Posted by blood roses at 3:16pm Sep 29 '10A Superior Court justice gutted the federal prostitution law in Ontario on Tuesday, allowing sex-trade workers to solicit customers openly and paving the way for judges in other provinces to follow suit.
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Judge Himel, however, found current laws offer little protection. Her judgment pointed at evidence that established violence against sex workers is endemic - from a string of gruesome serial killings by Vancouver pig farmer Robert Pickton, to a rash of missing prostitutes in Alberta and frequent violence against sex trade workers in the Atlantic region.
In her 131-page ruling which took her a year to produce, Judge Himel found that laws set up to protect prostitutes actually endanger their safety, forcing them to furtively engage in hasty transactions conducted in shady locations.
What does everyone think? I'm not sure where I stand. I support making things safer for sex workers. But my understanding is that other countries that have decriminalized prostitution have not seen things get safer for sex workers. And that in places where prostitution is fully legal, sex tourism leads to an increase in human trafficking and people being prostituted against their will. I'd be interested in hearing other people's thoughts.
Canadian judge decriminalizes prostitution - blood roses