Prostitution laws struck down by top court (Canada)

[slimvictor]

Conservatives face difficult task of rewriting law to comply with Supreme Court ruling

Canada's highest court has struck down prostitution laws as unconstitutional, leaving the tough-on-crime federal government in the uncomfortable position of having to draft new rules that could legalize brothels and red-light districts by next Christmas.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday that the laws prohibiting being in a bawdy-house; living off the profits of another's prostitution; and soliciting sex in public violated the right of prostitutes to life, liberty and security of the person. This right is guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

While the Ontario Court of Appeal had earlier concluded that a law against communicating in public for the purposes of prostitution complied with the Charter, the top court disagreed, and restored a lowercourt ruling that it does not.

The court found the law was "grossly disproportionate" in that it removes the ability of prostitutes to enact safety measures like screening clients in public to avoid drunk or potentially violent encounters. "These appeals and the crossappeals are not about whether prostitution should be legal or not. They are about whether the laws Parliament has enacted on how prostitution may be carried out pass constitutional muster. I conclude that they do not," McLachlin wrote.

Not everybody was so pleased with the decision.

Kim Pate, executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, called it a "sad day."

While the ruling considers those sex workers who sell their bodies by choice, she suggested it doesn't take into account those who are forced into it due to poverty, addiction and a lack of access to social services, including many aboriginal women and victims of human trafficking.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Pr...k+down+court/9314264/story.html#ixzz2o6USdfbd

 

[TheRapperGoneBad]

Dope! Just kidding but for some reason this feels like a step in the right direction to bad its only canada an not the us.

 

[weekend addiction]

I might visit Canada sometime if I can save up the money. While I'm there I want to get some codeine, peyote, whores, and maple syrup of course.

 

[my3rdeye]

You know you can't just get peyote at 7-11 right?
The court gives government another year to right new law, they will. Then it will be another few years in court, that will get struck down then another year. You aren't going to see red light districts in Canada any time soon.
One thing that pisses me off is the human trifficking argument. Maybe the government and police should be trying to protect these women. No one takes the pay cheque away for a hairdresser or a steel worker. Why are hookers different? Just because the police don't care about them, thats the only reason. Human trafficking in prostitution industry should be no more of a problem then it is in any other industry. I agree human trafficking is a problem, but criminalization makes that problem worse.