Dawson: Why the slow-going on prostitution law reform?

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[INDENT] [B]Dawson: Why the slow-going on prostitution law reform?[/B]

TYLER DAWSON, OTTAWA CITIZEN
Published on: October 3, 2016

[URL="http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/dawson-why-the-slow-going-on-prostitution-law-reform"]http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/col...ion-law-reform[/URL]

[I]A lot of Canadians are still waiting for â??sunny waysâ? to shine upon them. One of those groups is the cadre of Canadians who sell sexual services. Itâ??s been a roller-coaster three years in prostitution law, with decriminalization tantalizingly close before those hopes were roughly quashed by the Tories. Today, criminal charges are still being laid, prostitution is still a shadowy industry and its many dangers â?? exacerbated by laws not yet repealed â?? continue, especially for the most vulnerable. [/I]

The federal justice department is working on reviewing Tory-era prostitution legislation, though a spokeswoman for Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould wouldnâ??t give a timeline for this work, or what the result might look, or identify with whom the department has been consulting.

â??From an activist perspective â?¦ we understand that itâ??s common that government takes time, but for sex workers working in the industry, itâ??s not fast enough,â? says Jenn Clamen, a co-ordinator with the Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform, an umbrella group of 28 organizations lobbying for prostitution law changes.

Back in 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against three Criminal Code provisions that deemed illegal communications for the purposes of prostitution; living off the avails of prostitution; and running a brothel. The Conservatives responded with the controversial Bill C-36. Not only did it rebuild some of the laws that had been struck down, it criminalized the buying of sex, which previously hadnâ??t been illegal. Philosophically, these measures were meant to target pimps and johns. Practically, they mean workers are isolated, reluctant to talk to police and work discreetly to avoid attention. Sure, they might not be jailed themselves, but clients could be.

Canadians know what unsafe prostitution looks like. It looks like Robert Pickton preying on women in Vancouverâ??s Downtown Eastside. That should add some urgency to reforming the laws. But the stigma that surrounds sex work still is probably enough to dampen Liberal enthusiasm; they were subject to gross attacks in the last election about brothels opening in sweet, quiet Canadian neighbourhoods if they took power. There likely are ways for them to dodge changing the laws, if they so desire.

Police arrested prostitutes over the summer in St. Catharines. Ottawa police still send men to â??john school,â? creepy re-education nights run by the Salvation Army. The renewed emphasis on trafficking has fuelled the narrative that cops are saving women; cops may think women are trafficked, but a prostitute might feel quite differently. Some who were migrant sex workers have found themselves facing deportation after police raids. This is hardly justice.

Sgt. Jeff LeBlanc with the Ottawa police says the new laws have given police some new powers in trafficking cases, and generally officers go after people exploiting sex workers. â??A lot of the negative comments havenâ??t changed toward the police, but I can say that our approach toward the sex trade has changed probably 180 degrees,â? LeBlanc says. â??We donâ??t go about evicting people from hotels or condos because theyâ??re involved in the sex trade.â?

With all the delay in changing the law, there is still a sense of optimism. While the sex-worker alliance wouldnâ??t disclose which parliamentarians it has met with, it feels as if sex workers are actually part of the conversation this time. â??Itâ??s a really big deal to our member groups because the door was literally locked shut with the Conservative government,â? Clamen explains.

And if discussions break down, or no change is forthcoming, thereâ??s the trump card, though nobody is eager to play it: legal action. In November 2015, the PIVOT Legal Society in Vancouver said it would be willing to head back to court if the Liberals didnâ??t change the laws. Alan Young, the Osgoode Hall law professor who battled the old laws to the Supreme Court, said heâ??d be ready to do it again, but that changing the laws is just simpler.

â??If you are opposed in principle and conceptually to what the government has done, eventually you need to remove it either by lobbying the government or by bringing a court challenge,â? Young says.

Whatever comes of this, weâ??re still a long way off what has to be the final goal: the acceptance that prostitution is just work. Unique, admittedly, but so what?

Thousands of men, women and trans Canadians have figured this out. It shouldnâ??t be hard for the government. When you consider the harms caused by criminalizing prostitution, the solutionâ??s a no brainer.

[I]Tyler Dawson is deputy editorial pages editor of the Ottawa Citizen. [/I] [/INDENT]