Opt names Pivot Legal Society's Katrina Pacey as 2016 Sexual Health Champion

Opt has announced that Pivot Legal Society executive director Katrina Pacey has been chosen as the 2016 Sexual Health Champion.

B.C.'s Opt, or Options for Sexual Health which provides sexual health services to British Columbians, chose Pacey for her contributions to Pivot's litigation and campaign strategy and for leading Pivot's rights campaigns for sex workers, which she initiated.

Pacey was the counsel for a coalition of intervenors on the landmark Bedford case, in which she successfully argued the unconstitutionality of Canada's prostitution laws at the Supreme Court of Canada in June 2013.

In December 2013, the Supreme Court struck down three prostitution laws and ruled that they were inconsistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Here's a video that details her work on the Bedford case.

Opt will honour Pacey on Sexual and Reproductive Health Day. The day, which is designed to address sexual and reproductive health issues and reduce sexually transmitted infections, is held nationally on February 12.

Opt will mark the day with its third annual SRH Day Breakfast. The event will pay tribute to outstanding contributions in sexual health.

The breakfast will be hosted by CBC's Fred Lee while author and performance artist Amber Dawn (How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler's Memoir, Sub Rosa), who has written and spoken about her experiences as a sex worker, will offer a reading as well.

It'll be held on February 12 at 8 a.m. at the Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel (1128 West Hastings). Tickets are available at the Opt website.