Our History
Founded in 1985 (or 1986) as The Toronto Prostitutes Community Service Project, our history is rooted in the determination and resilience of sex workers resisting predatory policing practices, criminalization and discrimination across several areas of our social, political and economic lives. "Maggie's" pays homage to Margaret (Babba Yabba), founder of Toronto's first sex worker advocacy network, Better End All Violent Erotic Repression (BEAVER), providing sex workers the ability to access drop in programming and advocacy services/supports through slightly more coded language- "I'm going to the drop in at the Toronto Prostitutes Community Service Project" didn't leave much to the imagination.
Sex worker support initiatives in Toronto have a rich history connected to feminist organizing of the 1970's against gender-based violence; organizing for LGBTQ2s+ rights- in particular, local movements challenging police violence against LGBTQ2s+ communities and unhoused communities through the 1980's; community support initiatives and advocacy through the HIV/AIDs epidemic in the 1980's and 90's; struggles against gentrification in Toronto's downtown core and downtown east end over the last four decades. Through our history Maggie's both exemplifies and honours the reality that sex workers, on an international scale, play a critical and often frontline role in key struggles for social justice and human rights that have a lasting ripple effect.
From our roots as a public health initiative, funded through the City of Toronto's Board of Health in 1989 for the Prostitute's Safe Sex Project, we work to celebrate, honour and expand on the initiatives our predecessors brought to life through the organization.
In 1991 we became a registered charity and the organization formally adopted the name "Maggie's Toronto Sex Workers Action Project" in 2009- an insightful move from our predecessors as our charitable status and non-profit incorporation allows us to offer volunteer and engagement opportunities that count towards court-mandated community service and post-secondary placement programs!
In recent years, our organization has grown significantly, working to incorporate responsive services, programming and supports that speak directly to the needs of sex workers at the intersections of many forms of marginalization: Black and Indigenous, racialized communities; queer, trans and gender non-conforming communities; unhoused and precariously-housed community members as well as currently and formerly incarcerated sex workers.
Approaching our 40th anniversary in 2026, Maggie's offers wrap-around services and life-affirming care to current and former sex workers across Toronto and the GTA ranging from drop in programming to case management, street outreach, community-specific supports for parents, youth, racialized and LGBTQ2s+ sex workers and a broad range of social, political and legal advocacy calling for the removal of discriminatory laws, policies and practices targeting our communities.
Our Vision
We believe sex work, across its many industries, is a legitimate and viable form of labour that our communities engage in across a wide range of social, political and economic circumstances, for varied reasons across contexts. Sex work does not need to be entirely empowering or entirely exploitative for sex workers themselves to be deserving of human rights, dignity in our personal and professional lives, and equal treatment under the law.
We exist to serve and support current and former sex workers regardless of their time, experience or histories. Central to our work are the principles of harm reduction, critical equity frameworks, and trauma-informed perspectives that prioritize the agency of individual sex workers to determine their personal and professional circumstances.
We are best equipped to decide what safety, dignity and meaningful development look like for ourselves. To this end, central to our operations is an experientially-led model prioritizing sex work experience, insight and knowledge as we continue to develop wrap-around supports and life-affirming care for our communities across Toronto and the GTA. Maggie's remains experientially-led in our operations, with core programming and services guided through Advisory Committees of our peers.
While Maggie's, our co-conspirators and allies challenge harmful criminal laws and discriminatory local, provincial and federal practices against sex workers, we are very deliberate in our intention to curate community spaces that feel healing and empowering, facilitating deeper connection and collaboration across various sex-working communities.
Our History & Guiding Vision for
Sex Worker Justice
Learn more about our history, evolution and impact on sex worker supports and human rights campaigns across Toronto. We'll also tell you who Maggie is!
