We welcome the Sex Work Decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal but caution that some of our most vulnerable remain targeted by current laws.
The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the HIV & AIDS Clinic Ontario (HALCO) welcome the March 26th Ontario Court of Appeal landmark decision on the constitutionality of Canada’s sex work laws, but caution that sex workers who work on the street remain unable to negotiate safer sex and are thus still extremely vulnerable to harm.
This decision addresses the laws concerning “common bawdy houses” that prohibits indoor sex work, “living on the avails” of prostitution, and the prohibition of communicating in public for the purposes of sex work.
For more information about the decision, please see today’s Statement by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and HALCO, which is available in English and French:
- English: www.halco.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/2012Mar27_Stmt_SexWorkDecision-ENG.pdf .
- French: www.halco.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/2012Mar27_Stmt_SexWorkDecision-FRA.pdfwww.halco.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/2012Mar27_Stmt_SexWorkDecision-FRA.pdf .
For more information on how Canada’s criminal laws regarding prostitution affect the health and the human rights of sex workers, see the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network’s booklet Sex, work, rights: Changing Canada’s criminal laws to protect sex workers’ health and human rights, available for download at: www.aidslaw.ca/site/sex-work-rights-changing-canadas-criminal-laws-to-protect-sex-workers-health-and-human-rights/ .