Introduction

Since 1972 prostitution law in Canada has had the dubious distinction of making it legal to ‘be’ a prostitute but next to impossible to actually engage in prostitution-related activity. While many Western countries have moved away from stricter criminal laws against prostitution, Canada has moved in quite the opposite direction with the maintenance of anti-brothel laws and the introduction of laws aimed at the street-level trade, a small percentage of prostitution-related activities (Davis and Schaffer 1994: I). Until the late 1970s, street prostitution was dealt with under the vagrancy provisions of the Criminal Code, which allowed for the arrest of ‘common prostitutes’ found in public places. Following changes in the interpretation of the law in the late 1970s that made it more difficult to arrest prostitutes, police forces and residents' groups began to campaign for tougher laws to control street solicitation. Feminist attempts to lobby for decriminalisation of prostitution (i.e. its complete or near complete removal from the Criminal Code) have continued to meet strong resistance from these groups. The current ‘anti-communications’ law, which makes communication for the purpose of prostitution illegal, is technically more gender equitable than in the past – in that it addresses both prostitutes and clients and includes both male and female prostitutes. However, it fails to address the underlying gender inequity that results from the criminalisation (i.e. using criminal sanctions against activities associated with prostitution) of prostitute women. Women in prostitution continue to be disproportionately charged by police (Shaver 1993: 154–5).