STREET PROSTITUTION IN CANADA

Transcription

1 Statistics Caada Catalogue o XPE Vol. 17 o. 2 STREET PROSTITUTION IN CANADA by Doree Duchese Highlights I 1995, almost all of the 7,165 prostitutio icidets reported by police atioally ivolved commuicatig to buy or sell the services of a prostitute (92%). The remaiig icidets cocered procurig (5%) or bawdy-house (3%) offeces. Aual fluctuatios i the umber of reported prostitutio icidets withi jurisdictios are commo ad usually reflect chages i the eforcemet of the commuicatig law, rather tha the volume of crimial activity (Chart A). For example, betwee 1994 ad 1995, the total umber of Chart A prostitutio icidets i Caada rose 29%, largely due to a substatial rise i commuicatig offeces i Vacouver. But this icrease followed two years of steep Commuicatig icidets i Caada declies, maily traced to Toroto, Edmoto ad Calgary (i 1994), ad Vacouver (i 1993). Thousads The vast majority of persos accused of a prostitutiorelated offece i 1995 were adults aged 18 or older (97%). The relatively small proportio of youths (12 to year-olds) charged may reflect their frequet diversio to social service agecies by police. 8 8 Sice December 1985, whe the commuicatig law replaced the solicitig law, there has bee a shift towards more males beig charged. Betwee 1986 ad 1995, almost half (47%) of all persos charged with commuicatig were male, compared with just over oethird (36%) of those charged with solicitig i the 1977 to 1985 period. This icrease may reflect chages i eforcemet practices, i that some police agecies are chargig more me i a effort to hold customers more accoutable for their participatio i the sex trade; also, sice 1985, the law i force has clearly applied to cliets as well as prostitutes Source: Uiform Crime Reportig Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics Betwee 1991 ad 1995, 63 kow prostitutes were murdered. Almost all were female (60); seve of them were juveiles aged 15 to 17. Most deaths were related to the trade: 50 prostitutes were thought to have bee killed by cliets, ad 8 by pimps or i a drug-related icidet. I adult courts, wome covicted of commuicatig ted to be seteced more severely tha me, perhaps because they are more likely to have had previous covictios, or cases ivolvig multiple charges. For example, 39% of wome covicted i 1993 or 1994 were imprisoed, compared with oly 3% of me. Amog the latter, the most severe pealty was usually a fie (i 56% of cases); i cotrast, 32% of wome received fies. (These proportios are based o a o-represetative sample of court cases.) Whe priso seteces were imposed i adult courts for commuicatig, the media duratio was the same for both sexes (30 days). However, whe probatio was the most severe pealty icurred, the media legth of time was twice as log for wome as for me (oe year versus six moths). I cases where a fie was admiistered, the media amout was $200 for both sexes

2 Price: Caada: $10.00 per issue, $90.00 aually Uited States: US$12.00 per issue, US$ aually Other Coutries: US$14.00 per issue, US$ aually To order Statistics Caada publicatios, please call our Natioal toll-free lie or iteret: February 1997 ISSN X Published by the authority of the Miister resposible for Statistics Caada. Miister of Idustry, All rights reserved. No part of this publicatio may be reproduced, stored i a retrieval system or trasmitted i ay form or by ay meas, electroic, mechaical, photocopyig, recordig or otherwise without prior writte permissio from Licece Services, Marketig Divisio, Statistics Caada, Ottawa, Otario, Caada K1A 0T6. Note of appreciatio Caada owes the success of its statistical system to a logstadig co-operatio ivolvig Statistics Caada, the citizes of Caada, its busiesses, govermets ad other istitutios. Accurate ad timely statistical iformatio could ot be produced without their cotiued co-operatio ad goodwill. The paper used i this publicatio meets the miimum requiremets of America Natioal Stadard for Iformatio Scieces Permaece of Paper for Prited Library Materials, ANSI Z Stadards of service to the public To maitai quality service to the public, Statistics Caada follows established stadards coverig statistical products ad services, delivery of statistical iformatio, cost-recovered services ad services to respodets. To obtai a copy of these service stadards, please cotact your earest Statistics Caada Regioal Referece Cetre. INTRODUCTION May people do ot realise that prostitutio the exchage of moey for sex is ot illegal i Caada. However, it is ulawful to egage i peripheral activities, such as publicly commuicatig with aother perso for the purpose of buyig or sellig sexual services, or livig o the avails of the prostitutio of aother idividual. Street prostitutio is a cotroversial issue, with legal, social, health ad ecoomic implicatios. It is also closely liked to other crimial activities. Sice the act of prostitutio has traditioally bee cosidered volutary, it has ofte bee perceived as a victimless crime. Yet the life of a street prostitute is frequetly characterised by exploitatio, violece, substace abuse ad disease. A differet perspective is preseted by ordiary citizes faced with street prostitutio i their commuities. Ideed, may of them feel that they are the victims, sice the trade usually brigs added traffic, loiterig, oise ad drugs. I some eighbourhoods, ihabitats are mistake for prostitutes or cliets, while childre playig outside are exposed to discarded codoms ad eedles. This Juristat deals with prostitutio-related crime i Caada, that is, commuicatig, procurig ad bawdy-house offeces (see Prostitutio i the Crimial Code). Icidets reported durig the period are examied, with a focus o recet years. A wide variety of data ad other iformatio sources dealig with street prostitutio have bee cosulted to provide a multi-faceted look at these activities (see Data Sources ad Methodological Notes). Recet Legislative Developmets Util the early 1970s, prostitutio was treated as a status offece associated with vagracy; that is, a prostitute foud i a public place who could ot provide a satisfactory reaso for beig there could be arrested. 