allies, and student researchers with whom I collaborated,” she said.
“Not only did we finally manage to increase our understanding of the sex industry, we helped to create a research environment capable of producing reliable evidence for policy-makers and government officials making decisions about sex work.”
