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A group of Toronto sex-work professionals is trying to make life safer for their colleagues in the business.

Three women-- Valerie Scott, Terri Jean Bedford, and Amy Lebovitch-- have launched a court challenge that seeks to strike down the remaining sections of the Canadian Criminal Code which restrict the activities of sex workers.

Prostitution is legal in Canada, but regulations on how, when, and where it may take place mean sex workers face police harassment and prosecution. The women contend these provisions are unconstitutional, and harmful to prostitutes, customers, and society at large.

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heir first target is the section of the Criminal Code that deals with so-called "bawdy houses," defined as any place resorted to for the purposes of prostitution. The term is hardly limited to conventional brothels; it can include a person's own home or rented spaces such as a hotel room.

Because sex workers may be afraid to work out of their homes, they often turn to less safe venues or may work alone to reduce traffic and not attract attention, contends plaintiff and working prostitute Amy Lebovitch, who is also spokesperson for Sex Professionals of Canada (SPOC). She notes that the law has teeth: considered an "enterprise crime," there are provisions for freezing or seizing the assets of the persons charged under it.

Another problem is the Criminal Code's prohibition on "living off the avails of prostitution." In theory, this law is intended to prevent pimps from exploiting women. But Lebovitch says the reality is different. Most working women these days are free agents, and there are already laws that prohibit coercion, force, or involuntary confinement.

The people who suffer most from this law, she says, are unintended benefactors, such as spouses and children over the age of 12, who are also committing a crime if they live off any part of the proceeds of prostitution. Lebovitch says the law also prevents women from hiring drivers or managers to work with them because they could be charged.

The sex workers also want to see struck down the prohibition that restricts "communicating for the purposes of prostitution," which criminalizes soliciting in places defined as public or where the public has the right of access.

This law mainly effects outdoor sex workers who, while comprising the minority of prostitutes, are the group most often arrested and charged. Because of the legal risks, they often work alone so as not to attract the attention of police or nosy residents. The law puts pressure on streetwalkers not to linger when a client approaches, which makes it harder to assess the situation's risk.

Amit Thakore is one of the young lawyers representing the three women. He is part of a large legal team consisting of many volunteer law students working under the direction of Osgoode Hall law professor Alan Young.

Safety first?

"The political route has repeatedly shown itself to be ineffective," Thakore says, explaining why the sex workers decided to turn directly to the courts. A recent committee of federal members of parliament spent years travelling the country hearing testimony from experts in the field. "In the end, they couldn't agree on recommendations and completely abdicated their responsibility to initiate positive change," Thakore notes.

Thakore says he is optimistic the challenge will succeed owing to growing recognition from both the public and the courts that prostitution is a dangerous occupation. "While there may be differing opinions on the morality of the issue, Canadians generally don't like the idea of harm coming to anyone, whether they agree with them or not," he said.

Richard Hudler, a spokesman for the Sex Laws Committee, a group working to end state regulation of sexuality, says the changes will also benefit the general gay community. "Because the bawdy-house law outlaws any place resorted to for the purposes of prostitution or acts of indecency, the police have traditionally defined gay sex as indecent and used the law to target bathhouses," he says. Bawdy-house law were invoked in Toronto's notorious bathhouse raids of the 1980s, as well as many smaller police initiatives since.

Without cover

"I was always afraid to work out of my apartment because I thought that if I got caught, not only would I be charged, I would be evicted and left homeless," says a former hustler we'll call Jason, who has worked both the streets and out of his house over the years. He says one of his greatest fears was of being turned in by a homophobic or self righteous neighbor with a grudge.

"The streets were no better," he says. "Not only were you standing out in the cold in plain view of a hostile public, you could still be arrested." Though arrest, he adds, wasn't always his greatest concern. "I was always worried that I'd be gay-bashed standing out there in the middle of the night by myself."

Both the Sex Professionals of Canada and the Sex Laws Committee say they support the complete abolition of all laws governing consensual sex. "We don't advocate legalization," says Lebovitch, "we support decriminalization that would leave individuals to live and work as they see fit."

She says the group is not taking seriously a recent suggestion by a Toronto city councilor to create a red-light district. "That just feeds into the temptation to section us off as a moral problem and puts us on display like we were in some kind of zoo," Lebovitch continues, adding that the group is prepared to live with restrictions barring solicitation in certain places, such as close to schools, hospitals, or places of worship.

Author Profile:  Joseph Couture

Joseph Couture is a journalist based on London, Ontario.