Dear Editor:

RE: Kirk Makin’s story on, “Why the courts must decriminalize prostitution?”

Wait a minute! Legalizing prostitution would not be a good idea! Mr. Makin needs to continue his research. There are countless examples where city officials and government politicians in other countries are saying their system is not assisting with the wellbeing of women and children. In Amsterdam, a “hot spot” for prostitution, government officials have closed dozens of legal brothels due to concerns over violence and human trafficking. The legalization of prostitution was promoted as a way to improve the lives of the women but they view it primarily as a way for the State to tax their earnings. Often they do not think that their health has benefited or that they are offered more protection under legalized or decriminalized prostitution (Farley, 2004). In New Zealand, a sponsor of the decriminalization bill admitted, “it’s going to be the owners or the operators [of brothels and other sex businesses] who are going to be the long-term beneficiaries [of decriminalization]” (Else, 2003) According to polls, the Swedish population overwhelming favours their tough prostitution laws, the efforts of a small but vocal pro-prostitution lobby notwithstanding.

I really wonder what the majority of Canadians feel about the issue. Additionally, I wonder how many Canadian are aware of the trappings of prostitution. “Prostitution is systemic violence against women and is inherently harmful. The average age a woman (girl) is recruited into prostitution is fourteen, most often by someone who will profit in some way from the sale of her body. Women who have been prostituted display the same level of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as those just returning from active duty in a war situation. Women in the sex industry regularly suffer rape, beatings, verbal abuse, and degradation as a routine reality of being prostituted. Whether prostitution occurs indoors or on the street, in a country where it is legal or criminalized, women are victimized by violence.”- taken from the R.E.E.D. website. While appreciating the courage to throw the debate out there, with all due respect Mr. Makin, talking to a few women in the “sex industry” is hardly a valid poll of women and girls caught in an “industry where organized crime is gaining at the expense of these girls”. There are countless lives that are negatively affected by the exploitation through prostitution.

There are more voices out there beyond that of religious groups and rural Canadians. Studies show that loosening of the laws that govern sex work and legalization of prostitution does lead to underage prostitution and human trafficking. I think the other side (vocal though they are) that Mr. Makin notes are probably the ones that benefit financially. We must think of the girls and women that are exploited in Canada and around the world. When you look into their faces that seem empty and downcast, you know that they are not “empowered women with a right to decide how they use their bodies” but women and children that are “victims of exploitation”. I agree that sex workers (exploited women and girls) need programs to help with addictions or mental problems and to aid them in developing work skills. The pimps and johns do not need their activities decriminalized.

Let’s all become better versed on this subject. Mark Hasiuk of the Vancouver Courier writes, “In 1999, after decades of de facto legalization, the Swedish government criminalized the buying of sex—not the selling—and expanded social services for prostituted women. The approach, known as the Swedish or Nordic model, is two-pronged: police target johns and pimps while social workers help women exit the prostitution industry. In subsequent years, the number of prostituted women in Sweden dropped dramatically from a government-estimated 3,000 in 1995 to an estimated 600 in 2008. Sweden’s success spawned similar legislation in nearby Norway and Iceland.” In Canada, we need to look to Sweden and address the demand side of the equation…men with the view that they have the paid right to the bodies of women and children for their own pleasure. No, Mr. Makin, let us not legalize prostitution. Let’s target the johns and the pimps and provide exit strategies and support for the women and children.

Thanks for hearing me out,

Russell Sanche

Liberte Network

Mr. Makin, here is a bit more reading/research for you:

The Johns, Victor Malerek (on CBC)