There is a petition to Kathleen Wynne:
https://www.change.org/p/kathleen-wynne-refer-bill-c-36-to-the-ontario-court-of-appeal
https://www.change.org/p/kathleen-wynne-refer-bill-c-36-to-the-ontario-court-of-appeal
Bill C-36 Media Watchlist - you can help!
- Thread starter escapefromstress
- Start date
This is beautiful Reverdy. Everyone thinks that C36 is all about the religious right. C-36 is more about placating the feminist. I love this part and it is worth repeating "This is keeping with the feminist belief that everything is men’s fault, so only men should be punished."
Joy Smith is not happy about the Toronto city councillors...
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/joy-smith-mp/bill-c-36_b_6295626.html
It is very satisfying to feel the frustrations of these people as they realize their dear new law will not change anything.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/joy-smith-mp/bill-c-36_b_6295626.html
It is very satisfying to feel the frustrations of these people as they realize their dear new law will not change anything.
Kathleen Wynne asks attorney general to review Canada’s new prostitution law
...The latest addition is the Conservative government’s controversial prostitution law.
In theory it came into force on Saturday. In practice its implementation is uncertain in Canada’s largest province and possibly beyond.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has asked her attorney general to provide her with an opinion as to whether it is constitutional. There are slim odds that the answer will be positive given the widespread reservations the law inspires within the Canadian legal community...
More here , and here
...The latest addition is the Conservative government’s controversial prostitution law.
In theory it came into force on Saturday. In practice its implementation is uncertain in Canada’s largest province and possibly beyond.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has asked her attorney general to provide her with an opinion as to whether it is constitutional. There are slim odds that the answer will be positive given the widespread reservations the law inspires within the Canadian legal community...
More here , and here
Another great article Reverdy. I had to laugh-out-loud when I read this last paragraph. I think the author is correct. They have put all sex workers in one basket and they need to differentiate between those that choose to work and those that don't want to be there.
Canadian Public Health Association advocates regulation
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pro...run-like-business-health-group-says-1.2871428
Prostitution should be regulated, run like business, health group says
New law criminalizing purchase of sex doesn't address poverty, other root causes, health group says
By Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press Posted: Dec 12, 2014 1:02 PM ET Last Updated: Dec 12, 2014 1:15 PM ET
The Canadian Public Health Association says regulating the sex industry under existing occupational health and safety regulations would help deal with some of the root causes of prostitution, such as poverty and homelessness. (CBC)
The Canadian Public Health Association is calling on the government to regulate the sex industry as a business with rules to protect the safety of prostitutes.
In a position paper released Friday, the association says the world's so-called oldest profession should be regulated under existing occupational health and safety regulations.
New prostitution laws unlikely to be challenged soon, legal experts say
Now Magazine plans to defy ad ban in new prostitution bill
It says that would help deal with some of the root causes of prostitution, such as poverty and homelessness.
"There are indications that a public health approach based on harm reduction and addressing the social determinants of health may provide the tools needed to address the underlying factors that result in participation in the sex trade, and vulnerability to human trafficking and violence," says the report.
The report comes after Canada's controversial new prostitution law went into effect last week after the Supreme Court ruled that the old law violated the safety rights of prostitutes.
More than 60 groups across the country have called for a repeal of the law, which criminalizes the purchase of sex, along with advertising and some forms of communication.
Bitter divide among sex workers
The government's new prostitution law has ignited a sweeping debate in the country over whether the sex trade should be legalized.
The House of Commons and the Senate held public hearings on the proposed new bill this year, and heard often emotional testimony from a wide range of witnesses, more than 100 in all.
The testimony laid bare a bitter divide, often among sex workers themselves, over whether prostitutes are victims or whether they are making a free and valid career choice.
The government considers prostitution a crime against women, and has said its ultimate goal is to see it stamped out entirely.
The government also announced $20 million over five years to help prostitutes leave the trade. Friday's report called for "meaningful, appropriately resourced programs" towards exit strategies, to help prostitutes get out of the business.
Numerous witnesses, including Manitoba's attorney general, told the Commons and Senate hearings that the current level of government funding was essentially a drop in the bucket.
New law doesn't address root causes
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne added her voice to the debate this week, saying she has grave concern about the new law.
The health association's new report on Friday says "the current approaches to managing sex work by criminalizing either the purchase or sale of sex do not address the root causes for entry into or the results of sex work."
The report says sex workers have a higher incidence of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Researchers in Toronto, Barrie, and Oshawa found that many sex workers didn't tell health professionals how they earn a living because of a fear of discrimination "and believing that it was not relevant to their visit."
The report called for a "public health approach to sex work in Canada based on the principles of social justice, attention to human rights and equity, evidence-informed policy and practice, and addressing the underlying determinants of health."
It said such an approach would "place health promotion, health protection, population health surveillance, and the prevention of death, disease, injury and disability as the central tenet of all related initiatives."
It also pointed out — as have many — that aboriginal women are over-represented in the sex trade, and recommended special attention be paid to dealing with issues specific to them.
"The intergenerational trauma among First Nations and Inuit people resulting from residential schools has led to the destruction of social supports and family structures," the report said.
"This intergenerational trauma and the resultant poverty have been identified as a root cause for sex work and the disproportionately high number of First Nations, Inuit and Metis sex workers."
The position paper is here.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pro...run-like-business-health-group-says-1.2871428
Prostitution should be regulated, run like business, health group says
New law criminalizing purchase of sex doesn't address poverty, other root causes, health group says
By Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press Posted: Dec 12, 2014 1:02 PM ET Last Updated: Dec 12, 2014 1:15 PM ET
The Canadian Public Health Association says regulating the sex industry under existing occupational health and safety regulations would help deal with some of the root causes of prostitution, such as poverty and homelessness. (CBC)
The Canadian Public Health Association is calling on the government to regulate the sex industry as a business with rules to protect the safety of prostitutes.
In a position paper released Friday, the association says the world's so-called oldest profession should be regulated under existing occupational health and safety regulations.
New prostitution laws unlikely to be challenged soon, legal experts say
Now Magazine plans to defy ad ban in new prostitution bill
It says that would help deal with some of the root causes of prostitution, such as poverty and homelessness.
"There are indications that a public health approach based on harm reduction and addressing the social determinants of health may provide the tools needed to address the underlying factors that result in participation in the sex trade, and vulnerability to human trafficking and violence," says the report.
The report comes after Canada's controversial new prostitution law went into effect last week after the Supreme Court ruled that the old law violated the safety rights of prostitutes.
More than 60 groups across the country have called for a repeal of the law, which criminalizes the purchase of sex, along with advertising and some forms of communication.
