Vancouver-based escort Susan Davis is one of the plaintiffs in the constitutional challenge filed against Canada's prostitution laws before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on March 21.

Davis, who has been in the sex industry for 21 years, told the Straight that the suit is the only option left after a parliamentary subcommittee—which reviewed Criminal Code laws regarding the sex trade—failed to recommend sweeping legal reforms. Davis favours changes that would protect sex workers from harm.

"We have no alternative," Davis said. "They [government] can't deny us self-determination."

Davis, spokesperson for the B.C.–Yukon Regional Coalition of Experiential Women and Communities, said the Pivot Legal Society is also preparing a challenge.

Alan Young, a professor at Os?goode Hall Law School, is overseeing the Ontario case, which was filed on behalf of Canadian sex workers.

In February, Young told the Straight that the challenge will be directed at prohibitions against maintaining a bawdy house, living off the avails of prostitution, and communicating for the purpose of selling sex. Citing the communicating law in particular, he said that sex-trade workers are exposed to danger because the law prevents them from assessing whether or not a potential client would turn out to be a violent date.