...The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court in the country and decides on many key issues such as criminal law, civil law, federalism, and individual rights and freedoms. The Supreme Court of Canada was established by an Act of the National Parliament in 1875 and it consists of nine judges who are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and cabinet (Malcomson & Myers, 1996). It is almost mandatory that the court has regional representation and meets certain requirements such as having at minimum three judges who are familiar with Quebec’s civil law system, at least one judge who is from the area of Atlantic Canada, and a minimum of two judges that are from the west (Malcomson & Myers, 1996, p.150). These judges...
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...Introduction/Policy Statement This action memorandum proposes to change the current legislation surrounding the criminalization of women in prostitution within Canada. This memorandum suggests altering the current legislation similar to the ‘Swedish Model,’ through the criminalization of the purchase of sex while decriminalizing the supply in order to protect sex workers’ equal rights and reduce violence against women, specifically those within the sex trade market. Summary The current legislation on prostitution in Canada prohibits the action of prostitution, specifically surrounding the issue of solicitation and the use of public space. Although, it appears that prostitution is legal in Canada, the current law is riddled with arbitrariness, hypocrisy and virtually no enforcement. The current law reflects inherent bias and sexism towards women who decide to work within the sex industry and forces women to work in dangerous isolation, afraid to seek help. This reinforces patriarchal norms that insist women seduce men to the point where they no longer have any self-control, placing societal blame on the woman. This sexism locks women in to prostitution where they are subject to rape, violence or physical and psychological trauma. In Canada, Aboriginal women are over-represented within the sex trade industry because of vulnerability to exploitation driven by poverty. The current legislation does not adhere to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, negating women’s right...
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...the trafficker. Trafficking is done for the exploitation of an individual this includes prostitution, slavery, and forced labour. Since the early 1990’s, the UNODC (United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime) has been working on a prevention plan for human trafficking and The Protocol to Prevent, Supress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons was developed. It states that “In addition to the criminalization of trafficking, the Trafficking in Persons Protocol requires criminalization also of persons whom attempt to commit a trafficking offence, the participation as an accomplice in such an offence, or organizing or directing others to commit trafficking” (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2012). This means that anyone who participates in human trafficking, be it the recruitment of victims or knowingly hiring a victim, will be criminalized for his or her actions. Canada is a destination for human trafficking. The highest percentage of individuals being smuggled into Canada are used for sexual exploitation, prostitution and forced labour. Males and females, children and adults can become victims of human trafficking. However, in Canada, majority of the victims are women being used for prostitution and sexual exploitation. Victims of human trafficking are often abused, and are subjected to sexual and physical assault. Most live in poor conditions and victims often suffer from illness. In Canada, victims...
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...The topic of prostitution and drug use has been an ongoing battle over the decriminalization of these so called victimless crimes. They are both correlated to sociological factors, such as, race, gender, socioeconomic standing and age, which, increases the likelihood of becoming involved in prostitution and illegal drug use. They are correlated to each other because prostitution is a means of income to support drug use and drug use is used to make a prostitutes work “bearable”. This paper will discuss in detail, prostitution and illicit drug use, including the contributions of sociological variables. Furthermore, it will distinguish whether the two are truly victimless crimes. Finally, it will include a personal opinion regarding the decriminalization of drug abuse and prostitution. Prostitution is associated with sexual services for hire. Lyn Stankiewicz Murphy defined prostitution as “a behaviour that involves the exchange of sexual services for economic compensation in the form of drugs, money, or needed resources” (2010, p.775). There are several types of prostitutes that are based on their status. From lowest status to highest, they are: streetwalkers, bar prostitutes, house prostitutes, massage-parlour prostitutes and escort service prostitutes. Streetwalkers are those who solicit their availability on the streets and are most often ran by pimps. Bar prostitutes work in bars and lounges, while house prostitutes “operate illegally and on a small scale” and are “managed...
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...Citation: Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford, [2013] 3 SCR 1101, 2013 SCC 72 Canada V. Bedford [2013] Supreme Court of Canada Procedural history: • Applied to the Ontario superior court of justice [date] • Ontario superior court of justice found provisions to section 7 unconstitutional and granted application [date] • Granted provisions were brought to the Ontario court of appeal December 2nd 2010 • Court of appeal agreed s.210 and s. 212 was unconstitutional, however declared s.213 unjustifiable violation of s.7 • Both sides appeal The Court of Appeal decision to the supreme court • Supreme Court of Canada case hearing December 20th 2013 Parties: Appellant: Bedford Respondents: Canada (The attorney general of Canada) Interveners:...
