Something we all need to be aware of......

[Shemale Amanda]

What I am posting here is quite long, but is extremely important for those who are not aware of what is taking place.
Below is a press release from Valerie Scott who has been fighting for years to make Sex Work safe, accepted and decriminalized.
Goodhandy's will be volunteering to fight along side her, in any way we can, to help with this important quest. They are being represented by an amazing lawer, Alan Young, who has also put himself on call if ever needed by Goodhandy's.
Sex work T-Girls in this city are extremely divided, but we MUST join together as one, and get behind this. It does not matter if you have chosen Prostitution as a career, or just need surgery money, or just paying some bills. This concerns any who have done, are doing, or will be doing this trade.

"Decriminalizing Sex Work Challenge"

TORONTO -- On Wednesday, March 21, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. a press
conference
will be held announce the launching of a constitutional challenge to
strike down three provisions of the Criminal Code which prevent sex
workers from working in a safe and secure environment. The press
conference will be held at St. Lawrence Community Recreation Centre,
230
The Esplanade, Toronto, Ontario.

Terri Jean Bedford (former Bondage Bungalow dominatrix), Valerie Scott
(former sex worker and current Executive Director of Sex Professionals
of
Canada - SPOC), and Amy Lebovitch (current sex worker and SPOC
spokesperson), will be initiating an application in the Ontario
Superior
Court of Justice seeking the constitutional invalidation of s.210
(bawdy
house), s.212(1)( (living on the avails) and s.213(1)(c)
communicating
for the purpose of prostitution) of the Criminal Code.

The act of prostitution itself is legal in Canada yet the provisions
challenged in this application operate to deny sex workers safe legal
options for the conducting of legal business. The applicants will
argue in
court that the combined effect of these three provisions violates s.7
of
the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by depriving sex workers of their
right
to liberty and security in a manner that is not in accordance with the
principles of fundamental justice.

Though the on-going trial of Robert Pickton has brought worldwide
attention to the dangers sex workers are exposed to on the streets, the
trial will not in any way address the larger legal and political issue
of
how to prevent the continuing disappearance and murder of sex workers.
As
the Pickton trial unfolds, it must be remembered that this horrific
story
is not an isolated phenomena.

Project Kare in Edmonton is currently trying to solve the
disappearances
of over 80 women in “high-risk professions”, and every government
report
written on the sex profession in the past 20 years has acknowledged
that
street prostitution is a dangerous business. Yet even as the body count
continues to rise, nothing is done.

The applicants are represented on a pro bono basis by Professor Alan
Young
of Osgoode Hall Law School, Stacey Nichols of Neuberger Rose LLP, Ron
Marzel, Matthew Wilton and Paul Burstein, but the majority of the legal
work in preparing this application has been done by volunteer law
students. We invite you to attend the press conference to hear from the
applicants, members of the volunteer law student team (Ehsan Ghebrai
and
Katherine Rhodes), a representative of Maggie’s Toronto Prostitutes’
Community Service Project, and Professor Young in order to receive more
details of the upcoming challenge. News coverage of the Pickton trial
has
graphically exposed the issue and we hope you can attend to now report
that something is finally being done about the problem.

Thank you for reading,
Mandy

[ShelbyWylde]

Re: Something we all need to be aware of......

Obviously this all makes sense.
My concern is what about the kids.
There are plenty of people to feed on the young ones
to put $$ in their pockets also
Kicked out and not accepted by families
Lack of education and lack of mainstream work
without social support, where is the way out
for those that want or need it?
As important as this legal challange is
it needs balance in its presentation and resolution.
there is a need of protection and safety not only from johns
but also those that use prostitutes for their own personal gains.

S

[youngboy4ts]

Re: Something we all need to be aware of......

Thank you for sharing Mandy.

well said Shelby ,,,

Every works have there rights, so why not an escorts?

Respect…

[tg_promoterrr]

Re: Something we all need to be aware of......