1 I cotrast, the solicitig law, itroduced i 1972, focused o behaviour by prohibitig idividuals from solicitig others i a public place for prostitutio. Eforcemet of this legislatio was problematic, however. Public place was ot adequately defied, may types of sexual activity were ot covered, ad it was ot clear whether it also applied to male prostitutes ad cliets. Furthermore, solicitatio had to be pressig ad persistet, a coditio of arrest that was ope to various iterpretatios. The law remaied ieffective, despite a 1983 amedmet that oted its applicatio to prostitutes of either sex ad defied public place. Because of these problems, the federal govermet established the Fraser Committee i the early 1980s to assess the adequacy of the laws related to prostitutio ad porography (SPE 1985), ad the Badgley Committee to report o the efficacy of the curret legislatio i protectig childre from sexual abuse, icludig juveile prostitutio (COM 1984). Recommedatios were set forth, icludig the decrimializatio of adult solicitatio, ad the creatio of ew offeces to protect childre ad deter procurers (i.e. pimps). Followig these cosultatios, the commuicatig law replaced the solicitig law i December 1985, ad two years later additioal legislatio imposed strog pealties for persos livig o the avails of juveile prostitutes, or purchasig their services. The purpose of the commuicatig law, which remais i force today, is to maitai public order by makig prostitutio less visible, ad therefore less of a uisace, to the geeral public. Although the law does ot make the act of prostitutio itself a crime, it is illegal to commuicate with aother perso i public to buy or sell sexual services. The legislatio applies to both prostitutes ad cliets of either sex. A umber of criticisms have sice bee levelled at the commuicatig law. Although prostitutio remais legal, there are o clear guidelies o where it ca take place. As 1 For more iformatio o the history of prostitutio-related legislatio i Caada, cosult Prostitutio i Caada (CAN 1984). 2 Statistics Caada Catalogue o XPE, Vol. 17, No. 2

3 Prostitutio i the Crimial Code Commuicatig offeces The commuicatig law, foud i sectio 213 of the Crimial Code, states the followig: Offece i relatio to prostitutio (1) Every perso who i a public place or i ay place ope to public view (a) stops or attempts to stop ay motor vehicle, (b) impedes the free flow of pedestria or vehicular traffic or igress to or egress from premises adjacet to that place, or (c) stops or attempts to stop ay perso or i ay maer commuicates or attempts to commuicate with ay perso for the purpose of egagig i prostitutio or of obtaiig the sexual services of a prostitute is guilty of a offece puishable o summary covictio. (2) I this sectio, public place icludes ay place to which the public have access as of right or by ivitatio, express or implied, ad ay motor vehicle located i a public place or i ay place ope to public view. I additio, sectio 197 has bee iterpreted such that the practice of prostitutio does ot require physical cotact betwee the customer ad the performer. Prostitutio merely requires proof that the woma offered her body for lewdess or for the purposes of the commissio of a ulawful act i retur for paymet. 2 The maximum pealty for beig covicted of this summary offece is a fie of $2,000 ad/or six moths of imprisomet. Bawdy-house offeces Keepig a commo bawdy-house, or trasportig a perso to a bawdy-house (sectios 210 ad 211) I summary, a perso keepig a commo bawdy-house (i.e. a place kept, occupied or frequeted for purposes of prostitutio or idecet acts) may be imprisoed for up to two years. A idividual occupyig or foud ulawfully i a bawdy-house, or takig someoe there, or i cotrol of such a place ad allowig prostitutio-related activities to occur, may be imprisoed up to six moths ad/or fied up to $2,000. Procurig offeces Procurig (sectio 212) This offece ecompasses a variety of crimes. To summarize, a perso may be imprisoed up to 10 years for the followig activities: procurig or solicitig aother to egage i prostitutio; eticig a perso who is ot a prostitute to a place for prostitutio; cocealig someoe i a bawdy-house; procurig a perso to eter or leave Caada for prostitutio; ecouragig or forcig someoe to prostitute for gai; eticig a idividual to take drugs or alcohol (or admiisterig such) to eable ayoe to carry out sexual activities with that idividual; or livig o icome eared through aother s prostitutio activities. If the perso is livig o the icome of a prostitute uder 18, the maximum priso setece is 14 years. A procurig violatio is also committed whe a cliet purchases or attempts to purchase the sexual services of a perso uder 18; the maximum pealty for this offece is five years i jail. Covicted procurers may also be fied. There is o maximum amout specified i the Crimial Code. a result, eforcemet is difficult, costly ad erratic. 3 A evaluatio by the Departmet of Justice (1989) deemed the legislatio ieffective i terms of reducig street prostitutio ad the aggravatio experieced by members of the commuity. Sice early 1995 there have bee ogoig cosultatios amog the miistries resposible for justice at the federal, provicial ad territorial levels ad key stakeholders, 4 with a view towards further reform of the prostitutio-related sectios of the Crimial Code (FED 1995). Issues beig reviewed iclude devisig better strategies for dealig with juveile prostitutio; expadig social services aimed at prevetio ad itervetio; imposig more severe pealties for pimps ad cliets; facilitatig law eforcemet; empowerig muicipalities to deal with the problem; licesig the sex trade; creatig zoes of tolerace; ad adoptig ew measures to curb the activities of cliets. I partial respose to these issues, Bill C-27 which deals with child prostitutio ad child sex tourism, amog other items was tabled i the House of Commos i April The Bill proposes a madatory miimum setece of five years for a ew offece of aggravated procurig, which is committed whe a perso livig o the avails of a prostitute uder the age of 18 uses violece agaist that prostitute ad assists her (or him) to 2 R. v. Tremblay (1991) i MAR (1996, 335). Presumably this iterpretatio applies to me ad childre as well. 3 I order to arrest a prostitute or a customer, it is usually ecessary for a police officer to pose as oe or the other. Eforcig procurig legislatio is also problematic sice may prostitutes fear testifyig agaist their pimps. 