Bitter divide among sex workers
The government's new prostitution law has ignited a sweeping debate in the country over whether the sex trade should be legalized.
The House of Commons and the Senate held public hearings on the proposed new bill this year, and heard often emotional testimony from a wide range of witnesses, more than 100 in all.
The testimony laid bare a bitter divide, often among sex workers themselves, over whether prostitutes are victims or whether they are making a free and valid career choice.
The government considers prostitution a crime against women, and has said its ultimate goal is to see it stamped out entirely.
The government also announced $20 million over five years to help prostitutes leave the trade. Friday's report called for "meaningful, appropriately resourced programs" towards exit strategies, to help prostitutes get out of the business.
Numerous witnesses, including Manitoba's attorney general, told the Commons and Senate hearings that the current level of government funding was essentially a drop in the bucket.
New law doesn't address root causes
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne added her voice to the debate this week, saying she has grave concern about the new law.
The health association's new report on Friday says "the current approaches to managing sex work by criminalizing either the purchase or sale of sex do not address the root causes for entry into or the results of sex work."
The report says sex workers have a higher incidence of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Researchers in Toronto, Barrie, and Oshawa found that many sex workers didn't tell health professionals how they earn a living because of a fear of discrimination "and believing that it was not relevant to their visit."
The report called for a "public health approach to sex work in Canada based on the principles of social justice, attention to human rights and equity, evidence-informed policy and practice, and addressing the underlying determinants of health."
It said such an approach would "place health promotion, health protection, population health surveillance, and the prevention of death, disease, injury and disability as the central tenet of all related initiatives."
It also pointed out — as have many — that aboriginal women are over-represented in the sex trade, and recommended special attention be paid to dealing with issues specific to them.
"The intergenerational trauma among First Nations and Inuit people resulting from residential schools has led to the destruction of social supports and family structures," the report said.
"This intergenerational trauma and the resultant poverty have been identified as a root cause for sex work and the disproportionately high number of First Nations, Inuit and Metis sex workers."
The position paper is here.
The rights of sex workers
Countries around the world do not have proper legislation on prostitution that defends sex workers' rights.
Last updated: 08 Dec 2014 14:08
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/12/sex-workers-human-rights-201412882622177228.html
Sonja Dolinsek
Sonja Dolinsek is a blogger and human rights activist focusing in particular on the rights of migrants, sex workers and trafficked persons.
In a case brought by three sex workers, the Supreme Court of Canada, in December 2013, struck down three provisions of the Canadian prostitution law, because they violated sex workers' human and "constitutional right to security of the person" by imposing "dangerous conditions on prostitution". In June 2014, the Canadian government introduced a new prostitution law, Bill C-36 "Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act", which entered into force on December 5.
While the Supreme Court had created the space for a radical change in the approach to sex work by reaffirming that human and constitutional rights apply to sex workers too, democratic procedures in Canada seem to have failed sex workers. The Canadian Pivot Legal Society argues that Bill C-36 has been "consistently misrepresented" and that it "will result in sweeping criminalisation of the sex industry", including sex workers themselves. Others have called it a "hate law", because the safety and security of sex workers was, in fact, not the priority for some who voted for the Bill C-36. One of the Senators, Donald Plett, clearly stated his priority in this regard: "We don't want to make life safe for prostitutes; we want to do away with prostitution."
Canada is not the only state that has passed questionable legislation on sex work. "tates frequently deny sex workers the same human and legislative rights and protections afforded to other workers and citizens," says sex work researcher Jay Levy.
The question is: How do human rights apply to sex workers and what laws and policies should states make? How should sex work laws look like, if human rights are to be respected to the fullest extent? The answer to these questions is controversial - both philosophically and politically. In the past year, numerous countries have put sex work policies on their political agenda - for different reasons and with different goals and outcomes.
Sex workers' rights
There are numerous examples worldwide, where the courts have upheld sex workers' human rights and questioned existing prostitution laws or filled legal grey areas. In New Zealand, where sex work is decriminalised, a sex worker won a case for sexual harassment against a brothel owner. In New York, 1,900 strip club dancers won a labour rights case against their employer, who will have to pay them at least $10m in compensation. Recently an Austrian court has ruled that the cost of forced health checks imposed on sex workers had to be reimbursed.
Both in Germany and in Austria, court rulings abolished to notion of prostitution as being "immoral", thus opening up the space for legal reform and the recognition of sex work as work. The European Court of Justice has repeatedly ruled that "prostitution" is an "economic activity" and that within the European Union member states cannot restrict "freedom of movement", not even for sex workers.
People & Power - The Nigerian Connection
While court rulings are useful and necessary in reminding us that sex workers have rights too, relying solely on courts to read human rights into existing legislation cannot be the sole answer to injustices that sex workers face. Democracies need to step in to make laws that actually improve sex workers' lives - a goal that has proven difficult to reach.
Historically marginalised and stigmatised, sex workers have a hard time in pushing for a reform of prostitution laws. Most politicians, especially if male and heterosexual, do not wish to be associated with sex work.
Prejudices and lack of knowledge about the topic as well as the unwillingness to engage with sex workers themselves have proven to be hard obstacles to surmount. Often, sex workers are heard in consultation processes, but their views and political claims aren't always taken seriously.
Why sex workers should be heard in democracies
By contrast, anti-prostitution activists calling for a world without prostitution have been far more successful in their lobbying efforts against sex work. They also explicitly distance themselves from self-identified sex workers, who they often accuse of being nothing but criminals. Using the stigma of sex work, anti-prostitution activists have managed to ally themselves with mostly sexually and socially conservative groups in their call for the suppression of sex work.
By using slogans like "end demand" or "abolish prostitution now", they have been calling for the so-called "Swedish Model", in which the act of selling sex is formally decriminalised, while clients are charged with a monetary fine. By increasing the cost of a sexual transaction, the law should work as a deterrent. A variation of the law has been implemented in other small countries, such as Norway, Iceland, and, most recently, Northern Ireland. Supporters of this approach claim that only this particular law will reduce human trafficking as well as prostitution.
Witness - Lover Boys
However, the Swedish approach comes with many flaws and open questions. Because its goal is a society without sex workers, the law does not intend to provide any guidance on the laws we need in a society with sex workers. Norway is considering repealing the law, as the evaluation of the law has not been able to prove its success. While the EUROSTAT report on human trafficking does not point to a decrease in human trafficking in Sweden, sex workers' working conditions have worsened. In fact, the "Swedish Approach" criminalises any attempt to create safe working environments for sex workers, as anyone renting indoor space to sex workers can be charged with "pimping".
