Harper Staunchly Defends Prostitution Bill

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper staunchly defended a proposed new law against prostitution on Monday, as he called the sex trade inherently “bad and harmful.” According to the Prime Minister, prostitution is “unacceptable to Canadians and unacceptable to our government.” Harper alleged that “the activities around prostitution are illegal because they are bad and harmful for women and for society more broadly,” while adding that “they are not harmful because they are illegal. They are illegal because they are harmful.”

Back in December, the Supreme Court ruled against key provisions of the original law that effectively criminalized prostitution, ruling that they endanger prostitutes. The case against the law was fought by three sex workers who argued that Canada’s restrictions on prostitution put their safety at risk. The three Toronto women complainants, namely Terri-Jean Bedford, Amy Lebovitch and Valerie Scott, argued that prohibiting brothels, for example, endangered prostitutes by forcing them to seek customers on street corners.

In addition to that, the prostitutes alleged that the law also prevented them from taking safety measures like hiring security guards or screening potential clients in an effort to protect themselves from violence. Hence, they pushed for the right to open brothels to provide a safer environment for prostitutes. Thereafter, the lower court found the measures in the law to be “arbitrary, overbroad or grossly disproportionate,” and ruled that they indeed put sex workers at risk. Whereas, the top court upheld the decision, deciding that the curbs infringe on prostitutes’ “constitutional right to security of the person.”