December 20, 2013

"The Supreme Court of Canada has unanimously struck down the nation's anti-prostitution laws."

The Court said:
"The prohibitions at issue do not merely impose conditions on how prostitutes operate. They go a critical step further, by imposing dangerous conditions on prostitution; they prevent people engaged in a risky - but legal - activity from taking steps to protect themselves from the risks."

25 comments:

Sharc said...

Looks like Sarnia just moved up on the list of Spring Break destinations.

fivewheels said...

That argument is true but unpersuasive. There are downsides to being a mobster, too, but the fact that they have no recourse to the courts when they have a "business" dispute, which may end up in a murder or at least a savage beating for a gangster, is no reason to legalize organized crime.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Canada legalizes slavery.

Matt Sablan said...

In other news, the Canadian Board of Tourism conflicted on new ad campaign: "Our Fishers Aren't Our Only Hookers."

mccullough said...

Who knew Canadians liked sex?

jimbino said...

Great. Now we Amerikans can look forward to going to Mexico for our health care and Canada for sex.

Jesse Thomas said...

Keep in mind that prostitution was legal in Canada even before this decision. What the court has done here is to strike down the prohibitions on bawdy-houses, living on the avails of prostitution, and communicating in public for the purposes of prostitution. I would distinguish it from the organized crime analogy for this reason.

John henry said...

John Lynch said:
Canada legalizes slavery

Wouldn't it be pretty much the opposite? How many citizens do you hear of getting held in slavery?

It is the illegality of prostitution, combined with the illegality of being in country illegally, that allows slavers to hold women in slavery.

When it is legal, if someone tries to hold them in slavery they can go to the police and bring the full force of the law on their heads.

John Henry

John henry said...

People talking about abortion choice usually couch it in terms of a woman having the right to do with their body as they want.

Strangely, they often hold that only women have this right and only with regards to abortion.

Assuming that the woman is adult and doing it voluntarily, isn't prostitution a matter of choice? Why, if women are supposed to have bodily autonomy for abortion, should they not have bodily autonomy for prostitution?

Seems like a disconnect there.

Men also should have absolute rights over their own bodies as well. Male prostitution, recreational drugs and booze, tattoos, whatever.

I am not saying that those are good ideas and I do not counsel anyone doing them. But My body, my right.

John Henry

Anonymous said...

Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!

Peter

jimbino said...

Right John, and I would add that when trade in alcohol, guns, drugs or sex is made illegal, the abused can't go to the cops, with the result that resolving a conflict means that people get SHOT.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Make solicitation illegal but prostitution legal. That protects the prostitutes but criminalizes the practice.

Otherwise you get slavery.

Titus said...



"Who knew Canadians liked sex?"

Umm, yea, they have lots of sex. Montreal is totally sodom....

tits bounce hard on trampolines with red lipstick on nipples.

Joe said...

John Lynch, your argument still makes zero sense. You are trying to force a conclusion.

How is legal prostitution slavery? Studies of it--such as in New South Wales--find quite the opposite. But that doesn't fit your narrative.

n.n said...
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n.n said...

Ah, the myopic vision of progressive morality. Legalizing the Rent-A-Friend, or perhaps just the Vagina, concept. Presumably in an effort to normalize it. I assume that Canada has also normalized abortion, right? The right to Rent-A-Vagina and abortion are inseparable. I wonder how this will affect the general standing of women, all women, not just Rent-A-Vaginas, in society.

The Godfather said...

This seems like a non-issue to me.

The Court bases its ruling on the proposition that "It is not a crime in Canada to sell sex for money." The Court concludes that bawdy-house laws, etc., which impose unreasonable (the Court thinks) restrictions on this legal activity, are invalid.

That seems pretty sensible. If Canadians don't like the result, then they can make it illegal to sell sex for money, and then I assume the bawdy-house laws, etc. would be valid as means of effecting the enforcement of the law against selling sex.

Clyde said...

It's a good day for Canadian beavers.

Bob Loblaw said...

I don't see any reason to think this will cause "slavery". Quite the opposite, in fact.

Revenant said...

It is depressing to see Canadian courts acting more sensibly than ours do.

Revenant said...

Ah, the myopic vision of progressive morality.

I hate to break this to you, but the restrictions on prostitution are the result of an *alliance* between progressives and social conservatives.

"I know what's good for you and you shouldn't be allowed to disagree" is the kind of thinking that both groups tend to embrace.

Bob Loblaw said...

Ah, the myopic vision of progressive morality. Legalizing the Rent-A-Friend, or perhaps just the Vagina, concept.

Why should it be illegal in the first place?

n.n said...
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n.n said...

Eric:

I didn't suggest that it was a legal concern. People are immoral. I understand that. They are predisposed to indulge in primitive behaviors. I question the motives of anyone who aids their effort.

RecChief said...

free medical care and legal prostitution? expect a wave of immigration from the northeast of the united states