How anti-trafficking campaigners are making it less safe for the very sex workers they supposedly want to rescue.
A Forum Research Poll released exclusively to the Toronto Sun on Wednesday showed that 47% of Canadians approve of the landmark court decision to legalize brothels, compared to the 36% that disagree.
Western provinces were the most supportive of the law with 58% of respondents supporting the decision. 56% of respondents who approved were male, compared to 39% who were female.
Prostitution is, and has been for some time, legal in Canada. What’s been illegal are a variety of activities around it, including keeping a common bawdy house, living off the avails and communicating for the purpose of prostitution. The Ontario Court of Appeal decision held that the laws surrounding the first two activities are unconstitutional, as written, and that the communication offence still passes scrutiny under the Charter of Rights.
If the government does appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, the applicants have said that they may not try to take this case there themselves, which means this decision will remain binding in Ontario and have an influence across Canada.
Ontario Court of Appeal greenlights brothels, sweeps aside many of Canada’s anti-prostitution laws »
The Court of Appeal for Ontario has swept aside some of Canada’s anti-prostitution laws saying they place unconstitutional restrictions on prostitutes’ ability to protect themselves.
The landmark decision means sex workers will be able to hire drivers, bodyguards and support staff and work indoors in organized brothels or “bawdy houses,” while “exploitation” by pimps remains illegal.
However, openly soliciting customers on the street remains prohibited with the judges deeming that “a reasonable limit on the right to freedom of expression.”
The province’s highest court suspended the immediate implementation of striking the bawdy house law for a year to allow the Canadian government an opportunity to amend the Criminal Code.
The online leaderless collective of hacktivists and geeks known as Anonymous has taken up a new cause, sex worker rights. Specifically, the group has taken issue with the decision by a Minnesota high-school’s decision to ban Megan Piper, porn star, from attending Prom night as a guest after she accepted an invitation from 18-year old student Mike Stone on the condition that he pay her air fare. Anonymous has yet to take any action against the school, which they accuse of “demonizing sex workers.”
January 18th, 2012 is the largest online protest in history, to stop the internet censorship bills, SOPA & PIPA. Join in by blacking out your site and urging everyone you can reach to contact Congress now.
My stiletto-and-lycra-wearing corner of the sex industry has some small protection from violence because it is legal to be a stripper. The harm that befalls women working as prostitutes in the U.S. is in no small part due to the illegality of their profession and the social attitude that…
How To Be An Ally To Sex Workers
http://redlightchicago.wordpress.com/how-to-be-an-ally-to-sex-workers/
1) Don’t Assume. Don’t assume you know why a person is in the sex industry. We’re not all trafficked or victims of abuse. Some people make a choice to enter this industry because they enjoy it, others may be struggling for money and have less of a choice.
2) Be Discreet and Respect Personal Boundaries. If you know a sex worker, it’s OK to engage in conversation in dialogue with them in private, but respect their privacy surrounding their work in public settings. Don’t ask personal questions such as “does your family know what you do?” If a sex worker is not “out” to their friends, family, or co-workers, it’s not your place to tell everyone what they do.
3) Don’t Judge. Know your own prejudices and realize that not everyone shares the same opinions as you. Whether you think sex work is a dangerous and exploitative profession or not is irrelevant compared to the actual experiences of the person who works in the industry. It’s not your place to pass judgment on how another person earns the money they need to survive.
4) Watch Your Language. Cracking jokes or using derogatory terms such as “hooker”, “whore”, “slut”, or “ho” is not acceptable. While some sex workers have “taken back” these words and use them among themselves, they are usually used to demean sex workers when spoken by outsiders.
5) Address Your Prejudices. If you have a deep bias or underlying fear that all sex workers are bad people and/or full of diseases, then perhaps these are issues within yourself that you need to address. In fact, the majority of sex workers practice safer sex than their peers and get tested regularly.
6) Don’t Play Rescuer. Not all sex workers are trying to get out of the industry or in need of help. Ask them what they need, but not everyone is looking for “Captain Save-A-Ho” or the “Pretty Woman” ending.
7) If you are a client or patron of sex workers, be respectful of boundaries. You’re buying a service, not a person. Don’t ask for real names, call at all hours of the day/night, or think that your favorite sex worker is going to enter into a relationship with you off the clock.
8 ) Do Your Own Research. Most mainstream media is biased against sex workers and the statistics you read in the news about the sex industry are usually inaccurate. Be critical of what you read or hear and educate yourself on who exactly is transmitting diseases or being trafficked.
9) Respect that Sex Work is Real Work. There’s a set of professional skills involved and it’s not necessarily an industry that everyone can enter into. Don’t tell someone to get a “real job” when they already have one that suits them just fine.
10) Just because someone is a sex worker doesn’t mean they will have sex with you. No matter what area of the sex industry that someone works in, don’t assume that they are promiscuous and willing to have sex with anyone at any time.
11) Be Supportive and Share Resources. If you know of someone who is new to the industry or in an abusive situation with an employer, by all means offer advice and support without being condescending. Some people do enter into the sex industry without educating themselves about what they are getting into and may need help. Despite the situation, calling the police is usually never a good option. Try to find other organizations that are sensitive to the needs of sex workers by contacting the organizations listed below.
12) As you learn the above things, stand up for sex workers when conversations happen. Share your personal stories if you so choose. Don’t let the stigma, bigotry and shame around sex work continue. Remember it’s important that sex workers be allowed to speak for themselves and for allies to not speak for sex workers but to speak with sex workers. Realize that sex work transcends ‘visible’ notions of race, gender, class, sexuality, education, and identities; sex workers are your sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, lovers, and friends. Respect them!I’ve posted this before, but it always bares repeating!
What is Legal?
It is not illegal to be a prostitute if you are over 18.
Sex Trade Workers who use their wages to support their children are not committing an illegal act.
Massage parlours:
If it is implied that a sex act is available but will cost the client extra and a discussion ensues about price for sexual services the masseuse and client are committing an illegal act (communication for the purpose of prostitution — s. 213) unless the discussion occurs in a massage room. In that case, no illegal act has been committed.
What is Illegal?
Communication for the purpose of prostitution (solicitation)
Procuring (pimping)
Exercising control, direction or influence (another form of pimping)
Living on the avails of prostitution
Obtaining sexual services of a person under 18
Common bawdy-house (brothel, massage parlour)
Indecent act (exposure)l
