Ontario's Superior Court dismissed a Charter challenge launched by groups advocating for the rights of sex workers, ruling Monday that Canada's criminal laws on sex work are constitutional. In a page decision, Justice Robert Goldstein wrote that the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act -- brought in by the former Conservative federal government -- balances the prohibition of "the most exploitative aspects of the sex trade" with protecting sex workers from legal prosecution.
The offences minimally impair the Charter rights of sex workers," Goldstein wrote. Goldstein found that sections of the Criminal Code outlawing communications or the stopping of traffic for the purpose of selling sexual services were constitutionally compliant and do not prevent sex workers from taking safety measures, engaging the services of non-exploitative third parties or seeking police assistance.
The Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform had argued in court last fall that the laws ushered in under former prime minister Stephen Harper fostered stigma, invited targeted violence and prevented sex workers from obtaining meaningful consent before engaging with clients -- violating the industry workers' Charter rights. The new sex-work laws were passed in , about a year after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down previous anti-prostitution laws.
Even though prostitution was legal under previous laws, nearly all related activities -- such as running a brothel, acting as a third-party manager and communicating in a public place for the purposes of prostitution -- were against the law.
The new act made it against the law to pay for sexual services and for businesses to profit from it, and made communicating to buy sexual services a criminal offence. Sex workers themselves, however, are immune from prosecution for selling or advertising their services, as are non-exploitative third parties who materially benefit.