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...Prostitution Chapter I The Problem and its Background Introduction Prostitution is said to be one of the oldest profession in the world. It is the giving or receiving of the body for sexual activity for hire but excludes sexual activity between spouses. It is the performance for hire where there is an exchange of value, any of the following acts: Sexual intercourse; sodomy, or; manual or other bodily contact stimulation of the genitals of any person with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desires of the offender or another. Background of the Study Prostitution is the performance of sexual acts solely for the purpose of material gain. Persons prostitute themselves when they grant sexual favors to others in exchange for money, gifts, or other payment and in so doing use their bodies as commodities. In legal terms, the word prostitute refers only to those who engage overtly in such sexual-economic transactions, usually for a specified sum of money. Prostitutes may be of either sex, but throughout history the majorities have been women, reflecting both the traditional socioeconomic dependence of women and the tendency to exploit female sexuality. Although prostitution has often been characterized as the “world’s oldest profession,” the concept of women as property, which prevailed in most cultures until the end of the 19th century, meant that the profits of the profession most often accrued to the men who controlled it. Men have traditionally been characterized as procurers...
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...Against Legalizing Prostitution in Country like Indonesia There is an ongoing and intense debate surrounding decriminalizing prostitution. Some countries, such as The Netherlands, Canada and Australia have legalized Prostitution. They argue that the legalization of prostitution brings more good than harm, and so far people see that good things such as an increase in country’s gross domestic product and economic output from those country is happening. But, that’s just a glance of external view out of a lot of things that really happened inside of the country that legalize prostitution itself, such as morale issue and women trafficking. This writing will boldly show and explains the arguments against legalizing prostitution and why a country like Indonesia should not legalize prostitution. Some people, whom agree to legalize prostitution, come up with arguments that from their point of view will bring more goods than bad. First, they argue that legalizing prostitution will decrease the number of sexual harassment and rape. They believe that by the legalization of prostitution, it will reduce the number of unwanted sex since it is now woman’s choice to get in to the business of prostitution or not and it will not be called as rape if both parties are willing to have sex. Second, It will be better and safer for sex-workers if prostitution was legalized and regulated. This point argue that if prostitution was legalized then there will be less crimes against (un-legalized) prostitutes...
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...Prostitution is often called the world's oldest profession. It's been around since the beginning of time and can be traced back to ancient civilization. Prostitution hasn't stopped after thousands of years and it's not going to stop anytime soon. Prostitution is already legal in some parts of the world, but not in Canada and the United States. Pro-prostitution think prostitution should be legalized. They state that legalizing it would solve more problems than it would create and people could be protected from diseases, the streets could be kept cleaner, and prostitutes would have a safer working environment. Anti-prostitution demands that legal prostitution will increase the sex industry and human trafficking. Prostitution will hurt peoples. This is because prostitutes can cause a disease such as HIV. Pro-prostitution opposed that statement. Pro-prostitution demands that prostitution gives benefit to the customer because the customer gets their pleasure. It fulfils both people's needs. Even though prostitution is not legal, it will continue to happen. They will find a way around the law, and continue with their business. If it is legalized, laws can be made to keep prostitutes and people safer than they are now. Some people don't think much of prostitutes. Peoples think that the prostitutes who spread the disease. This is because most of the prostitutes are drug addicts which cause HIV. For the few bad ones, they would be the ones who would most benefit from legalization...
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...without sources of demand, where these types of transactions are considered to be socially and politically legitimate” (Leheny, D. 1995, p.367-384). Sex tourism is evident through many different forms, but the most popular ways it is evident is through pornography, prostitution, and human trafficing. This trend is one of the main sources of revenue in Thailand. It holds 6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) which is just over $31 billion. Sex tourism started when the “American military on rest and recreation leave during the Vietnam War from 1962” (End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking UK). The US States Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report (2005) stated that the “widespread sex tourism in Thailand encourages trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.” This describes sex tourism as being a business related area, trying to convince people that it is an ethical way of making profits and revenues to boost Thailand’s economy. Sex tourism is not an ethical method for bringing revenue into the country because of the severe exploitation of children, and women, and it promotes the intentions of molestation. Thailand is known as the second biggest country for child sex tourism. Child prostitution “deprives children of their childhood, human rights, and dignity” (Lau, C. 2008, p. 144-155). Studies have shown that there is a range of 60,000 to 200,000 children, eighteen years of age or younger that are involved in the sex tourism industry in Thailand. The...
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...Prakash (2013) claims that prostitution is the oldest occupation in the world. It occurs when an individual assumes material or monetary compensation in exchange for the performance of sexual acts. This has been observed since the beginning of the formation of relationships between men and women (p. 1). Despite this, selling sex as a profession remains illegal in most places except in Las Vegas, Amsterdam, New Zealand, Austria, and the Netherlands to name a few. On the other hand, the selling of sex has been permitted in some countries like Sweden and Canada but the solicitation of sex is still not allowed by the law. Moreover, prostitution is just like any other occupation in the sense that it has its negative and unwanted sides, but it...