4 For example, police orgaizatios, the Federatio of Caadia Muicipalities, commuity associatios, social service agecies ad prostitutes. carry o prostitutio for profit. 5 It also modifies the curret legislatio to facilitate the arrest ad prosecutio of a idividual obtaiig or attemptig to obtai the sexual services of a perso uder 18 years i Caada or elsewhere. Risk Factors Associated With Street Prostitutio Studies have show that most adult prostitutes bega their career i their tees. Beig sexually active at a early age ad a ruaway are recogized risk factors. 6 The literature also suggests that a history of physical or sexual abuse compouds the risk, as does a family backgroud ivolvig drug or alcohol addictio. By the time such juveiles leave home, a umber have already acquired a crimial record for offeces such as theft, assault ad possessio of drugs. The demad for youg prostitutes is high, sice may customers prefer the services of adolescets, who may be less threateig or perceived to be less likely to harbour sexually-trasmitted diseases. Teeagers are ofte recruited ito prostitutio by frieds who are already ivolved i the sex trade. Youths who have left broke or abusive homes are particularly susceptible to offers of material (e.g. food ad shelter) or emotioal support, which ofte precede a itroductio to prostitutio. Oce implicated, may juveiles are coerced by pimps to cotiue workig through the use of threats, outright violece or drugs. 5 The curret legislatio does ot impose a madatory miimum setece for procurig (see Prostitutio i the Crimial Code). 6 As may as three i four prostitutes may be former ruaways (COM 1984). Statistics Caada Catalogue o XPE, Vol. 17, No. 2 3

4 Overview of persos charged with commuicatig i 1995 Age group Sex Most serious sactio Media duratio or amout Adults (97%) * 6,486 Females (52%) 3,486 Priso (39%) 30 days Probatio (22%) 1 year Fie (32%) $200 Other (7%) Total persos charged 6,710 Males (45%) 3,000 Priso (3%) 30 days Probatio (13%) 6 moths Fie (56%) $200 Other (28%) Youths (3%) ** 224 Females (2.8%) 190 Males (0.5%) 34 Ope/secure custody (13%) 30 days Probatio (57%) 9 moths Fie (6%) $62.50 Absolute discharge (15%) Other (9%) Sources: Uiform Crime Reportig Survey, Setecig Study database ad Youth Court Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics * Persos aged 18 ad over. ** Persos aged 12 to 17. May youths are diverted to social service agecies i lieu of beig charged. Adult court cases: Adults covicted of this offece i 1993 ad 1994 (1993/94 ad 1994/95 fiscal years i Otario). Excludes New Bruswick, Maitoba ad British Columbia; coverage is icomplete for Newfoudlad, Nova Scotia ad Quebec. Youth court cases: Youths covicted i Caada i 1993/94 ad 1994/95 fiscal years. Based o cases where the setece duratio was kow. But regardless of age or sex, street prostitutes are exposed to a dagerous lifestyle, icludig other crimial activities. Ufortuately, it is very difficult to fid other work that pays as well, sice may prostitutes lack educatio ad formal job skills, are drug depedet, ad i possessio of a crimial record. Some cotiue workig the streets to avoid the retributio expected from a pimp should they choose to quit. Police Eforcemet Practices Vary I 1995, police i all provices ad territories reported 7,165 prostitutio-related icidets (i.e. ivolvig oe or more commuicatig, procurig or bawdy-house violatios). 7 Although the umber of icidets that year was 29% higher tha i 1994, this icrease was preceded by steep declies betwee 1992 ad Furthermore, the umber of icidets i 1995 remaied oe-third lower tha the peak recorded i 1988, the third year followig the implemetatio of the commuicatig law (Table 1). Such fluctuatios are commo ad usually reflect chages i the eforcemet of the commuicatig law, rather tha crimial prevalece; for example, public complaits or media coverage ca lead to a few large crackdows, which temporarily iflate statistics (see Methodological Notes). Sice the commuicatig law has bee i force, the focus of arrests has bee o street prostitutes ad their cliets (Chart B). For example, i 1995 the vast majority of prostitutio icidets ivolved commuicatig (92%), distatly followed by procurig (5%) 8 ad bawdy-house icidets (3%). I cotrast, oly 22% of the icidets recorded i 1985 were for solicitig, while over half (58%) were related to bawdy-house activities, ad 19% were for procurig. Because most reported prostitutio icidets ivolve commuicatig i public, ad charges are ofte laid by police workig udercover as prostitutes or cliets, at least oe perso is usually charged. I 1995, 97% of commuicatig icidets resulted i someoe beig charged; i compariso, the charge rate i procurig icidets was 79%. Most of the 7,646 persos charged 9 i a prostitutio-related icidet i 1995 were accused of commuicatig (6,710). Just over half (55%) of those charged with a commuicatig offece were female (Table 2). (Although the data do ot idicate whether 7 A icidet refers to a crimial occurrece reported by police, which cosists of oe or more offeces (i.e. crimes or violatios) committed by oe or more persos. 8 Procurig icidets reported by police may iclude offeces foud i sectios 170 (paret or guardia procurig sexual activity) or 171 (householder permittig sexual activity) of the Crimial Code. 9 A perso may be charged whe there is sufficiet evidece of culpability, eve if that perso has ot bee appreheded. A idividual charged i more tha oe icidet will be couted more tha oce; o the other had, obody may be charged i a icidet. Thus the umber of persos charged is ot equal to the umber of icidets, or is it equal to the umber of offeces reported. 4 Statistics Caada Catalogue o XPE, Vol. 17, No. 2

5 Table 1 Prostitutio icidets reported by police* Year Total Commuicatig Bawdy-house Procurig or solicitig Number Rate ** % Number % Number % Number % , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Source: Uiform Crime Reportig Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics * Excludes icidets where prostitutio was ot the most serious offece. ** Number of icidets per 100,000 populatio. The commuicatig law replaced the solicitig law i December Chart B Distributio of prostitutio icidets reported by police 100% 100% 80% 80% 60% 60% 40% 40% 20% 20% 0% Commuicatig/solicitig* Bawdy-house Procurig 0% Source: Uiform Crime Reportig Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics * The commuicatig law replaced the solicitig law i December Statistics Caada Catalogue o XPE, Vol. 17, No. 2 5

