The Toronto Star waded into the discussion of prostitution the other day. In four pages of wandering and badly edited prose, Star writer Heather Mallick further muddies the waters on the subject. Her research is anecdotal and her conclusions curious and unsupported. The Star feature read like a fast low-budget sex excursion to Europe. It will hardly help our parliamentarians to understand the questions when the Conservative government gets around to introducing new prostitution laws.
And you can count on them introducing something. The base of Conservative voters in Canada will demand that the government put a stop to prostitution—something that no government has ever achieved. The most likely conclusion of Prime Minister Harper and his Cabinet is to invoke a version of what is called the Nordic solution. As we explained to mother years ago after a trip to Sweden, the reason her ancestors left Stockholm in the 1800s must have been boredom.
Yes the Swedes like to think they have solved the ‘problem’ of prostitution by fining the customer. While they are now treating the whore with more respect, they are actually forcing prostitution into the darkest most violent parts of their society. They say statistics seem to support their solution but it could mean they just do not know.
Mallick makes the bold statement in her lengthy piece that “Americans will never legalize prostitution and the brothels of Nevada are the reason.” It was not all that long ago that people were saying that there will never be legalized casino gambling around North America because of Nevada. It seems Ms. Mallick owes her faithful readers an explanation of her thinking.
What the narrow-minded among us might not realize is that times change. There is less difference today from having friends with benefits to turning a few tricks. The stigma of the scarlet letter has become passé. Society moves, albeit slowly, into the 21st Century and human sexuality is becoming better understood. Every father wants his darling daughter to keep her legs crossed and go to school in groups but denying her knowledge of the real world is not protecting her.
Canadians do not want the religious extremists of the Conservative Party determining the rules for prostitution. The Supreme Court said that we have a responsibility to protect those who choose prostitution either as courtesan or customer. Neither party is culpable. The state has no place in that bedroom either. The crime is in the exploitation. End exploitation and let people go on with their lives.
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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