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.
As a result, the general public does not want those of us that are 'less than human', to be allowed to corrupt the streets belonging to us 'normal' individuals. Thus, the onus lies with the media to take the first step in changing the stigmas that surround prostitution, until this takes place the attitudes of the general public will not change and in it's efforts to keep the general public happy, the government will not take the steps they know are necessary to remove the dangers and hazards that are currently part and parcel of the lives of prostitutes. 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. To keep the spread of sexually transmitted diseases to a minimum, the sex workers must be required to get regular medical checkups (weekly or biweekly) and if they are found to be infected, the license must be either temporarily suspended or revoked completely depending on the disease. Yet it is a service that is in demand. A happy medium was not reached, and both these views cause the government to want to appease the general public by appearing to take an abolitionist stance on prostitution while still not making it illegal. " In, Toward Comparative Law in the 21st Century, Institute of Comparative Law in Japan (ed), pp. (Lowman, 1998c:933) Of course the targets of the law-enforcement agencies are the users of the black market trade alone, there are no fears of being charged or being sent to 'John Schools' for those involved in the off-street trade. If prostitutes were victims of their environment to begin with, the practices of the government and law enforcement agencies have exponentially increased their victimization. (Lowman, 1998d:931) The fact that they were charged was on it's own, a deterrent. The government can no longer turn a blind eye to the profitable end of the business (the brothels) and simply push the street trade into areas away from the public eye. More often than not, these individuals are very successful in this matter. McCormick, Chris1995 Constructing Danger: the Misrepresentation of Crime in the News.
Common topics in this essay:
Lowman Fraser,
John Schools,
,
Anne Derrick,
Instead PC,
Barnhorst Barnhorst,
Pornography Prostitution,
Edmonton Halifax,
Griffiths Jackson,
St Toronto,
street prostitution,
sexual predators,
criminal code,
soliciting law,
prostitution illegal,
street trade,
sex trade,
law enforcement agencies,
prostitute murdered,
prostitutes victims,
sexually transmitted,
government law enforcement,
danger misrepresentation crime,
leave pimp's service,
media public government,
|
Acceptance Essays
