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Essay / The Need to Legalize Prostitution in Canada
Over the years, Canada has had many different views of prostitution in relation to the law. Prostitution is the practice or occupation of providing sexual services in exchange for money, and can take the form of many varieties, including street prostitutes, bar girls, massage parlor prostitutes, prostitutes maids, rap booth prostitutes and escort service prostitutes. The first Canadian prostitution laws were based on British common law in the Nova Scotia Act of 1979 and were initially prohibited by vagrancy laws (Chénier, 2019). In the case of Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford in 2013, prostitution was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada and as a result, the federal government introduced Bill C-36, Protection of Exploited Communities and Persons Act. Its approach is known as "end demand" or the "Nordic model", which focuses on going after those who buy sex rather than those who sell it. Under this law, to be paid for sex is to be prostituted, that is, to be sexually exploited (Davies, 2015). This law aimed to criminalize people who buy sex, with the aim of reducing the demand for prostitution. Additionally, the reforms in Bill C-36 target those who create demand for sexual services and those who capitalize on that demand. It is legal to solicit sexual services as long as it is done in a place where people under the age of eighteen are not present. Crimes against public order like prostitution are often debated, because the line between good and bad behavior is thin and depends on who determines it. Criminal law protects society and condemns social harm, but it is more difficult to identify victims of crimes against public order because these people may be intentional. Power plays an important role in setting public moral standards, as people's opinions about right and wrong vary. Research shows that in most cases, sex workers' perspectives are ignored during policy making, even though they have insider knowledge and are directly affected by the policies adopted. That said, current laws are not the best way to respond to prostitution. These laws expose prostitutes to greater safety and health concerns and do not take into account the experiences of sex workers. Prostitution should be a regulated profession and precautions must be put in place to ensure the health and safety of sex workers while allowing them to continue their careers as sex workers. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayThe first reason why Bill C-36 and the laws currently in place are not the best way to combat violence prostitution is that it presents an increase in safety and risk for the prostitute. Prostitution can take place outside in the form of street walkers, or inside as massage parlor prostitutes, house prostitutes, rap booth prostitutes, and escort service prostitutes. It has been argued that indoor prostitution generally involves less exploitation, less risk of violence, more control over working conditions, more job satisfaction, and greater self-esteem. However, as these indoor places of prostitution areillegal, prostitutes seek outside work where they will not be caught during the exchange, which further exposes them to violence. Research shows that open prostitution leads to higher rates of rape and sexual assault. Businesses such as a brothel or massage parlor can invest in locks, security cameras and security professionals to reduce the risk of premeditated violence from customers. Without suggesting that these companies are not exploitative and violent towards prostitutes in some cases, research has shown that they can provide prostitutes with the skills, assets and knowledge needed to improve their safety and security, including by screening the clients before meeting them, and acting as a tutor for street workers. CriminalIn Canada, it has been found that law enforcement primarily focuses on the street sex trade, as research shows that 93 to 95 percent of arrests take place on the street, although only 5 to 20 percent 100% of sex work takes place on the streets. Additionally, legal restrictions put sex workers at increased risk of infectious diseases. Research shows that street prostitution leads to higher rates of gonorrhea (Willcox, 1962; Wren, 1967; Dunlop, Lamb, & King, 1971, cited in Cunningham & Shah, 2014), because indoor prostitution typically involves more control over working conditions, a greater number of jobs. satisfaction and greater self-esteem. Additionally, prostitutes are more vulnerable to security concerns due to their agnostic and alienated relationships with law enforcement (Benoit et al., 2017). Benoit's research on sex workers shows that prostitutes feel excluded from accessing police services and feel like they have to choose between more dangerous working conditions or being criminalized if they are caught ( Benoit et al., 2017). Pitts' (2016) study of sex workers found that opportunities for sex workers to seek protection or support when their safety is compromised, due to fear of arrest or discrimination, are limited. Decriminalizing prostitution can reduce violence by increasing the willingness of sex workers to cooperate with police and report crimes committed against them. Another reason why Bill C-36 is not the best way to combat prostitution is that it silences the diverse experiences of sex work and reduces the structural conditions under which a prostitute can engage. in the sex trade, such as socio-economic background and race (Galbally, 2016). Sex workers are seen as a homogenous group, oppressed and enslaved by sex buyers and managers, in need of rescuing (Benoit et al., 2017). However, sex workers are a heterogeneous group and come from all backgrounds (Chénier, 2019). The sex trade is often seen as prostitutes' primary means of livelihood and as their job or occupation. Internationally, it has been noted that sex work often occurs in situations of poverty and economic disadvantage, including in the area of human trafficking (Galbally, 2016). A “survival” sex worker is someone who engages in prostitution to survive, and sometimes prostitution is the only way for them to obtain basic necessities. Bill C-36 prohibits the purchase of sexual services, thus making the transaction of prostitution illegal, thus deprivingprostitutes of their livelihood. Additionally, the law's ban on advertising has made it much more difficult for independent sex workers to work, as they have to look out onto the streets and often encounter clients who are afraid of being targeted and criminalized because they looking for sex workers. rather than implementing a law such as Bill C-36, according to which the purchase of sexual services is illegal and the businesses or individuals who profit from the transaction of prostitution are illegal, we should respond in a way that that the goal of regulation is to prevent coercion without encroaching on voluntary exchange. . I believe in legislation such as New Zealand's Prostitution Reform Act (PRA), which legalizes prostitution, but contains provisions to ensure that workers are truly protected by authorities such as the police from coercion, violence and exploitation (Bowen, 2013). The aim of this law was to improve the working conditions, health and safety of sex workers and to allow adults to sell from their own homes, in brothels, on the streets and in other non-public spaces. regulated. Mossman's (2010) study interviewing informants on the New Zealand ARP found that respondents generally considered that violence had decreased to some extent (Bowen, 2013). Additionally, 70 percent of those surveyed in the study reported that sex workers were now much more likely to seek help from authorities when needed. This is important in responding to prostitution because the function of the police must maintain public order and safety. If prostitutes are more willing to talk to the police and report incidents to the police, they will feel safer and have a positive relationship with authorities, viewing police officers more as protectors than prosecutors. New Zealand was one of the first countries to receive feedback from diverse workers and people directly experiencing prostitution, while with the development of Bill C-36 and prostitution policy in other countries, it is motivated by moral assumptions and not empirical evidence. As noted previously, this is problematic because sexual deviance is a social construct and power plays a major role in determining moral standards and what is considered right and wrong (Chénier, 2019). Taking sex workers' views into account when developing policy will help determine whether a particular policy approach improves their health and safety. Considering the difference between prostitution and sex trafficking should be another response to prostitution in Canada. Prostitution and sex trafficking are not the same thing. However, in the legalization debate, sex trafficking and prostitution are often confused (Huisman & Kleemans, 2014). Human trafficking laws in Canada are completely different from prostitution laws and shift from an agency situation to a trafficking situation when there is force, fraud or coercion (Chenier, 2019). However, this confusion between human trafficking and domestic sex workers emerged during the debate on Bill C-36, reinforcing the victim status of sex workers through the idea that they have been brought into the lives of sex workers against their choice (Galbally, 2016). The consequence of this is that it establishes criminal law as the only admissible legal solution and rescue as the only possible response to confront the exploitation of victims. Politics.