From the Montreal Mirror - November 20, 2008
Sex, violence and justice
by Matt Jones
This Wednesday, Nov. 26, the Montreal courthouse will be hearing the case of Giovanni D’Amico, who is alleged to have assaulted several sex workers on the streets of Montreal between 2001 and 2008. And sex workers, for once, will have something to celebrate.
“We’re not going there to celebrate the justice system, but to celebrate the courage of the seven women who came forward and made accusations. Usually these women are too afraid to do so because they are operating in criminality,” says Émilie Laliberté, an outreach worker at Stella, an advocacy group for women working in the sex trade in Montreal.
Laliberté says that assaulters who attack sex workers often find themselves off the hook when the identity of their victims becomes known, citing the case of Jean Noel, who received a year-and-a-half prison sentence in 2005 for beating, raping and leaving for dead five women in the east end of the city.
Nevertheless, the D’Amico case reflects a change in attitudes recently. “It seems that more and more women are coming forward with their stories,” says Laliberté, adding that the media and the courts appear to be more open to discussing sex workers’ rights.
See www.chezstella.org for more information.
by Matt Jones
This Wednesday, Nov. 26, the Montreal courthouse will be hearing the case of Giovanni D’Amico, who is alleged to have assaulted several sex workers on the streets of Montreal between 2001 and 2008. And sex workers, for once, will have something to celebrate.
“We’re not going there to celebrate the justice system, but to celebrate the courage of the seven women who came forward and made accusations. Usually these women are too afraid to do so because they are operating in criminality,” says Émilie Laliberté, an outreach worker at Stella, an advocacy group for women working in the sex trade in Montreal.
Laliberté says that assaulters who attack sex workers often find themselves off the hook when the identity of their victims becomes known, citing the case of Jean Noel, who received a year-and-a-half prison sentence in 2005 for beating, raping and leaving for dead five women in the east end of the city.
Nevertheless, the D’Amico case reflects a change in attitudes recently. “It seems that more and more women are coming forward with their stories,” says Laliberté, adding that the media and the courts appear to be more open to discussing sex workers’ rights.
See www.chezstella.org for more information.
