If you don't already know… then I guess you'll find out tomorrow in the news, but an organization, in which I'm a spokesperson for will be holding a press conference tomorrow to announce the launch of a lawsuit against the government over the decriminalization of the prostitution laws.  Not legalized prostitution, decriminalized – there's a difference: prostitution is already legal in ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Canada...:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Usually, whenever I tell someone that prostitution is legal in Canada, they immediately raise their eyebrows as a look of shock forms on their face followed by a look of suspicion as if they're waiting for me to yell "Gotcha!" But the truth of the matter is that prostitution has NEVER been illegal here, as long as the person is over 18 and can maneuver through a mass of legal obstacles while balancing on a pair of open toed stiletto's, it's perfectly legal.

Laws like the communication for the purposes of prostitution (s. 213) make it illegal for sex workers to negotiate or meet up with their clients (to make sure it isn't someone Pickton-esque coming over) before hand as it is illegal to negotiate in public (public place includes a bar, vehicle, restaurant, etc.)

The bawdy house laws (s.210) make it illegal for a sex worker to work out of her own environment (like her home, apartment or brothel), and instead requires her to go over to his home or hotel room instead. As an extra incentive to ensure that sex workers have no guests visiting their homes the government promises to send a notice of conviction to the landlord (or property owner) asking them to evict the sex worker or face being charged themselves with the bawdy house offences if they don't. If the sex worker happens to own her home then the government will simply seize it along with her bank accounts and assets as "proceeds of crime".

And laws like the procuring offense (s. 212) make it so that sex workers cannot work together or hire any form of protection including drivers (sex workers must take themselves to and from "dates"), body guards, receptionists, or anyone else as that could be construed as "living on the avails".

So how does a sex worker work legally in Canada? To put it in a nutshell the only way to work legally is for the sex worker to lock herself in a home (or hotel) with a stranger, and hope that there isn't anybody else or any weapons hiding in the place. The laws governing prostitution has put more sex workers at risk, has lead to the murders of 171 sex workers over the last 10 years, and makes illegal any form of creating a safe work environment (not to mention that these laws also go against a sex workers basic human rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms), and that's why we need as much public support as possible for this lawsuit. So please, if your against violence against women, and believe in pro-choice feminism then please write your MP and tell them that you support this lawsuit.