Ironically, this provision has not reduced pimping, but induced many landlords to put sex workers on the streets in order to avoid a fine for "pimping", as the so-called "Operation homeless" has shown in Norway. Furthermore, Sweden does not allow immigration for the purposes of prostitution and has been deporting migrant sex workers, who are still seen a problem of public order and security. It wasn't until 2011 that a Swedish Court ruled that deporting citizens of the European Union selling sex in Sweden was illegal. Last but not least, even Sweden and Norway tax income from sex work, while refusing to recognise it as labour.
As empirical studies on the implementation of the "Swedish approach" show, its weaknesses in guaranteeing sex workers' human rights, policy-makers also have become sceptical. A Special Committee of French Senate excluded the provision criminalising clients from the proposed new prostitution law in summer 2014 - based on the recommendations of the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights. So far, it is unclear whether France will go forward with the law at all. Britain has also excluded the provision criminalising the purchase of sex from its "Modern Slavery Bill", which has itself been criticised by NGOs for not doing justice to victims of human trafficking. Germany is also working to reform its prostitution law.
The Global Network of Sex Work Projects advocates "decriminalisation" of sex work. So far, only New Zealand has chosen "decriminalisation" as sex work policy, but maybe India will be next. India's chair of the National Commission of Women, Lalitha Kumaramangalam, recently stated that the "Immoral Traffic Prevention Act" should be revised in order to create "conditions conductive for sex workers to live with dignity".
In fact, the existing law casts sex workers simultaneously as dangerous to society and as victims to be forcefully protected from their own choices. Either way, they are not recognised as equal citizens, workers, and members of a social and political community with human rights. By decriminalising sex work, India would set an example for other countries, too. As a law practitioner recently pointed out that "the position of defining prostitution itself as inherently exploitative and a form of violence against women does not allow people in prostitution to access their right to earn a livelihood through sex work."
It is time for democracies to include sex workers in policy-making processes and take them seriously - not just because democratic values mandate it, but because sex workers are the experts on the matter.
Sonja Dolinsek is a blogger and human rights activist focusing in particular on the rights of migrants, sex workers and trafficked persons.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
Countries around the world do not have proper legislation on prostitution that defends sex workers' rights.
Last updated: 08 Dec 2014 14:08
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/12/sex-workers-human-rights-201412882622177228.html
Sonja Dolinsek
Sonja Dolinsek is a blogger and human rights activist focusing in particular on the rights of migrants, sex workers and trafficked persons.
In a case brought by three sex workers, the Supreme Court of Canada, in December 2013, struck down three provisions of the Canadian prostitution law, because they violated sex workers' human and "constitutional right to security of the person" by imposing "dangerous conditions on prostitution". In June 2014, the Canadian government introduced a new prostitution law, Bill C-36 "Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act", which entered into force on December 5.
While the Supreme Court had created the space for a radical change in the approach to sex work by reaffirming that human and constitutional rights apply to sex workers too, democratic procedures in Canada seem to have failed sex workers. The Canadian Pivot Legal Society argues that Bill C-36 has been "consistently misrepresented" and that it "will result in sweeping criminalisation of the sex industry", including sex workers themselves. Others have called it a "hate law", because the safety and security of sex workers was, in fact, not the priority for some who voted for the Bill C-36. One of the Senators, Donald Plett, clearly stated his priority in this regard: "We don't want to make life safe for prostitutes; we want to do away with prostitution."
Canada is not the only state that has passed questionable legislation on sex work. "
The question is: How do human rights apply to sex workers and what laws and policies should states make? How should sex work laws look like, if human rights are to be respected to the fullest extent? The answer to these questions is controversial - both philosophically and politically. In the past year, numerous countries have put sex work policies on their political agenda - for different reasons and with different goals and outcomes.
Sex workers' rights
There are numerous examples worldwide, where the courts have upheld sex workers' human rights and questioned existing prostitution laws or filled legal grey areas. In New Zealand, where sex work is decriminalised, a sex worker won a case for sexual harassment against a brothel owner. In New York, 1,900 strip club dancers won a labour rights case against their employer, who will have to pay them at least $10m in compensation. Recently an Austrian court has ruled that the cost of forced health checks imposed on sex workers had to be reimbursed.
Both in Germany and in Austria, court rulings abolished to notion of prostitution as being "immoral", thus opening up the space for legal reform and the recognition of sex work as work. The European Court of Justice has repeatedly ruled that "prostitution" is an "economic activity" and that within the European Union member states cannot restrict "freedom of movement", not even for sex workers.
People & Power - The Nigerian Connection
While court rulings are useful and necessary in reminding us that sex workers have rights too, relying solely on courts to read human rights into existing legislation cannot be the sole answer to injustices that sex workers face. Democracies need to step in to make laws that actually improve sex workers' lives - a goal that has proven difficult to reach.
Historically marginalised and stigmatised, sex workers have a hard time in pushing for a reform of prostitution laws. Most politicians, especially if male and heterosexual, do not wish to be associated with sex work.
Prejudices and lack of knowledge about the topic as well as the unwillingness to engage with sex workers themselves have proven to be hard obstacles to surmount. Often, sex workers are heard in consultation processes, but their views and political claims aren't always taken seriously.
Why sex workers should be heard in democracies
By contrast, anti-prostitution activists calling for a world without prostitution have been far more successful in their lobbying efforts against sex work. They also explicitly distance themselves from self-identified sex workers, who they often accuse of being nothing but criminals. Using the stigma of sex work, anti-prostitution activists have managed to ally themselves with mostly sexually and socially conservative groups in their call for the suppression of sex work.
By using slogans like "end demand" or "abolish prostitution now", they have been calling for the so-called "Swedish Model", in which the act of selling sex is formally decriminalised, while clients are charged with a monetary fine. By increasing the cost of a sexual transaction, the law should work as a deterrent. A variation of the law has been implemented in other small countries, such as Norway, Iceland, and, most recently, Northern Ireland. Supporters of this approach claim that only this particular law will reduce human trafficking as well as prostitution.
Witness - Lover Boys
However, the Swedish approach comes with many flaws and open questions. Because its goal is a society without sex workers, the law does not intend to provide any guidance on the laws we need in a society with sex workers. Norway is considering repealing the law, as the evaluation of the law has not been able to prove its success. While the EUROSTAT report on human trafficking does not point to a decrease in human trafficking in Sweden, sex workers' working conditions have worsened. In fact, the "Swedish Approach" criminalises any attempt to create safe working environments for sex workers, as anyone renting indoor space to sex workers can be charged with "pimping".
