â??Decriminalization Saves Lives,â?? Sex Worker Tells Senate Liberals

[Sweet Emily J 172062]

[B]â??Decriminalization Saves Lives,â?? Sex Worker Tells Senate Liberals[/B]

By Laura Beaulne-Stuebing | Apr 30, 2014

[URL="http://www.ipolitics.ca/2014/04/30/decriminalization-saves-lives-sex-worker-tells-senate-liberals/"]http://www.ipolitics.ca/2014/04/30/decriminalization-saves-lives-sex-worker-tells-senate-liberals/[/URL]

[QUOTE]
When the federal government tables its much-anticipated legislation tackling Canadaâ??s prostitution laws, expect backlash from advocacy groups and sex workers themselves.

Justice Minister Peter MacKay will likely be leaning heavily on the Nordic model â?? one that leaves selling sex legal, but criminalizes the purchase of sex. Earlier this month the minister noted that the legislation would be coming before the summer.

But as advocates pointed out at the Senate Liberal open caucus meeting Wednesday, that model isnâ??t supported all-around. They say criminalizing the buying of sex doesnâ??t take into account the needs of sex workers, and leaves them out of the discussion.

Christine Bruckert, a professor at the University of Ottawa, told the group gathered on Parliament Hill that decriminalizing sex work â?? something New Zealand has done â?? is an equality issue. Itâ??s a feminist issue, she added, and one that would allow women to make their own choices and have autonomy over their own bodies.

She noted that taking a broad brush stroke and claiming that all sex work is inherently violent is â??problematic.â? When thereâ??s violence against prostitutes, as seen in Vancouverâ??s downtown Eastside, itâ??s because the women were sought out by predators.

And, she said, the lack of supports and protections for sex workers makes them vulnerable to being preyed upon.

Emilie Laliberte, a sex worker from the Stella advocacy organization based in Montreal, believes prostitutes need to be at the heart of any new law. Sheâ??s worried the Nordic model will only take women into the dark corners of cities, not allow them to screen clients, nor allow them to work in safe locations.

â??Decriminalization saves lives,â? she said, by providing workplace rights and safety measures to be put in place.

But Kim Pate of the Elizabeth Fry Society, who also appeared as a speaker at the meeting and raised serious concerns about decriminalization, said following that model would increase the demand for sex, as well as increase the commodification of women as sex objects.

Pate said her argument â?? and the argument of other groups, such as the Native Womenâ??s Association of Canada, that oppose decriminalization across the board â?? is about equality, and not about morals. She supports women in their choices, but not in allowing for demand to increase or for the very common result of women getting stuck in the system and not being able to find a way out.

Bruckert agreed with Pate, in a way.

Along with the idea that prostitutes should have their own say about their work and their bodies, Bruckert said no one should be working in the industry if they donâ??t want to be in it.

â??I would like to see Canada take the lead of New Zealand, obviously a made in Canada model,â? she said.

Along the lines of what theyâ??ve done in that part of the world, Bruckert wants to see an assurance of health and safety rights for prostitutes and other elements, such as waiving wait times to get employment insurance if a sex worker wants to get out of the industry.
[/QUOTE]