Professional dominatrix Terri Jean Bedford was found guilty of keeping a common bawdy house.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Prostitution is a ubiquitous and vexing social problem. And Ontario Superior Court Judge Susan Himel may have been wrong to strike down the law criminalizing prostitution - but not for the reasons outlined by the Ontario Crown.
In its appeal of the 2010 decision, the Crown will argue that the best way to protect the dignity of women and children is to maintain Canada's current laws, which make it illegal to communicate for the purposes of prostitution in a public space, to pimp and to keep a common bawdy house. To do otherwise would cause incontrovertible harm, says the Crown's brief, and would undermine gender equality.
However, current laws have failed to stop, or dissuade, those who choose to sell their bodies. They have failed to keep women, who make up 80 per cent of Canada's prostitutes, safe. Forcing prostitution underground only makes women more vulnerable, and ready prey for the organized criminals so often associated with the trade. Sex workers are less likely to report violence by clients or pimps to police, for fear of being charged. They are driven to work in remote locations, or in their clients' private homes.
While prostitutes are not all homeless drug addicts, they are often vulnerable. Serial killers often target them - from Jack the Ripper in 19th-century London to Robert Pickton, in British Columbia, and Gary Ridgway, the Green River killer who confessed to killing 48 women.
Upholding the current laws will not end systemic oppression of women by men, and reinforce society's commitment to human dignity.
Instead, Canada should be prepared to liberalize its laws on prostitution, as Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands have all done. Allowing prostitutes to use drivers and bodyguards, to screen their clients and to work indoors will dramatically increase their safety.
But legislators, not the courts, must oversee these changes. They must undertake this reform in consultation with society, and address concerns about the social nuisance associated with street prostitution.
The decriminalization of prostitution raises difficult regulatory questions, but the principle is sound and should be acted upon.