A Walking Tour Of Montreal 's Historical Red Light District

Canada is a nation renown as a liberal-leaning, forward nation; promoting the advancement of women in all parts of the world. However, it is a nation guilty of punishing women for the circumstances in which they find themselves with laws showing an antiquated view on the issue of prostitution—one that prosecutes sex workers instead of those who take advantage of women’s situations and buy sexual services. BY examining the origins of current-day laws concerning prostitution in Canada and looking at European legislation as well as its successes and failures made it is possible to find a middle ground that will suit Canada should it ever decide to change its laws concerning prostitution.

Canadian prostitution, the practice of exchanging money for sexual services” (Shaver, 2011) originally started in the 1800’s, and has never been an illegal act Canada. However, the dangers of the job, and safety risks these women are exposed to have always been prevalent on Canadian streets. The most common form of prostitution when the trade was established was off street prostitution. This can be defined as, “Prostitution that is issued out of escort agencies, massage parlours, private residences, brothels, bars, clubs, trick pads and bathhouses” (“Fact Sheet,” n.d.). [Correct Citation?]This industry thrived for decades with little no to police presence as the newly created transcontinental railways transported large masses of single men to the west coast. However, in 1890, new legal constrains, which were now enforced, made operating brothers a challenge and forced street prostitution to become more common, “street prostitution is a form of prostitution in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, benches, etc. The street prostitute is often dressed in a provocative manner.” (Shaver, 2011). When the number of women working the streets increased, the safety level decreased. In order to expand one’s knowledge on the dangers of female street prostitution, one must fully comprehend the differences between the two forms of

Overall, Bill C-36 attempts to create a new legal framing for prostitution in Canada and is rooted in the belief that prostitution is inherently violent and exploitative; therefore the intent is to protect sex workers from exploitation, protect communities from the harms caused by prostitution, and reduce the demand for sexual services. The framework of Bill C-36 seeks to “denounce and prohibit the purchase of sexual services, procurement of persons for the purposes of prostitution and the development of economic interests in the prostitution of others” (Canadian Criminal Justice Association, 2014). Even though the aim of Bill C-36 is to protect victims from exploitation and/or prevent exploitative situations, it does so at the expense of the lives of those in the sex trade. Bill C-36 creates the environment for exploitation to flourish by only

In Canadian law, buying or selling sexual services within Canada is considered legal. However, this controversial topic has raised discussions between people because of the possibilities of illegal activities inside the world of prostitution. From reading the newspapers to hearing it on the television, we know nothing good ever comes out of prostitution because of the exposure to the risky businesses and dangerous people. Prostitutes engages in a number of dangerous harmful activities such as taking drugs, rape, emotional and physical abuse, and the worst case scenario is death. In this thesis paper, I’ll be discussing the main points and arguments as to why prostitution should have been illegal to begin with and why Canada should

In a decade that will be surely known as one of grand feminist success it seems worthwhile mentioning that prostitution is a new feminist issue. According to “Women Have the Rights” many sex workers and feminist activists see the decriminalization of prostitution as a human rights initiative for women to regain control over their bodies. These third wave feminists find sex an issue that should be more widely discussed. Large leaps in pornography such as female filmmakers and feminist porn stars point to an ideal that consensual sex work is just another fore front in the battle for gender equality. Legalization of prostitution leads to more government oversight requiring

In 2013 the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) struck down the Country’s existing prostitution laws because they violated Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (hereafter referred to as The Charter) as they infringed in a sex workers right to life, liberty and security, specifically because while the act of being a sex worker was not illegal, many of the aspects around it were which was deemed unjust (Perrin, 2014: 6-7). This case is important not only because of the way it effects sex workers, but because when the law was sent back to parliament to be revised the resulting law ended up being far different than the original claimants desires. This case demonstrates one of the ways Parliament and the SCC interact with each other as a

Due to the fairly recent changes regarding the legality of prostitution in Canada, individuals who use and provide these services have been cautious (Warnica, 2015). Unfortunately, new laws may create more problems than benefits, such as, financial problems due to fewer people buying sex because it is illegal to do so. In this paper, I will explicate and assess the new changes to the law regarding prostitution in Canada, arguing that prostitution should be legal in Canada. Prostitution laws vary all over the world. Some jurisdictions are similar to Canada whilst others are extremely different. The United Kingdom is similar to Canada, as acts related to prostitution are illegal but prostitution itself is not. In Germany, Netherlands, and New Zealand prostitution is legal and so are brothels. However, in Argentina, France, Singapore and Greece brothels are illegal put prostitution is. There is no universal agreement on how governments should legislate or regulate prostitution.

