Keeping Hookers Outdoors is a Form of Harm Reduction

ONTARIO CANADA (Nutbar Alley) – The Canadian government announced today that it will appeal an Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruling which found laws banning pimping, soliciting and brothels to be unconstitutional.

Under Canadian law prostitution is not illegal, but parliament has effectively outlawed the ability for prostitutes to work in a comparatively safe environment.  As a result they ply their wares on seedy street corners and are frequent victims of violence.  In a 131 page ruling, Judge Susan Himel said that the laws violated the constitutional guarantee for “the right to life, liberty and security”.

“These laws… force prostitutes to choose between their liberty, interest and their right to security of the person,” she said.

The case was brought forward by three prostitutes who wanted the right to organize a brothel where they could work in relative safety.  One told the court that as a street prostitute she had been beaten and raped many times.  She described the victory “like emancipation day for sex trade workers,” and expressed her hopes to work as a dominatrix. 

The Conservative government shortly afterwards announced their intention to appeal the decision.

“Anyone that believes that women involved in the sex trade are not victims is very mistaken,” a spokesman for the Justice Minister announced. 

The Justice Minister himself announced that the government would “fight to ensure that the criminal law continues to address the significant harms that flow from prostitution.”

The Minister’s harm reduction strategy revolves around the theory that prostitutes standing on street corners in the wind, rain and snow, blowing seedy characters in cars and behind dumpsters is less harmful than those operating inside in a comfortable room with security personal standing by to defend them against physical attacks.

It is the cornerstone of a number of new harm reduction strategies expected to come from the Justice Ministry in the next few months.

Other harm reduction measures include legislating full legalization of handguns, but prohibitions against the use of secure storage cabinets.  The hope being that the inevitable accidents will lead to a greater wariness of firearms.  They will also announce legalization of hard drugs but ban all rehabilitation clinics so that people will have a greater understanding of the dangers of hard drugs.

“The best harm reduction strategies,” said a spokesman, “are those that make the harm stand out in stark relief.  Without our cautionary tales, how likely is it that people will use caution?”