Ironically, this provision has not reduced pimping, but induced many landlords to put sex workers on the streets in order to avoid a fine for "pimping", as the so-called "Operation homeless" has shown in Norway. Furthermore, Sweden does not allow immigration for the purposes of prostitution and has been deporting migrant sex workers, who are still seen a problem of public order and security. It wasn't until 2011 that a Swedish Court ruled that deporting citizens of the European Union selling sex in Sweden was illegal. Last but not least, even Sweden and Norway tax income from sex work, while refusing to recognise it as labour.
As empirical studies on the implementation of the "Swedish approach" show, its weaknesses in guaranteeing sex workers' human rights, policy-makers also have become sceptical. A Special Committee of French Senate excluded the provision criminalising clients from the proposed new prostitution law in summer 2014 - based on the recommendations of the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights. So far, it is unclear whether France will go forward with the law at all. Britain has also excluded the provision criminalising the purchase of sex from its "Modern Slavery Bill", which has itself been criticised by NGOs for not doing justice to victims of human trafficking. Germany is also working to reform its prostitution law.
The Global Network of Sex Work Projects advocates "decriminalisation" of sex work. So far, only New Zealand has chosen "decriminalisation" as sex work policy, but maybe India will be next. India's chair of the National Commission of Women, Lalitha Kumaramangalam, recently stated that the "Immoral Traffic Prevention Act" should be revised in order to create "conditions conductive for sex workers to live with dignity".
In fact, the existing law casts sex workers simultaneously as dangerous to society and as victims to be forcefully protected from their own choices. Either way, they are not recognised as equal citizens, workers, and members of a social and political community with human rights. By decriminalising sex work, India would set an example for other countries, too. As a law practitioner recently pointed out that "the position of defining prostitution itself as inherently exploitative and a form of violence against women does not allow people in prostitution to access their right to earn a livelihood through sex work."
It is time for democracies to include sex workers in policy-making processes and take them seriously - not just because democratic values mandate it, but because sex workers are the experts on the matter.
Sonja Dolinsek is a blogger and human rights activist focusing in particular on the rights of migrants, sex workers and trafficked persons.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
From the blog of Miss Bedford. It's supposed to be some Editorial from the Globe and Mail, but I can't find the original link online.
http://blog.terrijeanbedford.com/2014/12/14/prostitution-lawmr-harpers-unenforceable-act/
Globe and Mail Lead Editorial
December 12, 2014
Prostitution Law
Mr. Harper’s unenforceable act
Canada’s new anti-prostitution law came into effect this week, but it’s doubtful anyone involved with the so-called “oldest profession” much noticed.
Citing concerns over constitutionality, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says her province will not rigorously pursue prosecutions under the new law, which among other things criminalizes advertising sexual services and soliciting near schools, parks and houses of worship.
“I am left with grave concern that the so-called Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act will protect neither ‘exploited persons’ nor ‘communities’,” said Premier Wynne.
British Columbia Premier Christy Clark expressed similar intentions in a meeting with the Globe’s editorial board this week when she said she supports the Vancouver Police Department’s decision not to make the law a priority.
Now come reports that the Montreal police service’s vice unit is in no particular hurry to enforce the law either. Like police in Vancouver, they will focus their efforts on sex worker safety.
So after Ottawa disregarded initial objections from many experts over its proposed bill, then ignored the possibility the legislation would swiftly be struck down in court, it is now confronted by the reality the law is unlikely to be enforced in the places where the sex trade does its briskest business.
Quite the trifecta.
When the Supreme Court invalidated the core provisions of this country’s out-dated prostitution law in late 2013, the government had an opportunity to address the human tragedies caused by prostitution.
Instead, we are left with a text devoid of authority.
This government has a history of selectively heeding advice on matters of criminal justice and policing, and the Globe’s reporting has also uncovered a worrying pattern of presenting sub-standard, error-ridden legislation to Parliament.
Evidence is mounting, then, of a surprisingly slipshod approach to what is claimed to be a core priority.
As a result, the government finds itself confronted by a vexing question that is entirely of its own making. When does a law cease being a law?
Maybe it’s when nobody feels obligated to submit to it.
http://blog.terrijeanbedford.com/2014/12/14/prostitution-lawmr-harpers-unenforceable-act/
Globe and Mail Lead Editorial
December 12, 2014
Prostitution Law
Mr. Harper’s unenforceable act
Canada’s new anti-prostitution law came into effect this week, but it’s doubtful anyone involved with the so-called “oldest profession” much noticed.
Citing concerns over constitutionality, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says her province will not rigorously pursue prosecutions under the new law, which among other things criminalizes advertising sexual services and soliciting near schools, parks and houses of worship.
“I am left with grave concern that the so-called Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act will protect neither ‘exploited persons’ nor ‘communities’,” said Premier Wynne.
British Columbia Premier Christy Clark expressed similar intentions in a meeting with the Globe’s editorial board this week when she said she supports the Vancouver Police Department’s decision not to make the law a priority.
Now come reports that the Montreal police service’s vice unit is in no particular hurry to enforce the law either. Like police in Vancouver, they will focus their efforts on sex worker safety.
So after Ottawa disregarded initial objections from many experts over its proposed bill, then ignored the possibility the legislation would swiftly be struck down in court, it is now confronted by the reality the law is unlikely to be enforced in the places where the sex trade does its briskest business.
Quite the trifecta.
When the Supreme Court invalidated the core provisions of this country’s out-dated prostitution law in late 2013, the government had an opportunity to address the human tragedies caused by prostitution.
Instead, we are left with a text devoid of authority.
This government has a history of selectively heeding advice on matters of criminal justice and policing, and the Globe’s reporting has also uncovered a worrying pattern of presenting sub-standard, error-ridden legislation to Parliament.
Evidence is mounting, then, of a surprisingly slipshod approach to what is claimed to be a core priority.
As a result, the government finds itself confronted by a vexing question that is entirely of its own making. When does a law cease being a law?
Maybe it’s when nobody feels obligated to submit to it.
Did you know that cunnilingus, fellatio and anal sex are still illegal in many of the American states?
http://www.answers.com/Q/How_many_US_states_is_Fellatio_illegal_in
Let's hope that C-36 is as rarely enforced.
http://www.answers.com/Q/How_many_US_states_is_Fellatio_illegal_in
Let's hope that C-36 is as rarely enforced.
