Canadian judge strikes down prostitution law

[sonomak]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/29/Canada-Prostitution/index.html

Canadian judge strikes down prostitution law
By Emanuella Grinberg, CNN

(CNN) -- Key provisions of Canada's prostitution law were struck down Tuesday by an Ontario judge who said they endangered the people they were meant to protect.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Susan Himel sided with three sex workers who argued that restrictions on prostitution in Canada's Criminal Code forced them onto the streets to conduct business under threats of arrest and violence. The constitutional challenge dealt with three provisions that prohibit keeping a common bawdy house, or brothel, communicating for the purposes of prostitution and living on the avails of the trade.

For Valerie Scott, one of the sex workers named in the lawsuit, the case was about the "blatant hypocrisy" of Canadian law. "In theory, I can't be arrested simply for being a known prostitute, but practicing the profession is illegal," said Scott, 52. "I file income tax as a sex worker... I have that responsibility, but I don't have the rights that come with the responsibility."...

n the ruling, Himel noted that even though the act of prostitution is not illegal in Canada, "Parliament has seen fit to criminalize most aspects of prostitution," effectively infringing upon sex workers' constitutional rights.....