I interviewed Valerie for an article a couple years ago ( see: http://www.fabmagazine.com/features/valeriescott/ ) and one of the things she mentioned to me (which didn't end up in the final article) was that in situations of pimping, or coercion, which I believe is what Shelby is concerned about below, there are plenty of other laws available for the enforcers to use to protect the vulnerable kids who could fall victim to those attempting to exploit them. Exploitation and abuse is exploitation and abuse - there do not need to be specific laws related to exploitation and abuse ONLY for prostitution, especially when the existence of these laws make it complicated and difficult for those who are trying to make their living from the sex trade.
For example, "living off the avails" can end up making it illegal to be roommates with an escort, and even kids over the age of 12 living with an escort mother could be charged with "living off the avails".
The bottom line is that there is nothing wrong with prostitution. It is not something that should be treated as a vice or a crime by society, so the three remaining laws in the Canadian criminal code should be put to rest so sex workers can choose to operate openly, with dignity.
There are plenty of social groups out there devoted to helping kids get off the street. There are also organizations out there that deal with offering alternatives to individuals who want to get out of prostitution. Of course there is always room for more of these sorts of organizations, I just wanted to point out that they indeed exist, and that Valerie Scott's human rights battle should be encouraged to succeed.

Obviously this all makes sense.
My concern is what about the kids.
There are plenty of people to feed on the young ones
to put $$ in their pockets also
Kicked out and not accepted by families
Lack of education and lack of mainstream work
without social support, where is the way out
for those that want or need it?
As important as this legal challange is
it needs balance in its presentation and resolution.
there is a need of protection and safety not only from johns
but also those that use prostitutes for their own personal gains.

S

[Tia Phoenixx]

Re: Something we all need to be aware of......

I definitely agree that we have to be decriminalized. Actually, i tried to approach Maggie's last year , asking more info on this issue. I went to their party and collected some of their press releases (they were all women at the time, and honestly i felt a little weird about that)

Apparently, we still have to fight really hard for it, and it seems to me that it will take some time until we really can be 100% legal and decriminalized.

I definitely will join if other sisters want to join, so hopefully we can be a strong team!

Tia

[Modulus]

Re: Something we all need to be aware of......

Alan Young is on cp24 right now if you want to watch.

[Paco]

Re: Something we all need to be aware of......

I watched alan speak and he said that an expert in Serial Killers stated that, to his knowledge, no escort working indoors (i take this to mean out their homes as well as establishments such as those found in Las Vegas, Amsterdam etc) have ever been killed by a serial killer.

If I am not mistaken, there was a man in Toronto (suspect black in his 20's) who murdered a TS escort named Tula and a female escort both in Toronto. DNa matched the suspect to both murders. Both were murdered in their place of residence were they not?

Unless one goes strickly by the 3 or more victims required definition of serial killers and assuming he's not killed since (highly unlikely he'll stop for good unless imprisoned, much to old or dead).

BTW, was that monster ever caught?

Alan was vague on what he'd do about the "not in my backdoor" issue saying something like "this is a big country.......we'll find somewhere to put them".

Not only is that a cop-out, but it fails to take into consideration that most of "this big country" is sparesly populated. The demand is in and around the big cities. His statement implies that he hasn't thought about the consequences of legalizing prostitution.

I think prostitution should be legal but should be only permitted in restricted areas and they should stiffen the penalties greatly for prostitution that occurs outside of designated areas.


Shelby:
I don't understand this statement: "there is a need of protection and safety not only from johns but also those that use prostitutes for their own personal gains."

There is nothing wrong with using prosititutes for your own personal gain if the people involved are adults, willing participants, and not acting under duress.


tg_promoterrr says the following:

"The bottom line is that there is nothing wrong with prostitution."

Yes there is like it or not from an almost universal societal point of view. Societies across the globe and throughout history have held prostitutes in low regard. Not just monotheistic societies built around Judaism, Christianity, and Islam but in ancient Greece, Rome, Japan, China, India etc.

Now many of these civilizations had legalized prostitution but the shame, societal condemnation and low status of people involved in that profession have been constant. These things are not going away anytime soon. You could have a revolution and overthrow the government and declare by fiat that prostitution is perfectly acceptable and try to indoctrinate people, but the negative outlook on this trade will not change.

It sounds like you are arguing the "moralistic fallacy" -claiming "what ought to be" to "what is".


Best legalize it, regulate it, make sure everyone is safe, and keep it behind closed doors but lets stop there.

(edited for spelling)

[ShelbyWylde]

Re: Something we all need to be aware of......

