United States Edition
Red Light Districts provide a safer environment for Prostitutes to ply their trade. -Picture courtesy MJ Preston
The only question we ask ourselves here is “why?”
When we think of places with legal red light districts, we reflect on places like Amsterdam, Singapore, or even Nevada.
Nevada? Yes that’s right, prostitution is not only legal in Nevada, but a feature HBO documentary mini-series titled “Cathouse” was made about the most popular retreat outside of Las Vegas known as the Bunny Ranch.
So why are we so pent up about making prostitution legal?
The down side for politicians is that the backlash will come from groups vehemently opposed to loosening our prostitution laws; religious and cultural groups who might otherwise put their vote and endorsements elsewhere. The truth of the matter is that prostitution is a flourishing business in Canada and “Paying for Sex” has only shifted in its delivery. While streetwalkers still exist, the bulk of the commerce can be found through escort agencies and strip clubs across the nation.
Police agencies generally look the other way on these establishments because they are so hard to police and not only that but according to Canadian law, private transactions are actually quite legal. The illegal part is keeping a brothel, pimping and soliciting.
If you think that is hypocritical, you would be absolutely correct.
The case for making prostitution completely legal is a strong one. First and foremost, the public interest should be at the forefront of this argument. If we legalize prostitution we can set up a district that can be medically supervised and policed. Prostitutes face great danger when plying their trade often falling victim to exploitation and even sexual predators like Robert Pickton. That is not to say that the victims of Pickton would not have fallen prey to the serial killer, but with an open society, police may well have been able to lessen the number of victims.
In Amsterdam, prostitutes are licensed and required to get regular medical checkups to avoid the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. From a medical standpoint this is a very effective way of reducing risk, but it should be noted that HIV is on the rise with gay men in the Netherlands where prostitution among men who sleep with men is a flourishing business across the country. It should also be mentioned that Amsterdam is in the process of overhauling its red light district to reduce the criminal element.
Canada’s main issue seems to be a balancing act between morality and law, but our laws present a double standard where in we target street walkers and the odd brothel, but look the other way with escort agencies and strip clubs.
Public sympathy is not aided by spokespeople like Dominatrix Terri-Jean Bedford, who has been in the spotlight since being arrested for running a common bawdy house. In her challenge to the law she presents herself as a carnival side show, dressed in leather and snapping a riding crop declaring, “Prime Minister Stephen Harper, you are a very bad boy.” She would do well to put away the props of her trade and the theatrics and make her case that what happens behind closed doors is the business of consenting adults, not the government nor the public.
The law as it stands now is extremely contradictory and should be revised to regulate and protect those adults who engage in this type of business. The pros definitely outweigh the cons of legalizing prostitution and the quicker we come to terms with the fact that we will never win the war we are waging on the sex trade the better it will be for all involved.
