www.excal.on.ca/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1082&Itemid=1
Although prostitution is legal, soliciting is not. Therefore, Scott advocates that people who want to be in this business must be careful about the legal issues.
“Advertise in a publication, call on a landline and agree to meet your client at a hotel which he rents, because if he doesn’t, then you have to cover the tab which [can] then be considered a ‘common bawdy house’. If you’re caught by police, you may face two years in prison and unlimited fines.�
Scott speaks of one woman who came into her office and spoke about how the police stripped her of everything she owned.
“They froze her account and assets. They arrived at her apartment with a moving van and took everything, even the kitchen cabinets,� says Scott.
Scott also suggests sex workers get their money up front so everything is settled before anything begins.
“I had a bad date where the guy just refused to pay me and I took him to small claims court and won. Sometimes, women are not likely to report these instances because they’re afraid to be prosecuted and they’re outing themselves because the courts [are] public,� she says.
“Nothing is inherently dangerous about this business. It’s the way we’re forced to work that makes it dangerous,� Scott insists. “If prostitution was decriminalized, like it is in Australia and South Wales, there would be fewer bad dates occurring and the escort agencies would be more likely to protect their workers.�
“Compared with other jobs, sex work pays quite well for the amount of time you spend. It’s a great job for students because you work on your own schedule,� says Scott.
According to Scott, most of the clients are normal people and the shady portrayal sex workers receive is mostly untrue.
Lavoie agrees.
“It’s not what the media portrays it to be. They need to stop the negative portrayals,� says Lavoie.
– (*) Names have been changed to protect individuals’ privacy.
www.queensjournal.ca/articlephp/point-vol131/issue34/supplement/leadright3
www.iamnext.com/sexandlove/newsex.html
www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/25/1095961915469.html?from=moreStories&oneclick=true
www.peak.sfu.ca/the-peak/2002-3/issue12/ne-sex.html