By DAN ARSENAULT Crime Reporter
The Chronicle Herald / Halifax
Fri. Oct 17, 2008
By handing out a nickel to about 120 people gathered to hear her talk, Valerie Scott said she’d turned them into pimps who were living off the avails of her prostitution.
As executive director of the Sex Professionals of Canada, the Toronto woman came to Halifax to speak Thursday night at the annual general meeting for Stepping Stone, the Halifax agency that helps sex workers.
She told the audience at the Italian Cultural Centre on Agricola Street that she identified with “saloon girls” from old cowboy movies when she was young and didn’t even know what sex was. After dabbling in it, she began a life in the sex trade at age 24. Now 50, she’s worked in Miami, Halifax and “way too short a period in Sydney, Australia.”
Ms. Scott said Canada’s prostitution laws leave women at risk. They are ostracized by laws that prevent anyone from living off their earnings and they are usually afraid to tell police about any beatings they endure.
“Sexual predators know this and they take advantage of this.”
She said legalized prostitution isn’t an improvement because it puts sex workers at the mercy of people, such as brothel owners or crooked cops, who could get their very expensive licences revoked.
She praised New Zealand and some Australian states for decriminalizing sex work. Because those workers are treated like business owners, they are not afraid to contact police and prosecute any violent clients, she said.
After her speech, Ms. Scott gave a brief interview to The Chronicle Herald.
Herald: How do Canadian laws increase the likelihood a sex worker will be a victim of violence?
Scott: They ostracize us (and) it’s illegal to work safely. It’s illegal for us to network and to watch out for each other — to work together. Working together dramatically decreases violence (by having) other people being around.
Herald: Why don’t you like legalized prostitution such as in places like Amsterdam or Nevada?
Scott: They corral us in little ghettos instead of viewing us as a legitimate business. When you . . . view it as a vice, you end up at a very different place than if you view it as a legitimate business and part of a community.
Herald: How do you compare sex workers to the position homosexuals were in decades ago, whenhomosexuality was illegal?
Scott: Gay and lesbian people were viewed as morally inferior and (were) objects of contempt. It was illegal and that gave people licence to beat them up and deny them basic human rights. Gay bashing, in many quarters, was considered a sport and it’s not anymore. That’s because it was decriminalized and not legalized. Could you imagine if you had to get a licence to be gay and what if they were only handing out so many?
Herald: Tell me why you prefer decriminalization over legalization?
Scott: Legalization views sex work as a vice and it hasn’t worked out in places that have legalization. It’s very bad for the women. They don’t have basic freedoms. They’re only allowed to work in these little areas and in some places they’re not even allowed into the city. It’s as if they’re a package of cigarettes or a bottle of alcohol. We don’t see that as an improvement.
Herald: You’ve said you believe sex work can be a good profession. Why do you think that?
Scott: Because it’s about sex and money and those two things are good things. There’s nothing inherently violent about sex or about money. It can be a very good job. I choose my clients carefully and I’ve met wonderful men. I have a regular that I’ve been seeing since the mid-1980s and some marriages don’t last that long.