Prostitution Reform in Canada
Prostitution, the act of selling sex, has been called the “world’s oldest profession.” Indeed it may be, for it seems that as long as civilization has existed, there have been those that have been selling their sexual services for money. Why then, after all these years, has it not yet been legalized in some countries, and in this case, Canada? The sex trade, despite the efforts of many to destroy it, is alive and well in Canada and as the population grows, so does prostitution. Unfortunately, the state of prostitution in Canada today is detrimental to the safety and health of both the prostitutes and those that would make use of their services. The women are at constant risk of rape, murder, and the contracting of all sorts of sexually transmitted diseases, the most feared of these being the deadly AIDS virus. Prostitution cannot be stopped. As long as there is a demand there will be a supply; and logic, common sense, and past experience dictate that there is always a demand. Hence it is only logical for our government to look at this problem from a different perspective, not elimination but regulation. It will not just do to de-criminalize prostitution but to legalize and regulate it. . . .
To this end, ‘John Schools’ were established in Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, and Halifax. ” (McCormick, 1995c:39-47) This type of labelling creates the impression that woman who are prostitutes are somehow less important than woman who are not. Pimps often take large portions of the prostitute’s earnings (sometimes as much as 80%), sexually assault their prostitutes, addict them to drugs, and verbally and physically assault them regularly. (Lowman, 1998d:931) The fact that they were charged was on it’s own, a deterrent. The hypocrisy of the situation is clear, the government takes an abolitionist view when confronted by the public, but refuses to go after these brothels (disguised as massage parlours) because income from the licenses needed to acquire such a business and taxes from the gross income of the parlours is valued. However, that would in no way help curb street prostitution because of the business practices of these ‘massage parlours. The Fraser committee came to the conclusion that the spread of the street trade was not the result of the Hutt decision as was commonly believed, but that the ex! pansion had begun before that decision was handed down. With these measures in place, prostitution will become a legitimate business. Under section 2102 and 2113 (Barnhorst and Barnhorst, 1996b:197-199), “bawdy houses” are prohibited and section 2124 (Barnhorst and Barnhorst, 1996c:194-196) makes it an indictable offence to procure and live on the ! avails of the prostitution of another person. Toronto: Harcourt Brace & Company Canada Ltd. The government can then treat this as it would any other business, regulating and taxing it accordingly. Lowman, John 1998 “Prostitution Law Reform in Canada. If prostitutes were victims of their environment to begin with, the practices of the government and law enforcement agencies have exponentially increased their victimization.
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