[Viva] Fwd: STATEMENT: Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario Welcome Sex Work Decision From Ontairo Court of Appeal

[Denise Becker]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Terry Gould <tgould at aidslaw.ca>
Date: Tue, Mar 27, 2012 at 7:01 AM
Subject: STATEMENT: Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and HIV & AIDS Legal
Clinic Ontario Welcome Sex Work Decision From Ontairo Court of Appeal
To: Info <info at aidslaw.ca>


** ** ** **

*           *

*Statement***

*Déclaration*

* *

For immediate release****

*Également disponible en français***

* *

*Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic
OntarioWelcome Sex Work Decision From
*

*****Ontario****** Court of Appeal*

*But caution that some of our most vulnerable remain targeted by current
laws*

** **

*Tuesday, March 27, 2012* — The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the HIV
& AIDS Clinic Ontario (HALCO) welcome  the March 26th Ontario Court of
Appeal landmark
decision<http://www.ontariocourts.ca/decisions/2012/2012ONCA0186.htm>on
the constitutionality of Canada’s sex work laws, but caution that sex
workers who work on the street remain unable to negotiate safer sex and are
thus still extremely vulnerable to harm.  This decision addresses the laws
concerning “common bawdy houses” that prohibits indoor sex work, “living on
the avails” of prostitution, and the prohibition of communicating in public
for the purposes of sex work.****

* *

While sex work itself is not illegal in **Canada**, many of the provisions
in ****Canada****’s *Criminal Code* make it all but impossible to engage in
sex work without risk of prosecution.  All five of the Ontario Court of
Appeal judges recognized that the current provisions regarding sex work
have serious and negative impacts on the security and liberty rights of sex
workers by reducing the ability of individuals to take steps to conduct
their work more safely and make more informed decisions to protect
themselves from harm.  ****

** **

The restriction on “common bawdy houses” was struck down by the Court,
which found the provision in Section 210 to be grossly disproportionate and
overly broad in its application.  The Court has given Parliament one year
to rewrite the law or it will be rendered invalid.  ****

** **

The Court also revised the Section 212 prohibition regarding “living on the
avails” of prostitution by limiting criminalization to situations where
there are demonstrated “circumstances of exploitation.”  In so doing, the
Court has recognized that the provision is overbroad and served to
criminalize non-exploitative relationships.****

** **

Overall, the Legal Network and HALCO applaud the Court’s decision to
recognize the human rights of sex workers by making indoor work safer and
easier, without risk of prosecution.  If Parliament chooses to rewrite the
law regarding “common bawdy houses”, sex workers must be centrally involved
in the process and closely consulted to ensure the new provisions reflect
their experiences and address their security and safety needs.  ****

 ****

Unfortunately, three of five justices chose to uphold the provision in
Section 213 concerning the criminalization of communicating for the purpose
of prostitution.  The Court concluded that the provision legitimately works
to reduce nuisance and harm to communities and must be weighed against the
harms it might cause to sex workers. By upholding this communication
prohibition, the law effectively makes it illegal to engage in outdoor sex
work, despite the fact that sex work itself is not illegal in ****Canada****.
Working outside is often the riskiest form of sex work, and the
communication law has serious implications for sex workers’ relationships
with local law enforcement and causes crimes against them to go
unreported.  Furthermore, the communication prohibition seriously hinders
sex workers’ ability to negotiate safer sex with clients, effectively
forcing them to work in unsafe conditions. This renders outdoor sex workers
disproportionately vulnerable to violence, death and increased risk of
contracting HIV and other communicable diseases.  ****

** **

For more information on how Canada’s criminal laws regarding prostitution
affect the health and the human rights of sex workers, see the Canadian
HIV/AIDS Legal Network’s booklet “Sex, work, rights: Changing Canada’s
criminal laws to protect sex workers’ health and human rights”, available
for download at
http://www.aidslaw.ca/publications/publicationsdocEN.php?ref=197. ****

** **

 ****

- 30 -****

*Contact:*

** **

Janet **Butler**-McPhee****

Director of Communications, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network****

Telephone: +1 416 595-1666 ext. 228, jbutler at aidslaw.ca ****

* *

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