[news] Jamie Lee Hamilton PRESS RELEASE

[sharai]

PRESS RELEASE

September 17, 2003



CALL FOR A PLEBISCITE



“The Mayor may want more talk, but I want action” said
Jamie Lee Hamilton in response to an abrupt ‘about
face’ on the part of city council who just last week
supported a move that would bring prostitution in from
the cold. “How many more women will die before this
Council acts?” said Ms Hamilton, a sex worker advocate
who has called for a plebiscite as a practical
alternative to the forums that the Mayor has proposed.




Ms Hamilton understands that street prostitution
brings out the worst in people who want to protect
their neighbourhoods from the increased traffic and
other nuisances associated with the street sex trade.
A forum on this issue is unlikely to solve anything in
Ms. Hamilton’s view: “Does the Mayor really think that
your average John or Sex Trade Worker will come out to
a forum and expose themselves to shame and ridicule?”



Ms Hamilton has called for a plebiscite, asking
simply: “Do the citizens of Vancouver want
prostitution indoors or outdoors?” The time for
discussion has long since passed as bodies continue to
pile up in morgues. The costs of a plebiscite are
considerably less than the City currently pays in
punitive strategies that further victimize sex trade
workers.



If average respectable citizens patronize sex trade
workers, why can sex trade workers live and work in
average respectable premises? The City is a leader in
harm reduction in its approach to illegal drugs. Why
can’t it show the same leadership in reducing the harm
associated with prostitution? These are some of the
questions Ms Hamilton has for the Mayor and council.
“The Mayor’s experience as Chief Coroner gave him an
experiential base to fight for Harm Reduction for Drug
Users. Surely the lives of sex trade workers are just
as important.”



In the ‘80’s Mayor Mike Harcourt continually stated
that we should get prostitution off the street and
indoors where it’s so much safer. Hopefully this Mayor
is not too proud to learn from Mr. Harcourt.



For further information, contact:

Jamie Lee Hamilton

604-781-6624


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"Love is profoundly political. Our deepest revolution will
come when we understand this truth. Only Love can
give us the strength to go forward in the midst of
heartbreak and misery. Only Love can give us the
power to reconcile, to redeem, the power to renew weary
spirits and save lost souls.The transformative power of
Love is the foundation of all meaningful social change."
---Bell Hooks