6 Table 2 Persos charged i prostitutio icidets i 1995* All offeces Commuicatig Bawdy-house Procurig Number % Number % Number % Number % Total 7, , Females 4, , Males 3, , Adults** 7, , Females 3, , Males 3, , Youths Females Males Source: Uiform Crime Reportig Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics * Excludes persos who were charged i a icidet ivolvig a more serious offece. ** Persos aged 18 ad over. Persos aged 12 to 17. May youths are diverted to social service agecies i lieu of beig charged. the perso charged was a prostitute or cliet, it is geerally recogized that most prostitutes are female 10 ad almost all cliets are male.) Females also predomiated amog those accused of a bawdy-house offece (64%), while seve i te persos charged with procurig were male. The vast majority of persos accused of a prostitutio-related offece i 1995 were adults aged 18 or older (97%). The relatively small proportio of youths (12 to 17 year-olds) charged may reflect their frequet diversio to social service agecies by police, ad the use of other deterrece practices aimed at juveiles. Females charged with commuicatig were somewhat youger, o average, tha males charged with this offece: 28 years versus 35. Fidigs were similar amog those charged with a bawdy-house offece. As for procurers, females teded to be older tha their male couterparts (36 years, o average, compared with 24). 11 Sice December 1985, whe the commuicatig law replaced the solicitig law, there has bee a shift towards more males beig charged. Specifically, males accouted for just over oethird (36%) of all persos charged with solicitig betwee 1977 ad 1985; i compariso, almost half (47%) of those charged with commuicatig durig the 1986 to 1995 period were male (Chart C). This icrease may reflect chages i eforcemet practices, i that some police agecies are chargig more me i a effort to hold customers more accoutable for their 10 For example, i Vacouver over 80% of prostitutes are female (Lowma, Atchiso ad Fraser 1996). 11 These observatios are based o the Revised UCR ad iclude oly those icidets ivolvig a sigle offece. participatio i the sex trade; also, sice 1985, the law i force has clearly applied to cliets as well as prostitutes. I cotrast, from 1986 owards, a higher percetage of accused procurers have bee female (36%), compared with 25% of procurers charged betwee 1977 ad I both periods, 6 i 10 persos charged with a bawdy-house offece were female. Chart C Distributio of the sex of the accused by type of offece Solicitig ( ) Commuicatig* ( ) Bawdy-house Procurig % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Females Males Source: Uiform Crime Reportig Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics * The commuicatig law replaced the solicitig law i December Statistics Caada Catalogue o XPE, Vol. 17, No. 2

7 Data Sources ad Methodological Notes Data Sources Uiform Crime Reportig Survey (UCR ad Revised UCR): The UCR provides basic police-reported iformatio (datig back to 1977 i this report) o violet, property ad other crime, for youths ad adults ad by sex. Oly the most serious offece i a icidet is recorded. This meas that crimes, particularly those which are cosidered less serious, are udercouted. Virtually all police forces i Caada provide these data. The Revised UCR, itroduced i 1988, collects detailed iformatio o up to four separate violatios committed durig a icidet, icludig the characteristics of the accused, the victims ad the offeces committed. Coverage, which is risig every year, was about 46% of the volume of all reported crime i Although survey respodets do ot provide a represetative sample of crimial icidets atioally, there is good coverage of urba crime. Homicide Survey: This data source provides police-reported iformatio o the characteristics of homicide victims ad those accused of homicide. The cout for a particular year represets all homicides reported that year, regardless of whe the death actually occurred. Extesive revisios to the survey were carried out i 1991, allowig for more comprehesive aalysis of prostitutio-related homicide. Setecig Study database: The database created for this study (Birkemayer ad Roberts 1997) cotais iformatio o seteces imposed o covicted offeders i adult Provicial Court cases over a two-year period (1993 ad 1994 caledar years, except for Otario, which covers the 1993/94 ad 1994/95 fiscal years). Most of the data were derived from the Adult Crimial Court Survey (ACCS). 12 Iformatio is available from a limited umber of jurisdictios oly, that is, all courts i Price Edward Islad, Otario, Saskatchewa, Alberta, Yuko ad the Northwest Territories, ad some courts i Newfoudlad, Nova Scotia ad Quebec. All courts i New Bruswick, Maitoba ad British Columbia are excluded. Youth Court Survey (YCS): The YCS provides iformatio from all provices ad territories o persos aged 12 to 17 charged with federal statute violatios. Data coverig the 1993/94 ad 1994/95 fiscal years are examied i this study. Methodological Notes The real extet of prostitutio-related crime is ot reflected i official statistics. Much of it goes udetected or ureported. For example, youths are ofte ecouraged to take advatage of social services i lieu of beig charged. Ad sice charges are ofte laid by police officers workig udercover as cliets or prostitutes, the umber of reported icidets ca vary greatly withi jurisdictios over time, depedig o crime issues targeted by local police forces. Comparisos across jurisdictios may also be problematic because of differet eforcemet practices. Other factors affectig the volume of crime reported iclude variatios i covictio ad setecig practices, legislative chages, ad the level of tolerace exhibited for prostitutio i the commuity. Arrests for street prostitutio ted to occur i large cities I 1995, almost two i three reported icidets of prostitutio origiated from the Toroto, Motréal or Vacouver CMAs (Cesus Metropolita Areas 13 ). Oly 4% of icidets were reported from areas outside CMAs (Table 3). Over half (55%) of the icrease i prostitutio icidets oted earlier ca be traced to a substatial rise i the umber of commuicatig icidets reported from the Vacouver CMA (from 341 to 1,211). As a result of this crackdow, Vacouver accouted for 17% of all prostitutio-related icidets reported atioally i 1995, compared with oly 7% the previous year. But, as previously metioed, year-to-year fluctuatios are commo. For example, the total umber of prostitutio icidets i Caada dropped sharply i 1993, largely due to fewer commuicatig icidets i Vacouver; a eve steeper declie occurred i 1994, mostly i Toroto, Edmoto ad Calgary. Although icidet couts reflect the volume of eforcemet activity takig place i a specific regio, icidet rates 14 are more appropriate whe comparig geographical areas with differet populatio sizes. For example, commuicatig icidet rates i 1995 were highest i Regia (107 icidets per 100,000 populatio), followed by Vacouver (66), Edmoto (49) ad Halifax (48). Rates i the atio s two largest CMAs were somewhat lower: 42 i Toroto ad 38 i Motréal (Chart D). 