Does Toronto Need a Red Light District?
The other day there was a bit of a hullabaloo when councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West) suggested that Toronto should get itself a red light district. Although the idea has been floated before, it was his suggestion of the location that seemed to shock most people: the Toronto Islands.
It's understandable that the idea was met with some criticism given the family-friendly nature of the Islands, but the idea of legalizing prostitution itself does have several health and safety benefits for those who work in that profession. I think a red light district in Toronto wouldn't be a terrible thing for the city, but I'm also not sure where it would go. Since it's already (mostly) on Jarvis, it doesn't seem to make much sense to move it to another part of the city, but I'm not sure what the legalization of prostitution does to a neighbourhood, albeit one that's already pretty shady at night.
Have any readers ever been to places where prostitution is legal? Where do you think a good place in the city would be?
Either way, since most councillors and the mayor himself have not exactly warmed up to the idea, it isn't likely to happen any time soon.
Photo (and likely accompanying interesting story) by Photosapience.
Comments (15)
In theory, legalizing prostitution and creating a red light district has enormous potential benefits for sex workers - not just prostitutes, but any sex worker in the city, all of whose rights are seriously under-represented and all of whom could benefit from legislation to better define their rights and increase their on-job safety.
In reality, however, I suspect it's a legitimate impossibility that Toronto government would ever allow such a thing to come to "Toronto the Good." There is simply no way to achieve this that would not be perceived as an irreparable slight upon the city's "good name."
I can just imagine the ferry ride to the island when patrons are going to the red light district. Now that would be fun!
As one of the people who are suing the federal government over the prostitution laws and as a sex worker myself let me tell you that Legalizing prostitution does NOT benefit sex workers. Canada has Legalized prostitution and look at the situtation we're in. What legalization does is open the door to laws that criminal prostitution acts (think Canada, the Netherlands, and Swedan) and brings in inflated taxes (think Germany, Amersterdam etc), that are NOT fair business taxes but instead taxes that can take up more than 75% of a sex workers earnings.
What we need, and what we're suing for is DECRIMINALIZATION (think New South Wales, and New Zealand) which treats sex workers like any other worker with benefits and such and forces them to pay FAIR income tax not unfair income tax or SIN taxes.
For more info on Legalization go to www.spoc.ca
I can just imagine the ferry ride to the island when patrons are going to the red light district.
Its the disappointingly disillusioned unfulfilled ride back that would be more sad...
Lived in A-dam for a year. The Red light district there is, well just plain old tacky. How about the best place for the red light district remain the the back pages of NOW Magazine.
OR
How about turning the Old Maple Leaf Gardens into one huge multi-sexual bath house. There could be a section dedicated to "Young Boys for Old Men" in honor of the buildings glorious past!
I think integration would be far more effective than segregation. The islands is a terrible idea.
Spent some time in Amsterdam myself and stayed in the red light district a few times. It was relatively safe and clean (I was chased and nearly mugged once in the city but that was by the train station) though annoying to be offered deals on live sex shows or drugs every 2 minutes while walking around. The one thing I do know is that the ladies earn the right to shine that red light by having regular tests for STDs. Didn't realize that, as Wendy mentions above, they get taxed at high rates, but it is Northern Europe we're talking about here and most citizens pay over 50% in income tax as it is.
The "Got Ass?" photo is from last year's "Everything to do with Sex Show" in Toronto. The girls were all about posing for the camera.
Interestingly, I'm in the middle of reading a fascinating article on this very subject, Mary Louise Adams' "Almost Anyhting Can Happen: A Search for Sexual Discourse in the Urban Spaces of 1940s Toronto" (published in the Canadian Journal of Sociology, 19(2): 217-232).
It's not at all odd that the Toronto islands would be considered an ideal spot for a formal red-light district: as Adams observes, Toronto's waterfront (especially the islands and Sunnyside) was a prime site for sexual congress and carnal exploration.
I haven't followed the politics of this as a current issue, but at least Councillor Mammoliti's suggestion is historically accurate.
Great idea Giorgio! Next in line would be to enroll your daughter or sister to a Porn-highschool (Name it "Miller-High-Porn") to learn the "tricks" so that she can make a few more bucks selling her body to loser-johns. Thens Mammoliti can more profitably retire from City Hall! Why let those female go for an MBA or an LLB, eh, Giorgio? After all, politics is a no-no for women as things stand, so it's only logical that Miller and his City Hall mammolitia push their "Pimp Agenda" at the expense of Toronto's girls and women. After all, Canada was one of the four countries that refused to sign the UN resolution that 'Prostitution is an affront to Human Dignity". Atta boys @ Toronto PimpHall.ca!!!
People who bother to do the research realize that decriminalizing or legalizing prostitution will have devastating consequences for women. Here's an example of RESEARCH speaking for itself.
http://www.commiesutra.com/?p=161
NO! HELL NO. Never pay for sex. Sex is a Human Right. Eldridge Cleaver organized a stolen car ring to employ his revolutionary proteges, stealing cars in Europe to sell in Africa.
He was aware of the flying car, Paul Moller, GPS and the plans from general motors to takeover the african market. In the book ?Soul on Ice? Cleaver reveals the rape of several white women. He also admitted that he began his career as a rapist by "practicing on black girls in the ghetto." He maintains that his felonious acts have nothing to do with the views expressed in the book. He probably just didn?t like to pay for sex either. Cleaver was released from prison in 1966, after which he
joined the Oakland-based Black Panther Party, serving as Minister of Information.
But now to the point. The Red Light district is only interesting if man will work there as prositutes.
Besides can you guys run a franchise? If a restaurant has a cook and it is a man. The man servants need to be dressed more sexy. When the cook is a woman the woman are sexy.
So Hooters, that's Bill Clinton's favorite place has a female cook. On Iceland there was a law 206 that stated that if you earn money with sex for somebody else this is a violation and one could be punished for two years.
This is not a law anymore.
Considering that your city does not prohibet skirts for man, or man to be sexy in general I do not strongly advice you IGNORE all actions containing the subject prositution.
So only if there is something about MALE prostitution than you guys help organise that. Never do anything for girl prostitution: why is there sex worth money and yours none?
?the Cleaver sleeve? is a designer jeans from Cleaver and it is the next best thing to a levis 303. In Rolling Stone issue 197 on the October 9th it was presented in Rolling Stone. I guess Vivienne Westwood still knows all about it.
Under the Cherry Moon is a 1986 movie directed by and starring Prince and Time member Jerome Benton as gigolos who swindle beautiful French women.
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