POL 151 Lecture 10: Week Ten Normalizing the Sex Trade
24 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Normalizing the Sex Trade
Sex Work; Real Work?
…beyond prostitution, sex work includes webcam services pornography, erotic dancing & phone sex
…working environments include him brothels (i.e. bawdy houses), dungeons, massage parlors escort
agencies as well as places of residence for the full & part time
…though prostitution conjures up a specific socio-cultural stereotype of economically disadvantaged
young women who are often victims of human trafficking, the sex work profession process attracts
workers for all genders, familial, cultural, educational & socio-economic backgrounds
…its ranks range from Canadian born & naturalized citizens as well as undocumented migrants
…for ex. in the first ever survey of its kind of sex workers Cecilia Benoit, Mikael Jansson, et
al.’s National Report on the Canadian Sex Industry found—
67 % of sex workers finished high school & 15 % have a bachelor’s degree or more.
77 % of sex workers identify as women, 17 % as men, & 6 % as other genders.
45 % of sex workers identify as straight, 38 % as bisexual or bi-curious, 6 % as gay or lesbian, &
11 % as other sexual orientations.
-The median income is for sex workers $39,500,
-The average sex worker has 10 years of experience,
89 % of sex workers were born in Canada.
29 % of sex workers spent some of their childhood in foster care or another form of government
care.
20 % of sex workers rate their job as very or extremely stressful;
97 % of sex workers have been tested for HIV/AIDs
15 % of sex workers had at least one sex-work-related injury, (only 1 % of injured sex workers
had submitted a claim to the Workers Compensation Board.
The Prostitution Dichotomy: Victims, Victimizers or Both?
Stigmatized by opponents of prostitution as both victims & victims, sex workers are regarded by
certain political, religious & ideological circles of society a simultaneous risk to themselves &
society as a whole
…thus, sex workers are seen as victims because the nature of their profession leaves them
vulnerable to exposure to sexually transmitted diseases, violence, exploitation, human trafficking
&moral ruin either by virtue of their own misguided choices will or abusive backgrounds which
led them to the sex industry
…BUT, sex workers are also viewed as victimizers given the moral & physical threats they
constitute to the broader society by virtue of the “contagion-risk” their dirty, immoral, disruptive,
disease-prone lifestyles represents
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
…with both seemingly distinct discourses sharing the belief that the criminal justice system is
best suited to manage the myriad of perceived risks that are inherent to sex work, the
victim/victimizer dichotomy essentially amounts to “two sides of the same regulatory coin”
Prostitution in Canada: An Historical Legal Timeline:
1867: Canada essentially inherits Britain’s anti-prostitution laws upon Confederation.
1982: Charter of Rights and Freedoms signed into law.
1985: Parliament amends the CC to bars public communicating for the purposes of prostitution
by branding streetwalking a “social nuisance.”
1990: The SCC upholds the street soliciting law on the grounds that eliminating prostitution is a
valid social goal.
2009: The Ontario Superior Court hears a suit by three former & active sex workers petitioning
to overturn the CC’s prostitution restrictions.
2010: OSC Judge Susan Himel rules the CC’s S. 210, 212 & 213 as unconstitutional.
2012: The Ontario Court of Appeal upholds Himel’s decision on the bawdy houses, modified the living
on the avails provision, but reversed her ruling on solicitation.
2013: The SCC restores Himel decision by throwing out all three provisions as a violation of the
Charter’s S. 7 right to life, liberty & security of the person & gave Parliament 1 year to amend the
CC to comply with the Constitution.
2014: Parliament passes Bill C-36 & doubles down on criminal penalties for prostitution
Prostitution & the Criminal Code: S. 210—Keeping Common Body House
(1) Every one who keeps a common bawdy-house is guilty of an indictable offence & liable to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
Landlord, inmate, etc.
(2) Every one who is (a) is an inmate of a bawdy-house, (b) is found, without lawful excuse, in a
common bawdy-house, or (c) as owner, landlord, lessor, tenant, occupier, agent or otherwise
having charge of a common bawdy-house is guilty of an offence punishable on summary
conviction.
Notice of conviction to be served on owner
(3) Where a person is convicted of said offence the court shall serve notice on the owner,
landlord or lessor of the place of which the person is convicted
Duty of landlord on notice
(4) Where a person fails to exercise the right he may have to determine the tenancy or right of
occupation of the person is convicted of an offence unless he can prove he tried to prevent the
recurrence of the offence
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Prostitution & the Criminal Code: S. 212—Procuring (Repealed 2014)
(1)Every one who
(a) procures, attempts to procure or solicits a person to have illicit sexual intercourse with
another person, whether in or out of Canada,
(b) entices a person who is not a prostitute to a common bawdy-house
for the purpose of prostitution,
(c) conceals a person in a common bawdy-house,
(d) procures or attempts to procure a person to become a prostitute,
(e) procures or attempts to procure a person to become an inmate or
frequenter of a bawdy-house—in or out of Canada,
(f) directs or causes foreign persons to to a common bawdy-house,
(g) procures a person to enter or leave Canada, for the purpose of prostitution,
(h) exercises control over a person so as to aid, abet or compel that person to engage in
prostitution
(i) intoxicates or drugs a matter a person so as to have illicit sexual intercourse with that person,
or
(j) lives wholly or in part on the avails of prostitution of another person,
…is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten
years.
Prostitution & the Criminal Code: S. 213—Offering, Providing or Obtaining Sexual
Services
Stopping or impeding traffic
(1) Everyone is guilty of a summary offence who, in a public place or in public view, for the
purpose of offering, providing or obtaining sexual services for consideration,
(a) stops or attempts to stop any motor vehicle; or
(b) impedes the free flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic or ingress to or egress from premises
adjacent to that place.
Communicating to provide sexual services for consideration
(1.1) Everyone is guilty of a summary offence punishable who communicates with any person
for the purpose of offering or providing sexual services for consideration in a public place, or
public view, that is or is next to a school ground, playground or daycare centre.
(2) In this section, public place includes any place to which the public have access as of right or
by invitation, express or implied, & any motor vehicle located in a public place or open to public
view.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Beyond prostitution, sex work includes webcam services pornography, erotic dancing & phone sex. Working environments include him brothels (i. e. bawdy houses), dungeons, massage parlors escort agencies as well as places of residence for the full & part time. Though prostitution conjures up a specific socio-cultural stereotype of economically disadvantaged young women who are often victims of human trafficking, the sex work profession process attracts workers for all genders, familial, cultural, educational & socio-economic backgrounds. Its ranks range from canadian born & naturalized citizens as well as undocumented migrants. For ex. in the first ever survey of its kind of sex workers cecilia benoit, mikael jansson, et al. "s national report on the canadian sex industry found . 67 % of sex workers finished high school & 15 % have a bachelor"s degree or more. 77 % of sex workers identify as women, 17 % as men, & 6 % as other genders.
