[Wamvan] Fwd: Bringing the fight for safer sex work to Toronto

Tue Jun 14 10:02:47 PDT 2011

Hey All! 
The Swedish or Nordic model isnt actually all that different from what has been seen before elsewhere, despite how it has been marketed, and it has not actually had the positive outcomes attributed to it. Scroll down to the bottom of this to get the full PDF of this resource: http://www.plri.org/resource/swedish-sex-purchase-act-claimed-success-and-documented-effects 

Kalamity

Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2011 08:09:24 -0800
From: janagee at gmail.com
To: wamvan at lists.resist.ca
Subject: Re: [Wamvan] Fwd: Bringing the fight for safer sex work to Toronto

Hello WAM people ... 

I just wanted to add some other data regarding legalizing prostitution ... i have not seen
it mentioned as of yet and thought it would be important to share ...

The Nordic Model regarding 'legalizing' and decrim has gotten alot of positive press, from

what i have heard ... here are a couple of links:

http://action.web.ca/home/catw/readingroom.shtml?x=130078&AA_EX_Session=aa55ea8468d3694dc944fbf8ffb46836

http://www.object.org.uk/the-prostitution-facts     -    browse down the page for info ...

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial

/story.html?id=d950ae67-2954-4866-8be7-5fcf67c3e831

Important work on these issues ... sending strength to KP of Pivot ...
in kind regards,   jana  j

On Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 12:30 AM, Frieda Werden <frieda.werden at gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks for sharing this, Tami.  I know you think I am posting too much in one day, but my reasoning is 
that there is to be a WAMVan discussion on prostitution tomorrow night 
(now, tonight, actually), and I'm offering information resources for studying up to discuss.  Elaborating on what you posted, here are two further articles of interest:

This story from Canadian Press ran in Huffington Post (a libertarian-leaning online US publication).  It gives very interesting highlights of key points in the arguments made in court today and suggests that the court is likely  to decriminalize:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/06/13/prostitution-case-ontario-court-appeals_n_876228.html

But, here's the editorial that appeared in The National Post (a Conservative paper):

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/06/13/national-post-editorial-board-fixing-our-broken-prostitution-laws/

The editorial writer criticises the basis of the Crown's appeal and ends by advocating for legalization.  As mentioned in my previous post, this is a third position, the other two being decriminalization (which is like what we have for abortion) and abolition (often now legislated around the world as demand-side control: illegalizing the buying but not the selling of sex). Decriminalization is likely, in my opinion, to trigger a demand for legalization - i.e., government regulation of prostitution as an industry.  Those concerned about prostitutes' rights will want to get out in front of this to try to prevent the regulations from being draconian and too costly for independent operators, leading to the dominance of prostitution franchises in the legal realm and creating a new illegalization for others.

On Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 12:11 AM, Tami Starlight <tamistarlight at gmail.com> wrote:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Katrina Pacey - Pivot <kpacey at pivotlegal.org>

Date: Mon, Jun 13, 2011 at 12:25 PM
Subject: Bringing the fight for safer sex work to Toronto

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Dear Tami,

	Yesterday, when my plane touched down, I felt a flutter in my stomach. I have come to Toronto to make submissions before the Ontario Court of Appeal.  I am here on behalf of Pivot, PACE and the Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United Against Violence Society to intervene in the case of AG Canada v. Bedford, Lebovitch and Scott.

	You may remember that last September, Justice Himel of the Ontario Superior Court heard the case and struck down three laws related to adult prostitution; the communication law, bawdy house law and living on the avails law.  She found that these laws violate sex workers’ constitutional right to safety, liberty and freedom of expression. Now the federal government is appealing that decision.

	Pivot, PACE and SWUAV felt it was really important to put our full support behind the sex workers who have made this case possible. For the past several months, our amazing legal team including Joseph Arvay QC, Elin Sigurdson, Kat Kinch, Lisa Glowacki, Lisa Kerr and Maia Tsurumi, has been busy preparing  our submissions.

	On Thursday, I will do my best to convince five justices of the Ontario Court of Appeal that these laws have a very significant and negative impact on sex workers' safety, and particularly those sex workers at street level. Our submissions will focus on the violent and disempowering circumstances experienced by sex workers in the DTES. I will argue that by striking down these laws, sex workers in all aspects of the industry will be able to take steps to reduce the violence and other harms that they currently experience as a result of criminalization.

	It’s sure to be a very interesting week. We will hear from the Attorney General of Canada, the Attorney General of Ontario and Alan Young who is counsel for the three courageous sex workers who brought this challenge before the Court. Then the intervenors will have their chance to speak, including Maggie's, POWER, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, the BC Civil Liberties Association, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

	After it’s all over, we will await a decision and then, even if we are successful, it’s likely to be appealed again to the Supreme Court of Canada. Meanwhile, I will be heading to Montreal on Friday to meet with local sex workers to discuss how to carry on the fight for sex workers rights in Canada.

	Wish us luck!

	Sincerely,

	Katrina Pacey

	Litigation Director

	To read our factum, go to:

	http://www.pivotlegal.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2011%2005%2004%20Factum%20of%20PACE%2C%20SWUAV%20and%20Pivot.pdf

Pivot’s mandate is to take a strategic approach to social change, using the law to address the root causes that undermine the quality of life of those most on the margins. We believe that everyone, regardless of income, benefits from a healthy and inclusive community where values such as opportunity, respect and equality are strongly rooted in the law.

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