12 Alberta does ot participate i the ACCS, but provided data for this study. 13 A CMA is a urbaized core with a total populatio of at least 100,000, together with its mai labour market area (determied by commutig patters). 14 Icidet rates represet the umber of reported icidets per 100,000 populatio for a specific regio ad time frame (e.g. Toroto i 1995). They are calculated as follows: (umber of icidets reported i the regio durig the period / populatio i the regio i that period ) x 100,000. Chart D Commuicatig rates i top te CMAs* Regia Vacouver Edmoto Halifax Toroto St. Catharies-Niagara Motréal Hamilto-Wetworth Trois-Rivières Wiipeg Commuicatig icidets per 100,000 populatio Source: Uiform Crime Reportig Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics * Cesus Metropolita Areas with the highest 1995 rates. Statistics Caada Catalogue o XPE, Vol. 17, No. 2 7

8 Table 3 Prostitutio icidets by Cesus Metropolita Area (CMA) All prostitutio-related icidets* Commuicatig icidets CMA Number Rate** Number Rate** Number Rate** Number Rate ** Caada 7, , , , CMA total 6, , , , Toroto 1, , , , Motréal 1, , , , Vacouver 1, , Edmoto Hamilto-Wetworth Regia Wiipeg Calgary Halifax St. Catharies-Niagara Québec Ottawa-Hull Kitcheer-Waterloo Lodo Saskatoo Widsor Trois-Rivières Other CMAs No-CMA total Source: Uiform Crime Reportig Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics * Icludes commuicatig, bawdy-house ad procurig icidets. ** Number of icidets per 100,000 populatio i the CMA (or other area) listed. Icludes Thuder Bay, Sudbury, Oshawa, Victoria, Sait Joh, Chicoutimi-Joquière, St. Joh s ad Sherbrooke. Oly 2 icidets per 100,000 were reported by police forces i all o-cma regios combied (small cities, tows ad rural areas). Street Prostitutio Is Dagerous A recet study cofirms that physical ad sexual assaults o street prostitutes are commoly carried out by cliets, pimps ad boyfrieds. 15 Police reports i 1995 reveal that four i te icidets ecompassig procurig also ivolved at least oe other crimial violatio; i almost half of these icidets, a sexual ad/or other assault was recorded. 16 Sometimes assaults are serious eough to cause death. Ideed, 63 kow prostitutes were foud murdered betwee 1991 ad 1995 (Table 4). Most (50) appeared to have bee killed by customers. Eight were thought to have bee killed by pimps or i a drug-related icidet. The remaiig deaths were at the hads of husbads, commo-law spouses ad boyfrieds. Almost all of the murdered prostitutes were female: 60 of the 63 who died betwee 1991 ad Seve of the prostitutes killed were juveiles aged 15 to 17 all females. Durig this period, kow prostitutes accouted for 5% of all female homicides reported (1,118 deaths). The private ature of a street prostitute s activities ca make the idetificatio of a killer very difficult all the more so whe that perso is also a strager. I fact, most prostitute homicides go usolved. At the ed of 1996, 34 icidets (54%) reported betwee 1991 ad 1995 remaied usolved. I compariso, 20% of homicide icidets ivolvig victims other tha kow prostitutes were usolved. Cliets are also at risk Although prostitutes ofte face dager while exercisig their professio, cliets, pimps ad other people also put themselves at risk whe dealig with prostitutes. It has bee estimated that about 40% of street prostitutes i Vacouver carry a weapo whe workig. 17 Betwee 1991 ad 1995, 18 prostitutes were 15 I 1994 ad 1995, surveys o violece agaist prostitutes were carried out o behalf of the Departmet of Justice i Halifax, Motréal, Toroto, Calgary, Wiipeg ad Vacouver (Braiga 1996; Fleischma 1996; la boîte à qu o-se-voir 1996; Lowma ad Fraser 1996). 16 I cotrast, the overwhelmig majority (96%) of icidets ivolvig a commuicatig offece cosisted of that sigle crimial violatio oly, as did most (85%) icidets with a bawdy-house offece. These fidigs are based o the Revised UCR, which collects iformatio o up to four violatios i a icidet. 17 Accordig to a survey carried out i 1994 (Lowma ad Fraser 1996). 8 Statistics Caada Catalogue o XPE, Vol. 17, No. 2

9 Table 4 Prostitutio-related homicide, by relatioship to victim implicated i the deaths of 10 cliets, 1 pimp ad 5 others (Table 4). All but oe of the prostitutes charged with homicide had a previous crimial record, as did most (11) of the victims. Virtually all of the victims were male (15), while most (15) of the prostitutes charged with homicide were female. Provicial Court Statistics Prostitutes killed Year By cliets* By pimps* By persos By others** Total ivolved i illegal drug activities* (2) (1) (4) Total (7) Year Persos killed by prostitutes Number of prostitutes Cliets Pimps Others Total charged (1) (1) Total (2) Source: Homicide Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics * Icludes icidets where charges were laid, as well as icidets where o charges were laid but the killers were thought to have bee cliets or pimps, or ivolved i illegal drug activities. ** Maily husbads, commo-law spouses ad boyfrieds. Because the survey codes oly the closest relatioship to the victim, some of these killers could also have bee pimps. For example, a prostitute killed by her husbad who was also her pimp will be assiged to this category. Bracketed umbers represet youth prostitutes. Maily acquaitaces. Oly cases 18 resultig i covictios are examied i this sectio of the report. I cases ivolvig more tha oe charge or sactio, oly the most serious charge/sactio is discussed. Most of the fidigs are preseted i the form of percetages, sice adult court iformatio was uavailable for some jurisdictios (see Data Sources) ad there were oly a few prostitutio-related cases reported from youth courts. 