Adding fuel to the fire: why decriminalizing prostitution will do more harm than good Jennifer Keiller

When Tania Fiolleau answered an ad in the newspaper offering a fun, safe, female-owned and operated business giving massages to wealthy business men, she had no idea what she was in for. All she knew was she could earn up to $2000 per day, and she was fleeing an abusive husband. He had tried to kill her and one of her children by running them over with his truck. Now, he was suing her for custody of her two children. I had to do what I had to do to get the money, said Fiolleau, who quickly realized this so-called massage parlor was actually a bawdy house. When I went home that first night, I could not scrub my body enough to cleanse the dirt that had encrusted around my heart and soul, said Fiolleau. Fiolleau quickly worked her way up in the industry, eventually becoming a madam of a major brothel in Vancouver. After a long court battle, she won full custody of her children - and walked away from the sex trade industry that same day. She now works as motivational speaker at high schools and colleges, and advocates against the decriminalization of prostitution. Although Fiolleaus story had a happy ending, many sex trade workers are not as lucky.

Girls dont just wake up one day and say, I want to be a hooker, said Fiolleau. Instead, most girls turn to the industry as a last resort - but soon find that escaping it is not so easy. Which is why Fiolleau and many others were shocked by the recent Ontario Superior Court decision to strike down three of the existing prostitution laws. Last month, Justice Susan Himmel struck down three Criminal Code provisions including living off the avails of prostitution, operating a bawdy house and communicating for the purposes of prostitution. A small group of sex workers challenged the laws, arguing the laws actually made their working conditions more dangerous. The federal government has announced their intention to appeal Judge Himmels decision. The question then, is will decriminalization actually lead to safer working conditions or if it will force prostitutes in to an even more precarious situation? We are concerned about the negative effect it will have on vulnerable women, said Diane Watts of Real Women of Canada, a non-profit conservative organization. Real Women of Canada has spoken out against decriminalization and the effect it could have on Canadian families. Watts worries that decriminalization could encourage more girls to enter the sex trade industry. People do not want their children to grow up to be prostitutes, said Watts. And when the government gets involved in legitimizing it, that goes against the natural desire of families to have their children do work which is productive

Instead, Watts would like to see prostitution made completely illegal, in order to protect women from what she considers to be a high-risk occupation, in terms of mental and physical harm. Melissa Farley is an American clinical psychologist and author who has done intensive research on the issues surrounding prostitution. In her book, Prostitution, Trafficking and Traumatic Stress, Farley interviewed prostitutes in countries across the world. Her research showed that 74 percent of Canadian prostitutes surveyed suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, (PTSD) The percentage of prostitutes with PTSD is reportedly higher than surviving prisoners of war. Fiolleau, who also suffered from PTSD, said [sex workers] do not want to be working on the street. They dont want to be beaten or robbed. We need to tackle the root of the problem, and not just put a temporary BandAid on it, she said. So why then, was the decision made to strike down Ontarios prostitution laws? [Judge Himmel] is assuming, contrary to evidence from other countries, that liberalization is somehow going to protect women, said Watts. Instead, Watts worries decriminalization will open Canada up to a whole new level of crime, including human trafficking and organized crime. New Zealand decriminalized prostitution in 2003. According to Farley, the country has since seen an increase in human trafficking, pimping and child prostitution.

Watts said if decriminalized prostitution does make its way to Canada, we are going to relearn the same lessons that other countries have already learned. This is something that the organization Canada Fights Human Trafficking (CFHT) is already worried about. The Public Relations Director for CFHT, Christine Giancola, explained that decriminalizing prostitution has been shown to increase trafficking, and it would not be a smart move for Canada. It would open the doors for more trafficking to happen, and make it even more difficult for us to intervene, said Giancola. However, while many worry about the increase in organized crime decriminalization could lead to, some sex workers argue that they have a right to be treated as a profession just like any other. Tuulia Law works as an exotic dancer, and is a member of Sex Professionals of Canada, the group which lobbied for decriminalization. A lot of people are quite misinformed about sex workers, said Law. They believe the stereotypes and if people believe those, then they will not be willing or interested in supporting us. Law believes that by decriminalizing prostitution in Canada, sex workers would be safer as they would be able to work inside, or, if they did work on the streets, they would be able to negotiate for longer with a john without fear of arrest. A criminology professor at University of Ottawa, Christine Bruckert, agrees. She advocates for sex workers rights through Prostitutes of Ottawa-Gatineau Work, Educate, Resist. (POWER)

Bruckert said if prostitution were decriminalized,[sex workers] would be able to work in an environment that they are familiar with and that is their own space, where they can have security measures in place. However, as Seargant Jean Lamothe of the Ottawa Police explained, many of the women working on the streets would not be able to move inside, even if prostitution is decriminalized. Most ladies who work at the street level have substance abuse problems, said Lamothe. They are just looking for a quick fix. In fact, up to 75 percent of sex workers in Canada do use drugs, while about 34 percent use alcohol, according to Prostitution, Trafficking and Traumatic Stress. According to Lamothe, street-level prostitutes are generally in no condition to be accepted into a brothel. Instead, brothels are always looking for girls who are younger, fresher-looking and who do not yet have drug or alcohol addictions. Leaving the sex trade industry is simply not an option for many of these women, because of drug addictions, controlling pimps or lack of opportunity. Many are afraid of leaving the only work theyve ever known. Fiolleau said she has spoken to women still working in the industry who say What else am I going to do? What can I put on my resume, that Ive been a hooker for the last ten years? For Fiolleau, running a brothel opened her eyes to the gritty reality of sex work. While brothels are often viewed as safer and more organized than street prostitution, Fiolleau knows that is not necessarily the case.

Its not glamourous, she said. I had probably about 400 to 500 girls that have worked for me, and all of them have a horror story. Ultimately, the sex trade workers who are the most at-risk and the most marginalized, street prostitutes, will not benefit from decriminalization. For most of these women, moving their work indoors is simply not an option. Joelle Michaud knows this firsthand. She volunteered for the Salvation Army on the streets of Montreal, bringing prostitutes bags filled with food and clothing. She said the women she saw were usually high on drugs and had often been beaten, by pimps, johns, and other prostitutes. These girls are so unstable, that even if you give them a stable place, it still will not make a difference, said Michaud. They need counselling, and to do that they need to want to change, said Michaud. And a lot of them dont want to change.

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