Writing in the National Post, columnist Barbara Kay praises a recent MLI report on prostitution for injecting some “refreshingly politically incorrect common sense” into the debate over prostitution. The paper, authored by Benjamin Perrin, a legal expert on human trafficking and prostitution, surveys what does and doesn’t work internationally and finds serious problems with simply decriminalizing or legalizing activities around prostitution. Titled Oldest Profession or Oldest Oppression? the paper offers a way forward to reform Canada’s flawed prostitution laws, which last month were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Kay writes that libertarians and moral relativists who don’t see prostitution as intrinsically harmful may not like the paper, but they “can’t fail to be impressed by the evidence for his position that Perrin brings to the table”. She welcomes Perrin’s recommendation that Canada adopt the Swedish model, which has shown success by criminalizing johns and pimps and giving prostitutes assistance to exit prostitution, as a “valuable contribution to the public-policy debate”. Â To read the full column, click here.