18 A case represets a accused perso facig oe or more charges that are first preseted together i the same court o the same date. Adults covicted of commuicatig are most likely to be fied Accordig to the ACCS, which has more limited coverage tha the Setecig Study database, covictios were obtaied i 87% of adult court cases where commuicatig was the most serious charge, 19 64% of bawdy-house cases, ad 33% of procurig cases. 20 Commuicatig was the most serious offece 21 i 7,062 reported adult court cases resultig i covictios i 1993 ad (Table 5). The vast majority of all commuicatig cases (91%) ivolved oe charge oly. The most severe sactio imposed i Table 5 Most serious sactio imposed o adults covicted i 1993 ad 1994* Commu- Bawdy- Procurig icatig house Total umber of adult court cases resultig i covictios 7, Most serious sactio imposed (%): Priso setece Probatio Fie Other** Number of adult court cases with oe charge oly 6, Most serious sactio imposed (%): Priso setece Probatio Fie Other** Number of adult court cases with two or more charges Most serious sactio imposed (%): Priso setece Probatio Fie Other** Source: Setecig Study database, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics * Excludes New Bruswick, Maitoba ad British Columbia; coverage is icomplete for Newfoudlad, Nova Scotia ad Quebec. Otario data are for the 1993/94 ad 1994/95 fiscal years combied. ** Icludes restitutio, compesatio, absolute ad coditioal discharges, suspeded setece, paymet of legal costs, ad suspesio of driver s licece. 19 Covictio rates were similar for me ad wome. 20 ACCS data reveal that 33% of procurig cases first appearig i Provicial Court i 1993 or 1994 were referred to Superior Court prior to dispositio. Covictios resultig from these cases would ot show up i the Setecig Study database, which deals with cases heard i Provicial Court oly. 21 I other words, cases ivolvig commuicatig ad at least oe more serious offece (e.g. theft, assault) are excluded. 22 The Setecig Study database combies provicial data for both years except for Otario, which covers the 1993/94 ad 1994/95 fiscal years. Statistics Caada Catalogue o XPE, Vol. 17, No. 2 9

10 46% of sigle-charge cases was a fie; 23 evertheless, a covictio resulted i a priso setece i 17% of cases. I marked cotrast, covicted commuicatig offeders i multiplecharge cases 24 were much more likely to ed up i priso (44%). A bawdy-house violatio was the most serious offece i 493 adult court cases coverig the two-year period. Nie i te bawdy-house cases cosisted of oe charge oly. I almost half of sigle-charge cases, a fie was the strogest pealty imposed, while i a third, it was probatio. Oly 96 cases dealt with procurig as the most serious offece. Compared with commuicatig ad bawdy-house cases, a higher proportio of procurig cases ivolved multiple charges (9% ad 10% versus 32%, respectively). Aother sigificat differece observed i procurig cases was the high proportio of covicted offeders set to jail (48% i sigle-charge cases ad 74% i multiple-charge cases). Most of the remaiig offeders were put o probatio. Whe priso seteces were imposed for ay of the three types of prostitutio offeces, they teded to be loger i cases ivolvig two or more charges tha i those with a sigle charge (Table 6). Further, the media priso seteces observed were sigificatly loger for procurig tha for other prostitutio offeces. Likewise, where probatio was the most serious pealty admiistered, procurers geerally faced loger periods of supervisio. Media fies were relatively low for all three prostitutio offeces (i light of the maximum allowed i the Crimial Code). 23 Covictios (i.e. guilty dispositios) i adult courts result i oe or more of the followig sactios beig imposed (ordered from most to least serious): priso; probatio; fie; restitutio or compesatio; some other sactio (absolute discharge, coditioal discharge, suspeded setece, paymet of legal costs, suspesio of driver s licece). If more tha oe sactio was prescribed i a prostitutio-related case, oly the most serious is discussed here; for example, a covicted offeder i a sigle-charge case who was both imprisoed ad fied will be excluded from this measure (i.e. 46%), but icluded i the ext oe (i.e. 17%). 24 The other charges may or may ot have ivolved prostitutio-related violatios. Table 6 Media sactios imposed o adults covicted i 1993 ad 1994* Commu- Bawdy- Procurig icatig house Most serious sactio imposed: Priso setece (media duratio)** Cases with oe charge oly 15 days 21 days 1 year Cases with two or more charges 35 days 30 days 1.2 years Probatio (media duratio) Cases with oe charge oly 1 year 1 year 1.5 years Cases with two or more charges 1 year 1 year 2 years Fie (media amout) Cases with oe charge oly $200 $250 $300 Cases with two or more charges $250 $200 Source: Setecig Study database, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics * Excludes New Bruswick, Maitoba ad British Columbia; coverage is icomplete for Newfoudlad, Nova Scotia ad Quebec. Otario data are for the 1993/94 ad 1994/95 fiscal years combied. ** Based o cases where the duratio was kow. No cases i this category. Wome usually face more serious sactios tha me 25 Me accouted for over half (56%) of covicted commuicatig offeders. Nevertheless, wome covicted of this offece i the period were geerally dealt with more severely tha me, perhaps because they were more likely to have had previous covictios, or cases ivolvig multiple charges. The data show that 39% of wome were imprisoed ad 22% were put o probatio (Chart E). I cotrast, the majority (56%) of me were fied; oly 3% were jailed ad 13% were give probatio (see The Joh School ). 25 Sigle ad multiple charge cases have bee combied i this sectio. Chart E Most serious sactio imposed o adults covicted of commuicatig i 1993 ad 1994* Females 39% Males 13% 22% Priso Probatio 56% 3% 7% Fie Other** 28% 32% Source: Setecig Study database, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics * Excludes New Bruswick, Maitoba ad British Columbia; coverage is icomplete for Newfoudlad, Nova Scotia ad Quebec. Otario data are for the 1993/94 ad 1994/95 fiscal years combied. ** Icludes restitutio, compesatio, absolute ad coditioal discharges, suspeded setece, paymet of legal costs, ad suspesio of driver's licece. 10 Statistics Caada Catalogue o XPE, Vol. 17, No. 2

