Today October 5th is the International Day of No Prostitution. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if there were no prostitution? While
I doubt that it will ever be eliminated, I applaud all those fight for its eradication. From Wikipedia….
International Day of No Prostitution (IDNP) is an awareness day that was first observed in 2002. Locations at which IDNP was observed in its inaugural year included the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States[1] and Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.[2] The day is celebrated annually on October 5 as a manner of opposing prostitution.[3] In 2005, the University of the Philippines Institute of Human Rights and the Asia-Pacific chapter of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) organized an IDNP event at which they discussed the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.[4] In 2008, there was an IDNP candlelight vigil in Phoenix, Arizona.[5] The vigil took place again in 2010, and city leaders and former prostitutes were among the participants….
….In 2010, CATW observed IDNP by opposing the decision in Bedford v. Canada to strike down Canada’s anti-prostitution laws.[7] A group of former human trafficking victims and sex workers in Canada also opposed the striking down of these laws; they picketed a courthouse in downtown Toronto, Ontario in recognition of IDNP. Picketers included Natasha Falle, Trisha Baptie, Bridget Perrier, Katarina MacLeod, and Christine Barkhouse. At the protest, Falle said that “only 1% of prostitutes say they enjoy sex with johns and 97% say they want to get out.”[8] Baptie asked “Why do we think it’s OK for men to buy sex? How is that a sign of an egalitarian society?” Read More
One of the groups that is fighting to abolish prostitution is Asian Women Coalition Ending Prostitution. The Coalition views prostitution as a form of male violence against women. From this Coalition’s webpage….
AWCEP is working to build awareness about the harms of prostitution to Asian women. We challenge the promotion and imposition of prostitution on Asian women at home in Canada and in our countries of origin throughout Asia. We hold a position that prostitution entrenches racism and multiplies the effect of sexism on all. Solutions to prevent prostitution must address systemic racism, sexism and social and economic disadvantage in order to be effective.
Prostitution is not a time honoured cultural practice among Asians. It is a form of male violence against women that can be eradicated if we aspire to create more justice and equality in the world. Asian women around the world have higher hopes for our daughters, mothers, friends, and ourselves than exploitation through prostitution.
Human trafficking is a regular aspect of how Asian women are prostituted. AWCEP is working to prevent human traffickers, pimps and brothel owners from getting free reign to make the sale of Asian women a normal aspect of society in Canada.
The Asian Women Coalition supports the Nordic model of law keeps pimping, recruiting of women into prostitution, brothel-keeping and being a john (buyer-of-women-for-sex) illegal. It allows police and courts to arrest and prosecute the men who are committing these acts. The Nordic model recognizes that women need concrete supports in order to avoid or leave prostitution and commits government to provide adequate resources to women. In the Nordic model, women who are prostituted are not considered criminals and they are not arrested for being prostituted. Read More
You can read more about the Nordic Model here