''A Year Later'' Maggie McNeill talking about us on her blog:
http://maggiemcneill.wordpress.com/2014/12/19/a-year-later/
http://maggiemcneill.wordpress.com/2014/12/19/a-year-later/
For those who wonder how close ''near a school'' means: 11 people were arrested in Memphis for prostitution ''near a school''. They were within a mile and a half (2.4 Km), though apparently, the statute of their law says it should be within 100 feet for that offense (0.009 Km). That's in the US, but it gives us an idea on how police can enforce a law when they choose.
http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/27605361/11-arrested-charged-with-prostitution-near-schools
http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/27605361/11-arrested-charged-with-prostitution-near-schools
As i'm sitting in front of my computer watching the football game, this just popped into my head & i don't want to start a new thread just to ask this question.
Let's say i'm an American visiting Montreal (or anywhere else in Canada) and i just happen to be unlucky & wind up getting charged for hiring a prostitute (due to the new law), would i have a hard time getting back into the country the next time i want to visit?
I've known of a few people with minor drug possession or DUI offenses years ago when they were teenagers or slightly older who've had a heck of a hard time getting back in the country. Some needed to get a pardon in order to be let back in. Could the same thing happen in this case also?
Let's say i'm an American visiting Montreal (or anywhere else in Canada) and i just happen to be unlucky & wind up getting charged for hiring a prostitute (due to the new law), would i have a hard time getting back into the country the next time i want to visit?
I've known of a few people with minor drug possession or DUI offenses years ago when they were teenagers or slightly older who've had a heck of a hard time getting back in the country. Some needed to get a pardon in order to be let back in. Could the same thing happen in this case also?
Doc Holliday: There is already a thread discussing the subject of crossing the border with a criminal record : turned away at the border
MODS: Doc Holliday's post should be moved to the appropriate thread.
MODS: Doc Holliday's post should be moved to the appropriate thread.
This was nice to see that the Victoria Police have bigger fish to fry. I hope there is not an outcry from some pressure group or the media to enforce the illegal to buy part
Thanks. I appreciate posting the link, but i can't access the last page of that thread. As a matter of fact, the last post i can access was posted in 2011. Am i the only one who can't access the most recent pages in that thread?
Doc Holliday: The most recent post of the referenced thread (turned away at the border ) does indeed date from 2011. However, there are more recent threads on this subject:
There are also other older threads which may have some useful info:
This discussion should be moved to one of the aforementioned threads.
There are also other older threads which may have some useful info:
This discussion should be moved to one of the aforementioned threads.
Disrupting C-36
Double Aspect (Canadian constitutional law, and other exciting things)
by Leonid Sirota
January 3, 2015
https://doubleaspectblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/03/disrupting-c-36/
The Economist has published a lengthy and informative “briefing” on the ways in which the internet is changing prostitution (http://www.economist.com/news/brief...buck?fsrc=scn/fb/te/pe/ed/morebangforyourbuck) ― often, although not always, for the benefit of sex workers. As it explains, the effects of new technologies on what is usually said to be the the oldest profession are far reaching, and mostly positive insofar as they make sex work safer than it used to be. If the federal government had been concerned with protecting sex workers, and if Parliament had truly “ha[d] grave concerns about … the risks of violence posed to those who engage in” prostitution, as it affected to be in the preamble of the so-called Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, S.C. 2014 c. 25, better known as Bill C-36 (http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/AnnualStatutes/2014_25/FullText.html), they would have considered the internet’s potential for benefiting sex workers.
But as the government’s and Parliament’s chief concern was apparently to make prostitution vanish by a sleight of criminal law’s heavy hand, its middle finger raised at the Supreme Court, they instead sought to drive sex workers off the internet. The new section 286.4 of the Criminal Code, created by C-36, criminalizes “[e]veryone who knowingly advertises an offer to provide sexual services for consideration,” although section 286.5 exempts those advertising “their own sexual services.” In other words, if a sex worker has her own website, that’s tolerated ― but if she uses some other service, or at least one geared specifically to sex workers and their potential customers, the provider of that service is acting illegally.
Meanwhile, according to the Economist, in the market for sex, as in so many others,
specialist websites and apps are allowing information to flow between buyer and seller, making it easier to strike mutually satisfactory deals. The sex trade is becoming easier to enter and safer to work in: prostitutes can warn each other about violent clients, and do background and health checks before taking a booking. Personal web pages allow them to advertise and arrange meetings online; their clients’ feedback on review sites helps others to proceed with confidence.
Above all, the ability to advertise, screen potential clients, and pre-arrange meetings online means that sex workers need not look for clients in the most dangerous environment for doing so ― on the street. Besides, “the internet is making it easier to work flexible hours and to forgo a middleman,” and indeed “it is independent sex workers for whom the internet makes the biggest difference.”
The internet is also making sex work safer. Yet the work of a websites that “let [sex workers] vouch for clients they have seen, improving other women’s risk assessments,” or “where customers can pay for a background check to present to sex workers” is probably be criminalized under the new section 286.2(1) added to the Criminal Code by C-36, which applies to “[e]veryone who receives a financial or other material benefit, knowing that it is obtained by or derived directly or indirectly from the commission of an offence under subsection 286.1(1)” ― the “obtaining sexual services for consideration” offence. Forums where sex workers can provide each other with tips and support, can be shut down if they are associated with or part of websites that advertise “sexual services.”
As the Economist points out, the added safety (both from violent clients and law enforcement), convenience, and discretion can attract more people into sex work. So trying to eliminate the online marketplace for sex makes sense if one’s aim is, as I put it here, “to drive people out of sex work by making it desperately miserable” ― but that’s a hypocritical approach, and not what C-36 purports to do.
In any case, criminalization complicates the work of websites that help sex workers and their clients, but does not stop it. They are active in the United States, despite prostitution being criminalized in almost every State ― though they pretend that their contents are fictional. They base their activities in more prostitution-friendly jurisdictions. A professor interviewed by the Economist points out that a ban on advertising sexual services in Ireland “has achieved almost nothing.” There seems to be little reason to believe that the ban in C-36, which has a large exemption for sex workers advertising themselves, would be any different.
The Economist concludes that “[t]he internet has disrupted many industries. The oldest one is no exception.” Yet the government and Parliament have been oblivious to this trend, as they have been oblivious to most of the realities of sex work. One must hope that courts, when they hear the inevitable challenge to the constitutionality of C-36, will take note.
Double Aspect (Canadian constitutional law, and other exciting things)
by Leonid Sirota
January 3, 2015
https://doubleaspectblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/03/disrupting-c-36/
The Economist has published a lengthy and informative “briefing” on the ways in which the internet is changing prostitution (http://www.economist.com/news/brief...buck?fsrc=scn/fb/te/pe/ed/morebangforyourbuck) ― often, although not always, for the benefit of sex workers. As it explains, the effects of new technologies on what is usually said to be the the oldest profession are far reaching, and mostly positive insofar as they make sex work safer than it used to be. If the federal government had been concerned with protecting sex workers, and if Parliament had truly “ha[d] grave concerns about … the risks of violence posed to those who engage in” prostitution, as it affected to be in the preamble of the so-called Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, S.C. 2014 c. 25, better known as Bill C-36 (http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/AnnualStatutes/2014_25/FullText.html), they would have considered the internet’s potential for benefiting sex workers.