11 The Joh School I cotrast to the umerous social studies carried out o prostitutes, relatively little research has focused o customers, who are the drivig force behid the trade. A recet report, however, provides wide-ragig motives behid the market for commercial sex, gleaed from the literature ad represetig the observatios of buyers, sellers, researchers, femiists ad medical practitioers (Lowma, Atchiso ad Fraser 1996). Motives iclude social ieptitude (which precludes ormal relatioships); the desire to avoid the hassle of a relatioship; the wish to assert domiace; the uavailability of the regular parter, or certai forms of sexual activity; curiosity; sexual addictio; ad closet homosexuality. Regardless of their motives, cliets are beig held icreasigly resposible for their actios. This risig accoutability lies behid the establishmet of the joh school. Iitially developed i Sa Fracisco by a former prostitute ad a police officer, the cocept of the joh school has recetly bee imported to Caada, where some police forces (e.g. i Toroto, Ottawa ad Edmoto) have bee carryig out pilot projects. Whe available, the optio of attedig a joh school sessio may be offered to cliets (i.e."johs") arrested for the first time. A commuicatig charge is stayed or dropped i exchage for spedig a few hours i a classroom settig, where the me are iformed about the legal, medical ad social ramificatios of their activities. Although these programs are still i their ifacy, officials i Sa Fracisco have reported a low rate of recidivism. This rehabilitative approach is cost-effective, sice may of the speakers are voluteers ad court costs are avoided; i some cities, school attedees are required to pay a fee or are asked for doatios. Fially, commuity members feel that somethig tagible is beig doe to address the problem. Several criticisms have bee directed at the joh school, however. Sice customers dealig with prostitutes i idoor veues are rarely arrested for commuicatig, those dealig with street prostitutes are the most likely to be steered towards the school; furthermore, this optio is ot available to every cliet arrested. Also, there is o equivalet program for prostitutes at this time, although other itervetios or facilities (such as safe houses) exist i some cities. Whe priso seteces were haded out for commuicatig, the media duratio was the same for both sexes (30 days). Media fies were also the same ($200). However, the media probatioary period imposed o females was double that for males (oe year versus six moths). Seve i te persos covicted of a bawdy-house offece were female. 26 Sactios were similar for both sexes: a third were put o probatio ad just over two i five were fied. About 85% of covicted procurers were me. Six i te of these me were seteced to priso ad a third were put o probatio. Youths ted to be hadled differetly The lack of maturity possessed by adolescet ad child prostitutes adds to their victimizatio by procurers ad cliets, who are usually adults. Serious ad lastig harm to these childre, metal as well as physical, has bee extesively documeted. Social agecies ad legislative measures have bee focusig more o prevetio, protectio ad redirectio, through the creatio ad applicatio of provicial child welfare legislatio ad muicipal welfare programs. Crimial legislatio may also be applied to help redirect youths away from prostitutio. For example, a juveile may be arrested ad offered the optio of participatig i a Alterative Measures program, whereby he or she admits resposibility for the offece committed ad volutarily egages i some form of remedial actio, such as obtaiig cousellig or performig commuity service; i exchage, court proceedigs ad a possible crimial record are avoided. Youths who ed up i court ad are covicted may be give probatio. Although more severe tha a fie, probatio ca be used to keep youths off the street by requirig them to live i specified locatios, avoid areas where they ormally work, ad report to probatio officers o a regular basis. 27 A examiatio of youth court cases resultig i a guilty fidig durig the 1993/94 ad 1994/95 fiscal years shows commuicatig to have bee the most sigificat charge i oly 324 cases atioally. 28 Seve i te commuicatig cases ivolved a 16 or 17 year-old female. Just over oe i five cases cocered 13 to 15 year-olds (both sexes). Ad i 8% of cases, the offeder was a 16 or 17 year-old male. I 57% of commuicatig cases ivolvig youths, the most serious pealty icurred upo covictio was probatio i cotrast, this outcome was foud i oly 17% of adult cases. A fie was the most sigificat dispositio i oly 6% of youth cases (but 45% of adult cases), ad 13% of cases eded with the accused ordered i custody (versus 19% of adult cases). Whe secure or ope custody was imposed for commuicatig, the media time assiged to a juveile was 30 days. Whe probatio was the most severe pealty, the media term was ie moths; whe it was a fie, the media amout was $ A absolute discharge was grated i 15% of youth commuicatig cases, while a commuity service order or some other relatively mior pealty was give i 9% of cases. Cocludig Remarks Prostitutio evokes strog ad wide-ragig reactios ad opiios. Some idividuals abhor the exploitatio ad violece associated with the trade, while others reset the damage iflicted o their eighbourhoods. A umber of these people wat stroger laws eacted ad less leiecy show by the courts. 26 This observatio is based o cases where the sex of the offeder was kow. 27 Youths covicted of a prostitutio offece ca receive oe or more of the followig pealties (raked from most to least severe): secure custody; detetio for treatmet; ope custody (which may cosist of a commuity residetial cetre, group home, wilderess camp, etc.); probatio; fie; some other setece (such as a commuity service order, restitutio, prohibitio, essay, apology, or cousellig); or absolute disharge (foud guilty but discharged). 28 It is importat to remember that youths are ofte diverted to social service agecies i lieu of beig charged. Statistics Caada Catalogue o XPE, Vol. 17, No. 2 11

