By Peter Berton
SASKATOON, Canada – For almost two years, the city of Saskatoon has licensed escorts, massage parlor workers and strippers in a bid to reduce worker abuse and underage prostitution. Today, the verdict is that licensing works.
That’s according to Saskatoon Chief of Police Clive Weighill (pictured). In a report submitted to Saskatoon’s Board of Police Commissioners, Weighill states the Adult Services Bylaw has been effective in reducing violence against sex workers and keeping underage people out of the industry.
For sex workers who previously avoided police for fear of arrest, the Adult Services Bylaw “opens up that line of communication that they know the police are not there to prosecute them as long as they are following the rules, and they can safely discuss issues with the police,” Weighill told CBC News.
Meanwhile, a licensing regime helps keep local sex-work employers in line.
“The escort services and massage parlors all know police will be checking on their license,” Weighill said.
Thanks to the Adult Services Bylaw, “workers in the adult services industry have expressed they feel more secure coming to the police with issues that arise,” the Saskatoon Police report noted, adding that one underage 17 year-old escort was identified and removed from the market. Charges were filed against the escort agency that employed the teenager.
Under the Adult Service Bylaw, Saskatoon’s police ensure people involved in the legal sex trade are age 18 or older, voluntarily employed in a field they chose and not being exploited.
Whether Saskatoon’s progressive attitude and positive results are acknowledged by Canada’s right-wing Conservative federal government remains to be seen. The government is developing new prostitution laws after the country’s Supreme Court struck down previous legislation because it violated Canada’s constitutional definition of human rights.