From personal experience I can honestly say that any support networks and social services are near pathetic for transgendered people here in Canada. From Ottawa to Toronto these people in place to help transpeople barely have an understanding of Canadian law. If they couldn't help me I fail to see how they can deal with the growing surge of transgendered people in Canada.
I was just quoted so let me just say if our young are vulnerable to the society at large, then how vulnerable is a young transgendered person?
The laws should be changed, and rightly so. It should be regulated also. Does that mean paying income tax?, health inspections? being told where you can live and work?
Having said that I also hope we are not here to encourage or glamorize prostitution to people, transpeople, and especially younger transpeople. Transition means changing and getting on with school, friends, work and life. I do not appreciate the notion that transition would imply the only thing you can become in life is a prostitute if you are a transperson.
There is certainly nothing wrong if a person freely decides that they wish to be a prostitute. but as I said in my earlier reply there needs to be balance. Is there balance for transpeople. The answer is quite simply no.
Does a transperson finally find equality if they are a prostitute and fully legitamized in society because of laws changed?
This would be the greatest insult.
S

[chester]

Re: Something we all need to be aware of......

I don't think legaizing prostitution will directly make things better for transpeople - really they are 2 different things. But indirectly legimizing prostitution I think will lead to more tolerance of sexual choices in general and thats good for transpeople. I think same-sex marriage has done this to a certain extent. People don't often think about their beliefs, they just have them. Same-sex marriage has forced people to think about their gender based preconceptions at least a little bit. I've noticed more tolerance and acceptance of same-sex marriage among people in general. People may not like it, but they are more accepting of it seems. This may lead to a little more tolerance toward transpeople too.

This is a bit of an aside, but there have been more transpeople in movies, shows and on tv, is this part of a trend toward more acceptance of transpeople?

[steph89]

Re: Something we all need to be aware of......

Mandy , I applaud your efforts. A question, what does Shelby and chesters post have have in relation with Alan Young & Valerie Scott? Are we discussing Transgender prostitutes rights? I did not catch Alan Young on Citytv, did anyone of you happen to record it? Youtube?

Mandy would you be kind enough to post a coles notes version of the situation. What would your ideal outcome be?

[chester]

Re: Something we all need to be aware of......

Mandy , I applaud your efforts. A question, what does Shelby and chesters post have have in relation with Alan Young & Valerie Scott? Are we discussing Transgender prostitutes rights?

To answer your question, my post wasn't about Alan Young and Valerie Scott. I wasn't discussing transgendered prostitutes' rights, I was talking about the effect of decriminalizing prostitution and suggesting that it may indirectly lead to more tolerance and acceptance of transpeople in general, not just prostitutes. What do you think?

[tg_promoterrr]

Re: Something we all need to be aware of......

Mandy would you be kind enough to post a coles notes version of the situation. What would your ideal outcome be?

I thought I would answer this one for Mandy. Visit this link http://www.spoc.ca/decrimvslegal.html for a good Coles Note version.
I want to point out that understanding the difference between Decriminalization and Legalization is very important to understand when discussing this issue.

While some people feel that legalizing and regulating the sex trade is the answer, Valerie Scott and her organization have always promoted the DECRIMINALIZATION of prostitution. I am personally strongly in favor of this as well. I would like to make a comparison with consultants, counsellors, and all sort of other service providers. These services are all unregulated, they are individual people deciding "hey, i'm going to put a sign on my door and provide a service". These people are responsible for determining their own prices, and they are responsible for declaring their income and paying taxes.

Before I met Valerie and heard her case, I used to say "yeah, prostitution should be legalized" but if you read the coles note essays above, I think most people will see the validity of decriminalization.

Ultimately, if the legal challenge succeeds, then society can still decide to regulate or not regulate, as can be decided about any particular industry. Something tells me that allowing the government to become "pimps" and regulate the trade would be a disaster, but that is just my own opinion.

Hope the above link helps answer the question!

[Paco]

Re: Something we all need to be aware of......

"Something tells me that allowing the government to become "pimps" and regulate the trade would be a disaster, but that is just my own opinion."

Leading to something like this perhaps: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...30/wgerm30.xml

[etrigan]

Re: Something we all need to be aware of......

"We're from the government, and we're here to help you"

Riiiiiight.

[ShelbyWylde]

Re: Something we all need to be aware of......

"Something tells me that allowing the government to become "pimps" and regulate the trade would be a disaster, but that is just my own opinion."

Leading to something like this perhaps: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...30/wgerm30.xml

100 years of womans lib down the drain after one law was changed. I really don't see this woman being forced into the sex trade by the german goverment. obviously after only 2 years of changes to the laws oddities like this will surface.
and yet this also serves as a fine example of what i had brought up earlier.
people need to think outside the box - outside pandoras box.
for every change there can be many repercushions.
and good intentions pave the road to hell each and every time.
S