New law targeting sex buyers not prostitutes will victimize prostitutes, B.C. study says

OTTAWA – The Harper government’s plan to bring in a law targeting buyers of sexual services rather than prostitutes will just end up victimizing prostitutes in contravention of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, suggests a new B.C. study.

The research involves interviews with 31 street prostitutes conducted last year after the Vancouver Police Department formally launched a policy to focus on so-called “johns,” or sex buyers, while trying to protect prostitutes.

That policy provided the research team with an opportunity to study the sex buyer-targeting model that was initiated in Sweden years ago and is now being copied in other European jurisdictions.

The Canadian government has indicated it is about to bring in legislation following Sweden’s lead, in light of the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark decision last December striking down Canada’s anti-prostitution laws.

Canada’s highest court found that those laws, which left prostitution itself legal but criminalized most activities surrounding the trade, endangered the health and safety of sex workers in contravention of their Charter rights.

The Vancouver Sun
Peter O’Neil
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