Beyond Decriminalization: Sex-work, Human Rights and a New ...

PIVOT LEGAL SOCIETY“use” classification that the City will be able to exercise control of the location of sex industry businesses.This is an unsettled issue that, in the event of decriminalization, will have to be examinedcarefully with input from sex workers.Designated prostitution zonesMany sex workers advocated establishing specific sex industry zones:A. I still like the red light district where each person has there own house and your justkind of in the window kind of and whoever’s interested would come up to the door.It’s all indoors, it’s all private. It’d be a lot easier.- female off-street out-call sex workerA. Like in the European countries. You have a block or a district. A red light district.- female off-street out-call sex workerA. I personally think yes there should be like a red light district because number oneyou’ve got that safety thing of it and number two if there’s a problem it’s kinda in onearea and it’s easy to get rid of it.- female street-level sex workerIn discussing zones specifically designated for prostitution, many sex workers used the term “red lightdistrict.” This term has many meanings. Generally, it describes an area where brothels are located,regardless of whether prostitution is illegal or legal. Well-known examples in countries where prostitutionhas not been legalized include the Pigalle district of Paris, France, and the Patpong district ofBangkok, Thailand. Perhaps the best-known “red light district” internationally is the De Wallen inAmsterdam, the Netherlands, where prostitution is legal.Because the term “red light district” is vague and uncertain, and applied to both legal and illegalregimes, we do not use it. Instead we use the term “designated prostitution zone” to identify an areaspecifically zoned for prostitution use. Under the current zoning scheme, where there are variouszoning districts with designated uses, the setting aside of an area for prostitution would require that“prostitution” be designated its own zoning district category, similar to “Limited Agriculture,” “OneFamily Dwelling,” “Commercial” and “Comprehensive Development.”The one thing most sex workers agreed on was that a single small area in Vancouver designated forprostitution would be inadequate. Even those sex workers who were supportive of designated areas forprostitution felt that there should be multiple areas located throughout the city:A. Well, I guess if you’re saying off the street then you’re talking about a red-light districttype of scenario I think you could very well have a red-light district, but it seems tome that that would almost be like having an amusement park district or somethingwhere you have a bunch of establishment in one area. That shouldn’t mean that ifyou’re in that kind of business you have to be in that zone, because you know it wouldbe ridiculous, if say there was a zone like that in Gastown for instance and someonewanted to get laid in Burnaby or Coquitlam, they’re not necessarily going to want tocome all that way to perform a sort of a domestic kind of transaction. And so yeah, youcould have a zone that is geared for that but that couldn’t be the only zone or you’d haveto have other zones all over the place.- female off-street in-call sex workerProponents of designated prostitution zones agreed that not only would zoning increase the safety ofsex workers, but also it might provide a safer way for sex workers to transition out of the industry, andmight even help decrease the rate and extent of illness among sex workers. Nevertheless, the need to value72