No profession is perhaps as widely debated as that of prostitution. Particularly within feminism, there appears the division between those who see the sex trade as women objectified into a commodity and those who see a legitimate practice, the right to which is being ignored. Within Canada, the laws mostly prohibit the communication of a transaction as well as forbidding bawdy houses and living of the avails of a prostitute. Amongst this debate and the relevant laws, there are several assumptions made. The largest of which is the assumption that there is a victim. There is no denying that victimization does occur, but under what circumstances and by who? What do the women working in the sex trade say? There is a large amount of variation of the working conditions within this trade as well as variation within law enforcement as to how the laws are applied. In addition, sex trade workers face severe stigma which prevents the larger public from being accurately aware of what this work is truly like. These factors are consistently interacting to produce unique circumstances and marginalization within every aspect of the worker’s life. Only by including these voices will the law be able to truly reflect the unique needs of the industry and offer protection against the victimization that occurs.
