Debra M Haak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. How you answer that question will depend on what you identify those goals to be. These articles often suggest that the laws were implemented to make sex work safer , healthier and less risky for those who engage in it.
Despite these consistent assertions, these outcomes are not what the laws aim to achieve. Prostitution is legally defined by the Supreme Court of Canada as the exchange of sexual services for consideration. This exchange is now illegal in Canada. Parliament based the new laws on the concern that prostitution is an extremely dangerous activity that poses a risk of violence and psychological harm regardless of where it takes place. Their position was that legalizing prostitution does not eliminate these harms.
Before , there were no direct criminal prohibitions on the purchase or sale of sexual services in Canada. Criminal laws curtailed how and where prostitution could take place. In December , the Supreme Court of Canada declared three Criminal Code offences then applicable to adult prostitution unconstitutional.
In its decision, the Supreme Court held that the laws in place at that time precluded people engaged in prostitution β a risky but legal activity β from taking steps to reduce their risk of harm. However, in the Bedford decision, the Supreme Court made clear that Parliament was not precluded from imposing limits on where and how prostitution may be conducted in Canada.
The Supreme Court acknowledged that dealing with prostitution is complex and sensitive. How prostitution is regulated is a matter of great public importance; few countries leave prostitution entirely unregulated. Read more: Who are we talking about when we talk about prostitution and sex work? Activities thought to contribute to creating or supporting a market for sexual services were also criminalized.