Sometimes, the term “sex work” is used, as well as “prostitution”. But whichever term we choose to say, it does not eliminate the stigma attached to it. Cases such as the Bedford V. Canada Case (144) indulges into the conspiracy of sex work and challenges certain sections of the Criminal Code that make business in relation to prostitution illegal. Ideally, a sex worker has a career just as a teacher or lawyer. For this reason, their human rights and dignity should be protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as are other professions. However, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as the Criminal Code do not seek to protect sex workers, yet, they seek to do otherwise using certain sections of the Criminal Code

Prostitutes exist in our society and are destined to remain the profession exists on every continent per diverse societal and politically aware prominences. A prostitute is an individual which offers sexual favors in exchange for money, prostitutes are typically thought of as women; however, men also has a place in prostitution and it’s in high demand. In the profession of prostitution there are no taxes to be paid, or retirement funds to collect, yet, prostitution is not unlawful in Canada. The young generation in Canada looks at this as a possible “career opportunities,” which puts the title of “prostitutes” in an unclear locus in relations to being a profession or a career. It is lawful to vend sexual favors, but it is unlawful to buy these

In the book “Street Sex Work and Canadian Cities: Resisting a Dangerous Order” by Shawna Ferris, she discusses the influence of mainstream media representation of street workers on the ever-grown urbanized population. Across the country, media sources promote an anti-prostitution bias and incorporate images and stories that portray sex workers as a nuisance to society. A study was that was conducted by Erin Gibbs Van Brunschot, Rosalind A. Sydie, and Catherine Krull, in regards to media related-news on prostitutes between 1981 and 1995 in Canadian newspapers discovered that their themes were all inter-connected. “There were four themes that were most prevalent in the years under review: nuisance, child-abuse, violence, and non-Western prostitution.”

The author describes the impending the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on whether current Canadian prostitution laws are putting female sex workers at risk for violence and murder. These laws can change the ability to do sex work in Canada, as prostitution itself is not illegal but the Supreme Court may direct certain bans if voted in. This paper reveals the laws are mainly aimed to protect women against harm since a year before Robert Pickton murdered many female sex workers in British Columbia. Then Fine’s paper address policies about sex workers and if it is helping or violating workers rights. Fine’s article includes a diverse array of perspective on this issue, as he presents that there isn’t a clear resolution when it comes to

This article focuses on how women who engage in sex work in Canada (whether it is by choice or not), are exposed to dangerous conditions and are often times abused, because of the prostitution laws that have been imposed over time. Abrol forms comparisons between several different countries in order to discuss the outcomes that may result from the legalization and/or decriminalization of prostitution (Abrol 2014). After looking closely at the data, Abrol's research has led him to the conclusion that although there is "no simple solution to the question of sex work" (Abrol 2014) criminalizing it will not help control the issue in the long run. The criminalization of prostitution has not worked to protect sex workers but has had the exact opposite

However, it is only remembered as a social harm or more awful yet a social malevolence. While the demonstration of offering sex in return for cash is actually legitimate in Canada, all related exercises are criminalized. This basically implies that it is unimaginable for a sex worker to do the lawful action of offering sex, without abusing one. This treatment of prostitution as a wrongdoing is straightforwardly identified with the shame encompassing sex work, and in addition apprehensions identifying with ethical behaviour, public order, and sexually transmitted diseases (Sondhi, 2010).

These critics dispute that legalization of prostitution will amplify the amount of violence, however, this misconception develops due to their negative attitude towards prostitution. Nevertheless, society needs to understand that certain individuals are portraying a negative idea of commercial sex therefore it’s important to disregard the negativity and focus towards evidence.

Although the written laws against prostitution are relatively clear, the overall goal of Canadian prostitution is not. There is no prohibition of the buying and selling of sexual services. This is what makes the Canadian law on prostitution unclear. A set of codes has been created so that it would be very difficult for a person to prostitute without breaking the laws, however the avenue of prostitution is still accessible. One may conclude from the criminal code that the government’s purpose in regard to prostitution is to keep it off the streets and out of the public eye. There are many large municipalities who facilitate the off-street trade by means of licensing it and regulating it. In this case, laws