Toronto's all news radio station 680 News reports that a Toronto dominatrix who was raided back in 1994, is pushing for a review into the criminalisation of prostitutionm in Canada. She talks about her time as a streetwalker and as a dominatrix, and how she felt safer working out of her "bondage bungalow"
Whilst I certainly don't feel prostitution should be promoted, I feel that the women caught up in prostitution are sometimes victims and should not be criminalised. Those who force women into prostitution however, should face the full weight of the law and justice on their shoulders.
The world of the Dominatrix is different again. These women are providing a diferent kind of service, which by the way does not involve sex usually. These are people who are in control of their lives and are not engaging in criminal activity. I see no reason to attempt to criminalise them at all.
A form of legal prostitution should be considered, one that keeps both the workers and the clients safe from prying eyes of the more unscrupulous parts of the media and away from unwanted prying eyes of other kinds. It also needs to keep the workers out of the hands of pimps who seek to profit from the workers and keep them poor.
It's a complex matter, and has to be handled delicately, not with the usual political mentality of a bull in a china shop. Whilst I support her aims, I fear that the usual political point scoring mentality will prevent a real solution to the problem emerging. I have been wrong before, and I would love to be proved wrong this time, but I won't hold my breath waiting...
