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Researcher: Police plan to name men who buy sex will ‘create violence’ (The London Free Press)



A London sex-work researcher is adding her voice to the growing dismay over the police decision to begin releasing the names of men accused of buying sex, as a petition demanding police reverse the policy is launched.



Chief John Pare announced the new policy at last week’s police board meeting, touting the move as another tool in the fight against human trafficking.



The change was championed by the London Abused Women’s Centre and others advocating for an end to prostitution, but it drew a swift backlash from organizations representing sex workers and their allies.



“I don’t know how the decision was made. It is a perfect illustration of ignoring research in favour of moralizing,” said Treena Orchard, a health studies researcher at Western University.



Orchard collaborated with My Sisters’ Place, a London women’s agency, on four research projects on different aspects of the sex trade in London, based on interview and surveys of sex workers.



Decades of research into sex work show that naming johns puts sex workers in danger, Orchard said.



“You’re not going to stop the sex trade. You are just going to create violence,” she said.



Faced with being named, johns will insist on taking sex workers to more isolated or hidden places, lessening the safety of the workers, she said, adding a sex worker facing a declining number of clients will be forced to lower her prices, work longer hours or take greater risks with unknown johns.



These concerns are echoed by SafeSpace London, a collective of sex workers and advocates for the decriminalization of prostitution, prompting it to launch an online demanding that police reverse the policy.



SafeSpace is also taking aim at Pare for not meeting any of its members before making the decision.



“You did not consult us, or even consider us worthy of notice this was coming,” the petition on change.org says.



“At a minimum, you would have provided notice to our community so we could have addressed the safety concerns this decision generates. You did none of this.”



Asked whether police consulted with any members of the public prior to announcing the policy change, police responded with a statement from the chief.



“There are conflicting opinions in London and across the country about Canada’s prostitution laws. From a policing perspective, we are responsible for enforcing the existing laws,” Pare said in the statement.



“Our enforcement focus is on those who are victims of traffickers, not those who freely choose to work in the sex trade… We regularly release the names of those charged with criminal offences, and, in order to help protect those who are victimized by traffickers, we will release the names of those charged with the criminal offence of purchasing sex.”



Experts have identified London as a hub for human trafficking – defined as the exploitation of people for profit through force, fraud or coercion – because of its location along Highway 401 between Toronto and the U.S. border.



London police previously had withheld the names of accused johns, even in human trafficking investigations, saying most would avoid a criminal record by attending a diversion program to educate them about the pitfalls of the sex-trade industry.



Some police forces in Ontario routinely release the names of men charged with prostitution-related offences, though it’s unclear how many do so.



York Regional police release the names to the media in high-profile cases and as part of public awareness campaigns, spokesperson Cont. Laura Nicolle said.



“It’s the same as releasing a name for any type of offence,” Nicolle said, adding the names of all accused johns are provided to reporters upon request, except when a publication ban prohibits it.



SafeSpace says the new London policy doesn’t take into account the benefits prostitution brings to providers and clients, particularly those with disabilities and trauma survivors, while also ignoring the many societal issues that lead individuals to sex work, the petition says.



The petition also highlights several incidents of London police mishandling cases involving sex workers, including a professional misconduct conviction against the former head of the human trafficking unit for releasing a Waterloo Regional police officer swept up in a prostitution sting last April.



the 55-year-old Waterloo officer, who retired two weeks after his arrest, was struck and killed by a truck on the 401 near Cambridge two days after The Free Press published his name.
 
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