But as the government’s and Parliament’s chief concern was apparently to make prostitution vanish by a sleight of criminal law’s heavy hand, its middle finger raised at the Supreme Court, they instead sought to drive sex workers off the internet. The new section 286.4 of the Criminal Code, created by C-36, criminalizes “[e]veryone who knowingly advertises an offer to provide sexual services for consideration,” although section 286.5 exempts those advertising “their own sexual services.” In other words, if a sex worker has her own website, that’s tolerated ― but if she uses some other service, or at least one geared specifically to sex workers and their potential customers, the provider of that service is acting illegally.
Meanwhile, according to the Economist, in the market for sex, as in so many others,
specialist websites and apps are allowing information to flow between buyer and seller, making it easier to strike mutually satisfactory deals. The sex trade is becoming easier to enter and safer to work in: prostitutes can warn each other about violent clients, and do background and health checks before taking a booking. Personal web pages allow them to advertise and arrange meetings online; their clients’ feedback on review sites helps others to proceed with confidence.
Above all, the ability to advertise, screen potential clients, and pre-arrange meetings online means that sex workers need not look for clients in the most dangerous environment for doing so ― on the street. Besides, “the internet is making it easier to work flexible hours and to forgo a middleman,” and indeed “it is independent sex workers for whom the internet makes the biggest difference.”
The internet is also making sex work safer. Yet the work of a websites that “let [sex workers] vouch for clients they have seen, improving other women’s risk assessments,” or “where customers can pay for a background check to present to sex workers” is probably be criminalized under the new section 286.2(1) added to the Criminal Code by C-36, which applies to “[e]veryone who receives a financial or other material benefit, knowing that it is obtained by or derived directly or indirectly from the commission of an offence under subsection 286.1(1)” ― the “obtaining sexual services for consideration” offence. Forums where sex workers can provide each other with tips and support, can be shut down if they are associated with or part of websites that advertise “sexual services.”
As the Economist points out, the added safety (both from violent clients and law enforcement), convenience, and discretion can attract more people into sex work. So trying to eliminate the online marketplace for sex makes sense if one’s aim is, as I put it here, “to drive people out of sex work by making it desperately miserable” ― but that’s a hypocritical approach, and not what C-36 purports to do.
In any case, criminalization complicates the work of websites that help sex workers and their clients, but does not stop it. They are active in the United States, despite prostitution being criminalized in almost every State ― though they pretend that their contents are fictional. They base their activities in more prostitution-friendly jurisdictions. A professor interviewed by the Economist points out that a ban on advertising sexual services in Ireland “has achieved almost nothing.” There seems to be little reason to believe that the ban in C-36, which has a large exemption for sex workers advertising themselves, would be any different.
The Economist concludes that “[t]he internet has disrupted many industries. The oldest one is no exception.” Yet the government and Parliament have been oblivious to this trend, as they have been oblivious to most of the realities of sex work. One must hope that courts, when they hear the inevitable challenge to the constitutionality of C-36, will take note.
‘Oldest Game’ aims to bring impact of new sex work laws to life
The Oldest Game, a news game developed at Concordia University in Montreal QC, seeks to demonstrate how Bill C-36 will impact the lives of sex workers in Canada.
EMMA M. WOOLLEY
Special to The Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Jan. 05 2015, 12:00 AM EST
Last updated Monday, Jan. 05 2015, 9:49 AM EST
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/tech...of-new-sex-work-laws-to-life/article22176178/
The ongoing discussion and criticism of Bill C-36 has intensified conversations about sex work in Canada. While the law – which came into effect on December 6 and is also known as the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act – has intensified news coverage of sex work, most Canadians don’t understand what it’s actually like to earn a living in the sex business. One team of academics at Concordia University is looking to change that with a game that begins with a simple premise: sex work is work.
The Oldest Game, currently in development, focuses on assuming the identity of a sex worker in one of three Canadian cities: Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal. Known as Andrea (or Andréa, if players choose a francophone avatar) the character will be either be a street worker, masseuse or an escort. The objective of the game is to make as much money as possible while staying safe. which creates a difficult, no-win scenario for players to show the very real constraints sex workers experience. The game’s new trailer encourages viewers to “experience the stories behind the headlines,” a theme that came up a lot in my conversation with Sandra Gabriele, one of the co-leads of the project.
“I approach this as an academic,” she told me. “So my question is: How well do news games succeed in helping us understand stories beyond the two-sided debate in typical journalism? We wanted to see if we could devise a game that explored the systems and point to the complexity of the situation, with the hope that people would then better understand exactly what’s at stake.”
Gabriele, an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies, told me she first began considering the news game format when she read Ian Bogost, Simon Ferrari and Bobby Schweizer’s book,Newsgames: Journalism at Play. “The argument they make is basically: games are really good at demonstrating how systems work, so in order to be a good player, you have to understand what all the factors are that you’re trying to balance,” she says. “So I just kind of got the idea. It was right around when the Bedford challenge was being launched and I thought to myself, isn’t this a great example of a place where understanding how certain systems work together, like the legal system, like policing in individual communities, like poverty and debt, lead to certain kinds of choices that sex workers are often forced to make.”
After partnering with Lisa Lynch, an Associate Professor in the Department of Journalism, Gabriele secured internal funding for the project. They created a team from students at the university who were studying video game development and design. Students producing the game include Stephanie Goddard (art and design), Ben Spencer (sound design), and Martin Desrosiers (development). The team also includes writers and researchers Amanda Feder, Esther Splett, and Natalie Zina Walschots (a PHD candidate, freelance writer, and – full disclosure – a friend of mine whose posting led me to learn about the game).
“As we started working, I became uncomfortable with the idea of us devising a game about sex work outside of our research – we were doing a ton of research – without conversations with sex workers,” says Gabriele. “So we hired a sex worker [Marilyne Hudon] who has been a consultant on the game. She has played through every iteration and came to a production meeting where we had a long conversation about what worked, where we should focus our energy, everything from gameplay feedback to important questions about representation and the challenges that sex workers face.”
The Oldest Game illustrates these challenges through a variety of scenarios based on everyday decisions that sex workers make, such as assessing clients, asking drivers to stay (or go) while visiting clients and replacing receptionists who quit to avoid being charged as third parties. And as Gabriele mentioned to me, the game is developing at a crucial time for understanding just how oppressive the new legislation really is.
