Cops to focus on pimps, not prostitutes

[Mister T 45020]

From the Montreal Gazette

[URL="http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Cops+focus+pimps+prostitutes/9831819/story.html"]Cops to focus on pimps, not prostitutes[/URL]


BY KATHERINE WILTON, THE GAZETTE MAY 12, 2014

MONTREAL - Montreal police are promising a kinder, gentler approach in their dealings with prostitutes who are sexually exploited, saying theyâ??re setting their sights on criminals who force young girls into the sex trade against their will.

â??Victims of sexual exploitation are vulnerable and have been victimized all their lives,â? said Det.-Sgt. Dominic Monchamp of the Montreal police. â??We donâ??t want to be party to that victimization. We have decided to change our strategy and go after the people who use, manipulate and profit from the vulnerability of these girls.â?

Monchamp made the comments at a news conference on Monday to announce the police departmentâ??s three-year plan to fight sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

The plan includes more training for officers and forming a regional squad with officers from Laval and Longueuil to share information. The force also hopes to provide more psychosocial support to victims, create a 24-hour hotline and open a special centre where victims can receive support. The force said it was too early to say how much money will be needed to implement its plan, saying it will redeploy its officers accordingly before asking municipal officials for funding.

The shift in the forceâ??s attitude toward prostitution has evolved as officers investigating sexual exploitation cases listened to horrific stories of abuse and violence at the hands of their pimps. â??We see them as victims,â? Monchamp said. â??We want them to be comfortable to come and see us and ask for help.â?

Monchamp said the change in police philosophy is also occurring in police forces across North America and comes shortly after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the countryâ??s prostitution laws in December.

The court ruled laws prohibiting being in a bawdy-house; living off the profits of anotherâ??s prostitution; and soliciting sex in public violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Conservative government is expected to introduce new legislation in the coming weeks to conform with the court ruling.

Robyn Maynard, an outreach worker with Stella Montreal, a group that provides support to Montrealâ??s sex workers, said she is happy that the police will no longer be targeting the sex industry at large, but prioritizing cases of sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

The majority of women in the cityâ??s sex trade work in the industry of their own volition, Maynard said.

â??Not all sex workers are victims, many work consensually in the industry,â? she said. â??So itâ??s a positive step to focus on cases of violence.â?

Montreal has always had a flourishing sex industry because of its proximity to the U.S. and because the city hosts numerous sporting and cultural events, the police action plan says.

But while many sex workers work in dance clubs, massage parlours and with escort agencies freely, other young girls are forced to work as prostitutes against their will. Some are modern day sexual slaves who are forced to work day after day without receiving a penny, Monchamp said.

â??They keep them in hotel rooms or strip clubs, take all their money and beat them up,â? he said of the pimps. â??They target girls with low self-esteem who are vulnerable and promise to give them a good life.â?

He said the sex industry if the fastest growing industry in the criminal world and police plan to crack down on pimps and traffickers. â??We want the girls to know that we can assure their safety and stop them from being exploited,â? he said.