Kudos to Wendy for being a part of the collective effort to take the Canadian government to court over its inability to provide laws for the protection of those who work in the sex trade.
A Commons subcomittee recently pined over the issue and failed to recommend the full decriminalization of prostitution. In fact, the subcomittee suggested that it would be preferable to engage a campaign of information and education to keep people from entering the sex trade.
Ah, yes, the old “we told you so” attitude. Let’s wash our hands from anything that could happen to these people and give them a paternalistic wag of the finger, followed by a “I told you what you were getting yourself into.” Real constructive.
By propping themselves up like that, the government is creating a second class citizen, one who by choice of his or her lifestyle and career forfeits his or her rights which are available to all Canadians. An idea that the law doesn’t need to stick its head out for you since there were risks which came with the job. Frankly, I don’t consider crippling beatings and homicide as occupational hazards.
It’s no surprise that this kind of stance would be taken from a government which has decided to close three quarters of Canada’s Status of Women offices after announcing a 5 million cut to its budget and preventing the organization from funding any type of advocacy programs.
If worded intelligently (I dare advance), legitimized prositution could not only help reduce violence against sex workers, but it could take a chunk out of sex slavery and child prostitution. Ending unecessary battles against two consenting adults entering mutual accord for sexual services can provide better focus to come to the aid of those who are forced and coerced into doing it. I think that’s something we can all get behind.
There’s so much moral ground slipperyness here, you can smell the grease. But one has to wonder what is more moral: maintaining an ethical stance against someone who demands money for sexual services, or punching a prostitute in the face until she is unconscious (or worse).
(Related: Sex workers to mount court challenge of Ottawa over ‘dangerous’ laws)
Posted by Mike on December 19th, 2006 in Activism, Dispatches | Gabble about this! | 6 Comments »
Tags: news, canada, prostitution, sex+work, civil+rights, conservatives, lawsuit