Canada’s previous prostitution laws were struck down for being unconstitutional, and the new legislation finds itself facing a similar challenge. Supporters say the laws will protect sex workers by criminalizing the buying of sex and not the selling but sex work advocates claim that by continuing to criminalize sex work at all, the industry is forced underground where safety is compromised. Action against the new legislation continues, most recently on Dec. 17 during the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, when several organizations met in Queens’ Park Studio to “bring powerful messages to the provincial government.”
In such a particular moment of time with so many negative stereotypes of sex workers in mainstream media, creating The Oldest Game has had its own challenges. “One of the key issues that comes up in journalism is that question of how you represent other people’s stories. It’s a perpetual problem and we’ve faced it at every single turn,” says Gabriele. The team has had extensive discussions on how the character should look, how much sex should be shown (they’re not making an X-rated game, after all), and how issues like violence and drug use should be represented, or if at all. But Gabriele tells me the work and wait has been worth it to explore the possibility of games as journalism.
“It has been interesting to think about this as a form of news because the story keeps changing,” says Gabriele. “Just yesterday I said to Natalie: ‘NOW said they would continue to accept ads on behalf of sex workers, we need a pop up of that!’ The game is constantly changing as story is emerging. There will be a point when we stop, but that’s the challenge of trying to do this as the story is unfolding. At some point we have to launch it and see what kinds of conversations will emerge.”
The Oldest Game is being beta tested with seasoned gamers over the next few weeks to determine flow and quality of gameplay, but the team is also planning on play testing with other sex workers as well to gain more perspective on nuance and quality of the scenarios presented. Gabriele estimates the game should be available to play for free in February, 2015.
Site: http://theoldestgame.concordia.ca/
The Oldest Game, a news game developed at Concordia University in Montreal QC, seeks to demonstrate how Bill C-36 will impact the lives of sex workers in Canada.
EMMA M. WOOLLEY
Special to The Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Jan. 05 2015, 12:00 AM EST
Last updated Monday, Jan. 05 2015, 9:49 AM EST
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/tech...of-new-sex-work-laws-to-life/article22176178/
The ongoing discussion and criticism of Bill C-36 has intensified conversations about sex work in Canada. While the law – which came into effect on December 6 and is also known as the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act – has intensified news coverage of sex work, most Canadians don’t understand what it’s actually like to earn a living in the sex business. One team of academics at Concordia University is looking to change that with a game that begins with a simple premise: sex work is work.
The Oldest Game, currently in development, focuses on assuming the identity of a sex worker in one of three Canadian cities: Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal. Known as Andrea (or Andréa, if players choose a francophone avatar) the character will be either be a street worker, masseuse or an escort. The objective of the game is to make as much money as possible while staying safe. which creates a difficult, no-win scenario for players to show the very real constraints sex workers experience. The game’s new trailer encourages viewers to “experience the stories behind the headlines,” a theme that came up a lot in my conversation with Sandra Gabriele, one of the co-leads of the project.
“I approach this as an academic,” she told me. “So my question is: How well do news games succeed in helping us understand stories beyond the two-sided debate in typical journalism? We wanted to see if we could devise a game that explored the systems and point to the complexity of the situation, with the hope that people would then better understand exactly what’s at stake.”
Gabriele, an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies, told me she first began considering the news game format when she read Ian Bogost, Simon Ferrari and Bobby Schweizer’s book,Newsgames: Journalism at Play. “The argument they make is basically: games are really good at demonstrating how systems work, so in order to be a good player, you have to understand what all the factors are that you’re trying to balance,” she says. “So I just kind of got the idea. It was right around when the Bedford challenge was being launched and I thought to myself, isn’t this a great example of a place where understanding how certain systems work together, like the legal system, like policing in individual communities, like poverty and debt, lead to certain kinds of choices that sex workers are often forced to make.”
After partnering with Lisa Lynch, an Associate Professor in the Department of Journalism, Gabriele secured internal funding for the project. They created a team from students at the university who were studying video game development and design. Students producing the game include Stephanie Goddard (art and design), Ben Spencer (sound design), and Martin Desrosiers (development). The team also includes writers and researchers Amanda Feder, Esther Splett, and Natalie Zina Walschots (a PHD candidate, freelance writer, and – full disclosure – a friend of mine whose posting led me to learn about the game).
“As we started working, I became uncomfortable with the idea of us devising a game about sex work outside of our research – we were doing a ton of research – without conversations with sex workers,” says Gabriele. “So we hired a sex worker [Marilyne Hudon] who has been a consultant on the game. She has played through every iteration and came to a production meeting where we had a long conversation about what worked, where we should focus our energy, everything from gameplay feedback to important questions about representation and the challenges that sex workers face.”
The Oldest Game illustrates these challenges through a variety of scenarios based on everyday decisions that sex workers make, such as assessing clients, asking drivers to stay (or go) while visiting clients and replacing receptionists who quit to avoid being charged as third parties. And as Gabriele mentioned to me, the game is developing at a crucial time for understanding just how oppressive the new legislation really is.
Canada’s previous prostitution laws were struck down for being unconstitutional, and the new legislation finds itself facing a similar challenge. Supporters say the laws will protect sex workers by criminalizing the buying of sex and not the selling but sex work advocates claim that by continuing to criminalize sex work at all, the industry is forced underground where safety is compromised. Action against the new legislation continues, most recently on Dec. 17 during the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, when several organizations met in Queens’ Park Studio to “bring powerful messages to the provincial government.”
In such a particular moment of time with so many negative stereotypes of sex workers in mainstream media, creating The Oldest Game has had its own challenges. “One of the key issues that comes up in journalism is that question of how you represent other people’s stories. It’s a perpetual problem and we’ve faced it at every single turn,” says Gabriele. The team has had extensive discussions on how the character should look, how much sex should be shown (they’re not making an X-rated game, after all), and how issues like violence and drug use should be represented, or if at all. But Gabriele tells me the work and wait has been worth it to explore the possibility of games as journalism.
“It has been interesting to think about this as a form of news because the story keeps changing,” says Gabriele. “Just yesterday I said to Natalie: ‘NOW said they would continue to accept ads on behalf of sex workers, we need a pop up of that!’ The game is constantly changing as story is emerging. There will be a point when we stop, but that’s the challenge of trying to do this as the story is unfolding. At some point we have to launch it and see what kinds of conversations will emerge.”
