DAKSHANA BASCARAMURTY | Globe and Mail
December 21, 2007
(Please CLICK HERE for SPOC’s response to this article)
An advocacy group trying to alert prostitutes about “bad dates” is posting personal information about men accused of abusive behaviour – but some of that information appears to be questionable.
Dozens of reports of alleged assault and other undesirable behaviour have been posted on the Sex Professionals of Canada’s website since 2003, alongside the personal information of clients, including their phone numbers and addresses.
Some of those phone numbers led to men who said they were wrongly implicated. They said they were unhappy to learn of allegations that they not only hired prostitutes, but mistreated them.
Similar Canadian organizations only circulate these “bad trick sheets” among prostitutes or support agencies. But a spokesperson for the Toronto-based Sex Professionals of Canada said “the risk of [those listed] being upset” isn’t enough to make its lists private.
“The chances of people being up there that haven’t done something is zero. People don’t make false reports. They just don’t,” said Amy Lebovitch, a prostitute who maintains the lists.
Mike, a 28-year-old whose name, physical description and phone number were on the website with the allegation he harassed a transgendered prostitute, said in a phone interview he did not know anything about prostitutes or why he was listed. His mother agreed.
“We don’t know anything about that. He has a compulsive disorder. He’s always on medication.” she said.
Valerie Scott, executive director of Sex Professionals of Canada, said the group gets affidavits from most prostitutes before publishing reports on the website.
At one number listed as a “waste of timer,” two men said they were shocked to hear their number was on the website.
“Our number is on a prostitute website?” one asked. “I guess the number changed or something.”
“Oh God. … how do we get our number off there?” the other asked.
Questioned about this example, Ms. Lebovitch said there was a chance some of the published addresses and numbers may have been reassigned.
She has only ever taken down one listing after her group received a letter warning of legal action, she said.
Mark Robins, an investigative consultant, said he e-mailed Sex Professionals of Canada immediately after he found his name listed on the group’s “undesirable clients” list more than two years ago.
“When I contacted them, I was kind of dumbfounded. I have never used those kind of professional services before,” he said.
The listing said Mr. Robins refused to refund the money of the prostitute who hired him, lost a small claims court case over the matter and then posted the prostitute’s name online to ruin her business.
The website lists his name and links to his company’s website.
“I said, ‘You can’t put this stuff up there without supporting proof.’ I was assured that it would be removed, but apparently that hasn’t happened,” he said.
Mr. Robins said he didn’t take legal action against Sex Professionals of Canada because the organization “probably didn’t have the funding” to handle a legal battle and Canada’s Internet privacy laws “are full of loopholes.”
Other Canadian groups said they keep their lists confidential because they aren’t out to name-and-shame alleged johns, but to protect prostitutes.
Stella’s, a group in Montreal, lets only prostitutes and support agencies see its list.
“We don’t usually print full licence plates or full names since they’re not official reports. We can’t guarantee that the information is correct,” said mobilization co-ordinator Jennifer Clamen.
Victoria-based Prostitutes Empowerment, Education and Resource Society produces a bad-trick sheet, but only distributes hard copies to prostitutes in person, often in nightly “drive-bys.”
The special victims section of the Toronto police sex crimes unit regularly monitors reports of assault or “undesirable” behaviour on the Sex Professionals of Canada’s website, since prostitutes are often more willing to confide in support groups, Detective Constable Nathan Dayler said.
The Toronto group’s website is still a useful tool for police, even though some of the information might be wrong, he added.
“They get a lot of information that the police don’t receive,” he said.
While police get 10 to 40 monthly calls – more than the advocacy group – the reports to police are less detailed.
Det. Constable Dayler said the problem with hard copies of bad-trick sheets is they don’t reach prostitutes who work out of their homes rather than on the streets.