Ontario Superior Court judge strikes down prostitution law
Ontario's prostitution law fell Tuesday after a judge ruled that it endangers the very women it is meant to protect.
In a landmark decision striking down the core of the controversial law, Ontario Superior Court Judge Susan Himel said that the law forces women to operate their business furtively in an atmosphere of constant secrecy and danger.
"By increasing the risk of harm to street prostitutes, the communicating law is simply too high a price to pay for the alleviation of social nuisance," Judge Himel said in her 131-page ruling which took almost a year to produce.
"I find that the danger faced by prostitutes greatly outweighs any harm which may be faced by the public," she later added.
The ruling means that the law can no longer be enforced in Ontario. If the decision were to be upheld on appeal, it would topple the use of the prostitution provisions across the country.
In the short term, however, the Ontario Crown is expected to seek a stay of execution that would permit police to temporarily continue enforcing the law.
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