The Oldest Game is being beta tested with seasoned gamers over the next few weeks to determine flow and quality of gameplay, but the team is also planning on play testing with other sex workers as well to gain more perspective on nuance and quality of the scenarios presented. Gabriele estimates the game should be available to play for free in February, 2015.
Site: http://theoldestgame.concordia.ca/
Interesting article pubished 12-29-2014 on Boing Boing.
It's based on Seattle's economist Charles Hill's blog post, complete with charts and sources citations "The Unintended Consequences of Demand Side Reduction Strategies in the Market for Sex Work"
http://boingboing.net/2014/12/29/busting-sex-workers-increases.html
Busting Sex Workers' Clients Increases Demand
Economist Charles Hill argues attempting to reduce the demand for sex services will backfire, increasing its supply and harming sex workers, free agents and coerced alike.
BY GLENN FLEISHMAN
Economics isn't about money. It's about understanding how people make decisions about what they do. This is as true in the movie Trading Places, an apparently very accurate depiction of commodity trading, as it is in sex work, an industry that has at various times and in various cultures been treated as a sin to be stamped out—or a service.
Charles Hill, a business school professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, penned a recent blog entry looking at a change in local police tactics intended to reduce the demand for the service of sex workers. The stated change is to reduce demand for sex work by 20 percent by targeting johns who hire such services. But Dr. Hill starts from the increasingly validated position that most sex workers have personal agency, and haven't been coerced to pursue their trade.
Dr. Hill suggests that if sex workers are making a choice, then reducing demand side will paradoxically increase supply. He notes, if that supposition is true, "to them selling sex is a better economic option than their next best alternative, which might be waiting tables in a restaurant, working in a telephone call center, or subsisting on welfare."
Thus, reducing demand forces sex workers to drop their prices, requiring them to work more hours to achieve the same level of income, which increases supply. The lower price and greater availability provides an incentive for those considering purchasing sex services to enter the market.
(He notes his model holds true where pimps are in control of 100 percent of sex workers, because pimps are then making a choice about maintaining a standard of living, and they force their workers to work longer hours.)
Dr. Hill also works out the model for a multi-tier sex-services market, which is likely closer to reality than a fungible one, in which all those offering the same services at the same price are interchangeable. In a tiered system, reputation systems (which exist for sex work as they do for restaurants) allow higher-priced sex workers to screen customers as well as vice-versa. Aggressive enforcement against customers of lower-tier sex work that lacks screening will not only decrease the price of services in that tier, but shift some clients to safer though more expensive alternatives, increasing the potential earning for escorts who have been reviewed online.
His understandable analysis, complete with charts, is a good read. But it is the humanity he brings that builds a more empathetic economics. He notes, in part,
"What we should be asking is what is wrong with a contract to sell sexual services between consenting adults who enter voluntarily into the transaction, neither of whom is harmed by the exchange? Objectively speaking, the answer I would contend is nothing at all. No harm is done here, so why should this be regarded as a crime?"
While this demand-side reduction might allegedly be being conducted to reduce coerced work and sex trafficking, Dr. Hill demonstrates that it offers no benefit to those sex workers in that situation; in fact, it puts them in a situation in which they must offer more services than before.
We see again that conservative aspects of society use morality as a tool to control sexuality, especially that of women, under the guise of providing a social good. And that the ways in which they exercise these tools consistently puts the weakest members of society at the greatest harm. A clear-sighted economic analysis suggests that specifically targeting pimps and traffickers, rather than clients and sex workers, and ignorning the consensually driven portion of the market, would produce something closer to the actual desired outcome.
It's based on Seattle's economist Charles Hill's blog post, complete with charts and sources citations "The Unintended Consequences of Demand Side Reduction Strategies in the Market for Sex Work"
http://boingboing.net/2014/12/29/busting-sex-workers-increases.html
Busting Sex Workers' Clients Increases Demand
Economist Charles Hill argues attempting to reduce the demand for sex services will backfire, increasing its supply and harming sex workers, free agents and coerced alike.
BY GLENN FLEISHMAN
Economics isn't about money. It's about understanding how people make decisions about what they do. This is as true in the movie Trading Places, an apparently very accurate depiction of commodity trading, as it is in sex work, an industry that has at various times and in various cultures been treated as a sin to be stamped out—or a service.
Charles Hill, a business school professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, penned a recent blog entry looking at a change in local police tactics intended to reduce the demand for the service of sex workers. The stated change is to reduce demand for sex work by 20 percent by targeting johns who hire such services. But Dr. Hill starts from the increasingly validated position that most sex workers have personal agency, and haven't been coerced to pursue their trade.
Dr. Hill suggests that if sex workers are making a choice, then reducing demand side will paradoxically increase supply. He notes, if that supposition is true, "to them selling sex is a better economic option than their next best alternative, which might be waiting tables in a restaurant, working in a telephone call center, or subsisting on welfare."
Thus, reducing demand forces sex workers to drop their prices, requiring them to work more hours to achieve the same level of income, which increases supply. The lower price and greater availability provides an incentive for those considering purchasing sex services to enter the market.
(He notes his model holds true where pimps are in control of 100 percent of sex workers, because pimps are then making a choice about maintaining a standard of living, and they force their workers to work longer hours.)
Dr. Hill also works out the model for a multi-tier sex-services market, which is likely closer to reality than a fungible one, in which all those offering the same services at the same price are interchangeable. In a tiered system, reputation systems (which exist for sex work as they do for restaurants) allow higher-priced sex workers to screen customers as well as vice-versa. Aggressive enforcement against customers of lower-tier sex work that lacks screening will not only decrease the price of services in that tier, but shift some clients to safer though more expensive alternatives, increasing the potential earning for escorts who have been reviewed online.
His understandable analysis, complete with charts, is a good read. But it is the humanity he brings that builds a more empathetic economics. He notes, in part,
"What we should be asking is what is wrong with a contract to sell sexual services between consenting adults who enter voluntarily into the transaction, neither of whom is harmed by the exchange? Objectively speaking, the answer I would contend is nothing at all. No harm is done here, so why should this be regarded as a crime?"
While this demand-side reduction might allegedly be being conducted to reduce coerced work and sex trafficking, Dr. Hill demonstrates that it offers no benefit to those sex workers in that situation; in fact, it puts them in a situation in which they must offer more services than before.
We see again that conservative aspects of society use morality as a tool to control sexuality, especially that of women, under the guise of providing a social good. And that the ways in which they exercise these tools consistently puts the weakest members of society at the greatest harm. A clear-sighted economic analysis suggests that specifically targeting pimps and traffickers, rather than clients and sex workers, and ignorning the consensually driven portion of the market, would produce something closer to the actual desired outcome.
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