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...Prostitution should be illegal in Canada because of various reasons. Just some of the reasons would be for Moral and Ethical reasons, to try to decrease the high rate of sex trafficking, and to put workers of this profession away from the dangers of violence, drugs, STD`s and even murder. Taking morality and ethics into consideration, it`s wrong in every way you can think of. The fact that is has been practised for a long time now, from when the world was just growing or I guess developing should not mean that it should be legal. It is really a shameful act and these young women deserve to have a better future like any other person in society, rather than roaming from one bed to another claiming that they are doing something to survive. They need to be rehabilitated and given something else to do to earn a more mind peaceful earning so that they can wake up with and be happy about how their life has been. The fact that prostitutes are not, on the whole, happy, content, well-educated people should be proof enough that this is not the kind of work we should look fondly on. Promoting prostitution as a career choice would lead to people from more vulnerable sectors of society getting into it more readily than they otherwise would have. Within society today, the words whore or slut are still the most powerful insults that can be levelled against a woman. The power behind these words derive from the belief that to consent to selling your body in such a fashion as prostitution, is...
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...Crimes Affecting Society in Canada Student’s name Name of the Institute Table of Contents Crimes Affecting Society in Canada 2 Introduction 2 Law in Canada 2 Future Looks Bright 12 References 13 Crimes Affecting Society in Canada Introduction Canada a federal parliamentary democracy situated to the north of United States of America consists of 10 provinces and 3 territories. It extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean. At approximately 10 million square kilometers in total, Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the world's longest land border shared by the same two countries. Its proximity to sea and to the United States it enjoys the status of both Most favored nation as well as Most riskiest nation to the United States of America. Canada is considered to be a developed country and one of the wealthiest in the world having the eighth highest per capita income globally and also securing the eleventh place in the Human Development Index. It ranks amongst the leaders in international education, government transparency and quality of life (Mann, 1992). It also figures amongst the leaders in crime, a status which surely is not desired by many countries. Law in Canada Like any other country, the Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of the country and consists of guidelines and laws by which the country is to be governed. The Constitution Act, 1867 also known as the...
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...the case Canada (Attorney General) vs. Bedford, in 2007 three prostitutes Terri Jean Bedford, May Lebovitch, and Valerie Scott brought to the court an application to change or demolish three sections of the criminal code. These women felt that they needed to be demolished because they violate the right to security to people in their field of work. The three parts that they are challenging of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c. C-46 are, Section 210 where it states, “Every one who keeps a common bawdy-house is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.” Section 212, “ lives wholly or in part on the avails of prostitution of another person, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years.” 213- “Every person who solicits ANY PERSON IN a public place for the purpose of prostitution is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction....
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...greater awareness in the struggle of gender equality and female identification. Feminism looks at how the social, economic and political structures affect and shape women at the individual level. Accordingly, feminist theories analyze the relationship between gender differences, gender inequality and oppression. The idea of ‘waves’ in Canadian Feminist movements have been both diverse and dynamic in the act of coalition to obtain specific goals and broader changes in society. At the beginning of the 20th century, industrialization and nation-building came attached with a gender ideology that prescribed the public/private division between male and females. In modern-day Canada, issues concerning equal rights in the public and private sphere of women have become more relevant to the female community. In contemporary Canada, the discussion of sex work and the ‘entertainment industry’ is a controversial subject to many women. The traditional view is expressed to view these workers as individuals who have chosen this path as ‘immoral criminals’ or ‘victims’ of aggression. There is not much sympathy for these women as they are degraded to be invisible within Canadian society. Given the blind eye, these sexual deviants have historically served as an representation to regulate women of the public sphere. However, it is necessary to make distinctions of the ‘hierarchy’ within Canada’s contemporary sex industry- from street sex workers to high-end escorts or strippers. In addition to the...
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...Should Prostitution be Legalized and Regulated by the Government? When we examine sex as a trade, the combination of philosophy, cultural precedence, religious influence and politics made each country select how to handle it in its own way. In Singapore, sex for money is open and commonplace. Denmark women can be legal prostitutes so long as it is not their sole means of income; Canada, France and Mexico allow it. Prostitutes must be contained within brothels in the Netherlands, unlike within England and Wales where prostitution is limited to individual providers. Israel, the historical stage for the Bible allows it too. Currently most everywhere in the United States, our legal system penalizes prostitutes and their customers for what they do as consenting adults. Money is still spent on law enforcement efforts to catch prostitutes and their customers. Once caught, justice departments have to process these people through very expensive systems. Making prostitution legal will allow the act to be managed instead of ignored. Pimps and organized crime figures, who regularly treat their workers on subhuman levels, would no longer control women. In some countries, prostitute rings buy and sell women on the black market, force their women to comply through violence and create unhealthy working conditions. When prostitutes operate independently and in secret, many times they become abused by their own customers. Why should be legalized? 1. Prostitution should be legalized...
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