12 At the other ed of the spectrum, there are those who feel that prostitutes have a right to exercise their professio freely. Other persos favour legalizig the trade to eable prostitutes to work at home or i brothels, subject to provicial regulatio ad muicipal zoig ad licesig. I betwee lie suggestios to simply reduce the visibility of street prostitutio through greater eforcemet of the curret law. Some proposals aim to cotai the activity i clearly defied districts (e.g. outside residetial eighbourhoods), through egotiatio amog sex trade workers, police officials, local politicias ad affected citizes. Other optios target prevetio or itervetio through cousellig, medical services, educatio ad job traiig. Activities are also directed at hiderig or deterrig cliets; for example, police i some cities have published the ames of customers, impouded their automobiles, set up traffic barriers or itroduced programs such as the joh school. The variety of approaches take to deal with the problems associated with prostitutio reflect the urgecy felt by may stakeholders for solutios. Iovative strategies aimed at prevetio as well as eforcemet are beig developed, ad may affected commuities are expedig sigificat efforts grapplig with these matters. Through such activities, a icreasig umber of Caadias are becomig aware of the issues ivolved ad the eed to address them. Refereces Birkemayer A, Roberts JV. Setecig i Adult Provicial Courts A Study of Nie Caadia Jurisdictios: 1993 & Juristat. Catalogue o XPE, 17(1). Ottawa: Statistics Caada, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics, Braiga A. Victimizatio of Prostitutes i Calgary ad Wiipeg. Techical Report No. TR E. Ottawa: Departmet of Justice Caada, British Columbia. Commuity Cosultatio o Prostitutio i British Columbia: Overview of Results. March (CAN) Caadia Advisory Coucil o the Status of Wome. Prostitutio i Caada. March (COM) Committee o Sexual Offeces Agaist Childre ad Youths. Sexual Offeces Agaist Childre, Volume 2. Ottawa: Miister of Supply ad Services Caada, Departmet of Justice Caada. Street Prostitutio: Assessig the Impact of the Law Sythesis Report. Catalogue o. J23-7/ E (JUS-P-544E). Ottawa, Departmet of Justice Caada. Discussio Paper: The Report of the Committee o Sexual Offeces Agaist Childre ad Youths ad The Report of the Special Committee o Porography ad Prostitutio. Ottawa: Miister of Supply ad Services Caada, (FED) Federal-Provicial-Territorial Workig Group o Prostitutio. Results of the Natioal Cosultatio o Prostitutio i Selected Jurisdictios Iterim Report. October Federal-Provicial-Territorial Workig Group o Prostitutio (The). Dealig with Prostitutio i Caada: A Cosultatio Paper. March Federatio of Caadia Muicipalities. Proceedigs of The Natioal Meetig o Prostitutio i Caada, May 10 ad 11, 1993 Calgary, Alberta. September Fleischma J. Violece Agaist Street Prostitutes i Halifax ( ). Techical Report No. TR E. Ottawa: Departmet of Justice Caada, La boîte à qu o-se-voir. Étude sur les violeces evers les prostituées à Motréal. Techical Report No. TR F. Ottawa: Departmet of Justice Caada, Larse EN. The effect of differet police eforcemet policies o the cotrol of prostitutio. Caadia Public Policy. 1996; XXII(1): Lowma J, Atchiso C, Fraser L. Me Who Buy Sex: Phase 1 Report. Draft, April Lowma J, Fraser L. Violece Agaist Persos Who Prostitute: The Experiece i British Columbia. Techical Report No. TR E. Ottawa: Departmet of Justice Caada, (MAR) Marti s Aual Crimial Code, With aotatios by EL Greespa ad M Roseberg. Aurora, Ot.: Caada Law Book Ic., Moyer S, Carrigto PJ. Street Prostitutio: Assessig the Impact of the Law Toroto. Catalogue o. J23-7/4-1989E (JUS-P- 548E). Ottawa: Departmet of Justice Caada, Report of Subcommittees o Prostitutio to the Federatio of Caadia Muicipalities Big Cities Mayor s Caucus. Calgary: November (SPE) Special Committee o Porography ad Prostitutio. Porography ad Prostitutio i Caada: Report of the Special Committee o Porography ad Prostitutio, Volume 1 ad Volume 2. Ottawa: Miister of Supply ad Services Caada, Va Bruschot EG. Youth ivolvemet i prostitutio. Caadia Deliquecy, JH Creecha ad RA Silverma, eds. Scarborough: Pretice-Hall Caada Ic., 1995: Wolff L, Geissel D. Street prostitutio i Caada. Juristat. Catalogue o , 13(4). Ottawa: Statistics Caada, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Caada Catalogue o XPE, Vol. 17, No. 2

13 Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics For further iformatio, please cotact the Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics, 19th floor, R.H. Coats Buildig, Ottawa, Otario K1A 0T6 at (613) or call toll-free To order a publicatio, you may telephoe (613) or fax (613) or iteret: [email protected]. You may also call (Caada ad Uited States) toll-free. If you order by telephoe, writte cofirmatio is ot required. Recet Juristat Releases Catalogue XPB Vol. 15 No. 15 Childre ad Youths as Victims of Violet Crimes / Les efats et les jeues victimes de crimes de violece Vol. 15 No. 16 Recidivism i Youth Courts / La récidive das les tribuaux de la jeuesse Vol. 16 No. 1 Vol. 16 No. 2 Vol. 16 No. 3 Police Persoel ad Expeditures i Caada, 1994 / Effectif policier et dépeses au chapitre des services de police au Caada, 1994 Motor Vehicle Crimes / Crimes liés aux véhicules à moteur Govermet Spedig o Adult Correctioal Services / Dépeses gouveremetales au titre des services correctioels pour adultes Vol. 16 No. 4 Youth Court Statistics Highlights / Statistiques sur les tribuaux de la jeuesse : Faits saillats de Vol. 16 No. 5 Vol. 16 No. 6 Vol. 16 No. 7 Vol. 16 No. 8 Vol. 16 No. 9 Youth Custody ad Probatio i Caada, / Le placemet sous garde et la probatio chez les adolescets au Caada, Violet Crime i Caada / Les crimes de violece au Caada Adult Correctioal Services i Caada: Highlights for / Les services correctioels pour adultes au Caada : Faits saillats de Adult Commuity Correctios i Caada: / Les services correctioels commuautaires pour adultes au Caada : The Justice Data Factfider / Recueil de doées sur la justice Catalogue XPE Vol. 16 No. 10 Caadia Crime Statistics, 1995 Vol. 16 No. 11 Homicide i Caada 1995 Vol. 16 No. 12 Crimial Harassmet Vol. 17 No. 1 Setecig i Adult Provicial Courts A Study of Nie Caadia Jurisdictios: 1993 & 1994 Statistics Caada Catalogue o XPE, Vol. 17, No. 2 13