Breaking the law, breaking taboos

by Nicole Findlay

When audience members of a recent panel discussion accepted a matchbook containing a nickel they became unwitting accomplices to crime.

The money was earned by Valerie Scott, while plying the oldest profession in the world. Anyone who accepts money made through the sex trade is living off the avails of prostitution – a crime in Canada.

Scott, executive director of Sex Professionals of Canada (SPOC) opened the panel discussion Prostitution and the Criminal Code with the thought provoking stunt.

The event was organized by Pamela Walker, Joint Chair, Women’s Studies at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa to examine the controversial decision by Justice Himel to strike down Ontario’s laws that criminalized living off the avails, operating a brothel and communicating for the purpose of prostitution.  

Walker came up with the idea for the panel over coffee one morning shortly after Himel’s decision made headlines.

“It’s topical and it is clear change is coming so we all need to be informed,” said Walker. “We need to understand what (the decision) is and what it means and have a clearer sense of what we all want for our communities.”

Scott, along with her lawyer and fellow panelist, challenged Ontario’s law. They claim criminalization of prostitution endangers women by putting up barriers that would allow them to ply their trade in greater safety.

While neither argued specifically for the legalization of sex work, they outlined the importance of giving a voice to the front line workers who are directly impacted by the court’s decision.

Krysta Williams, lead youth advocate for Native Youth Sexual Health Network, spoke on behalf of Aboriginal women, a group she claims comprises a large percentage of street workers.  She and fellow panelists, Emilie Laliberte, director general of Stella, and Chris Bruckert, a U of O professor of criminology, all assert that currently prostitutes have little autonomy to support their families, are stigmatized and barred access to health care providers, and are not viewed as victims of crime by police or the courts systems when they are assaulted on the job.

While all agree that the current law had to go, they are uncertain about the future.

Allowing the law to be struck down is a no-man’s land that satisfies few however legalization is a thorny issue fraught with fear from community groups and police agencies.

Young, who is also a professor at York University, says Canadian society as a whole must engage in the discussion to shape the future laws and sex workers themselves must be part of the discussion.

“I share concerns that neighbourhoods need to function well and be safe for all residents,” said Walker. “But I don’t think that decriminalizing prostitution would intensify that, I hope it would diminish it because it would be a legitimate business, regulated and managed like any other.”

The Ontario Court of Appeal granted a stay on the prostitution laws on December 2, 2010.  The stay upholds the laws Justice Himel’s decision had struck down. The next five months should see a ratcheting up of the rhetoric for both sides as the stay expires at the end of April 2011.