There remains some concern, however, that not all members of the prostitution industry are aware of their rights and responsibilities, and some have called upon the government to take “a [more] proactive role in the education of brothel owners and sex workers.” 15 In late 2010 the ACT Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety launched an inquiry into the operation of [...] As stated in section 3 of the Prostitution Reform Act: The purpose of this Act is to decriminalise prostitution (while not endorsing or morally sanctioning prostitution or its use) and to create a framework that – safeguards the human rights of sex workers and protects them from exploitation; promotes the welfare and occupational health and safety of sex workers; is conducive to public healt [...] A 2006 government evaluation of the effects of the brothel ban and 2008 statistics released by TAMPEP (the European Network for HIV/STI Prevention and Health Promotion Amongst Sex Workers) also found a significant decrease in the number of licensed sex establishments, although this may be due in larger part to the economic situation and impact of the Internet and mobile phones than to the ban itse [...] Since the introduction of Article 250a of the Penal Code, however, the police have made particular efforts to “clean up” the industry.66 In 2009, the Ministry of Justice even appointed a special public prosecutor to target organized crime in the sex industry.67 Nevertheless, sex workers are still vulnerable to violence perpetrated by the organizers of the sex industry, by pimps and by clients. [...] Following the recent trend to further regulate the sex industry, in late 2009, a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by the Ministers of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and Justice proposing a national register for sex workers, mandatory registration and increased supervision and enforcement.
Authors
- Pages
- 32
- Published in
- Canada
