Prostitution laws to stay in place in Ontario, pending appeal
Posted December 2, 2010 6:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO, Ont. – The federal and Ontario governments have won their fight to keep prostitution laws in place — at least for now.
The Ontario Court of Appeal has agreed a landmark lower court ruling should be put on hold pending an appeal by the two governments.
A stay has been granted until April 29, 2011.
The judge, in his ruling, said it would be harmful to the public interest to have the lower court ruling come into effect immediately.
Lawyers for the federal and Ontario governments argued the ruling should continue to be put on hold while they appeal it.
Alan Young, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the case says this is about keeping sex trade workers safe.
“When you ask m e what actually happened today, it’s business as usual for the government, which basically means a bad law will continue to be under enforced.” Young told 680News.
Dominatrix Terri-Jean Bedford, the plaintiff in the case, it is about giving women more control.
“Right now the way the laws stand, the women work for the pimps, the pimps don’t work for the women.” said Bedford, “If the laws are changed the men will work for the women. They will collect their paycheque at the end of the week.”
If the stay is not extended prostitution could become decriminalized in Ontario.
In September an Ontario Superior Court judge struck down laws against keeping a common bawdy house, communicating for the purposes of prostitution and living on the avails of the trade.
