How to regulate the online advertizing of sexual services.
I think we can draw a parallel between purchasing sexual services and consuming alcohol. Given the harm alcohol can cause, one can make a rational case for its prohibition in principle, presumably if the prohibition were reasonably enforceable. The experience of the 1920's showed that it was unenforceable and merely pushed alcohol underground.
The next best option in that case is legalization and regulation. Though alcohol consumption is legal today, at least now we see signs on pub walls informing women of the harm alcohol can cause fetuses. Since I'm an alcoholic and have been a teetotaler for many years now, I do not know what kind of advertizing exists on alcohol bottles, but including the AA website would make sense. None of such educational advertizing would be possible under prohibition since the Government can't regulate what is not supposed to exist.
The purchase of sex is even more harmful to society and ought to be a fineable offence in principle, but again only if the law can be adequately enforced.
I do not know how effectively the new laws relating to the purchasing of sex have been enforced, but I can say that the online advertizing of its sale have not been enforced at all. Though the reason is not clear to me, I would guess either police incompetence, lack of manpower, or more likely a legal loophole (one can legally advertise one's own services and the sites on which providers advertize are located beyond Canada's jurisdictional boundaries). To prohibit sex workers from advertizing their services online would likely be struck down for potentially endangering the safety of sex workers, yet to not do so allows them to advertize on foreign unregulated websites resulting in the government being unable to do anything to inform anyone in the industry of their options.
One possible solution I could see would be the following:
Sex workers would be allowed to advertise only on sites that submit to Canadian sexual advertizing guidelines (to which foreign websites could voluntarily choose to submit), violation resulting in a fine; and advertizers being allowed to post such ads on the condition that they submit to the Government's sexual advertizing guidelines requiring pages on which these ads are posted to also advertize STD and sex addiction information, government-funded skills training programs, crisis help lines, mental health services, 12-step groups, and other remedies for both providers and clients with the aim of guiding participants out of the industry, and requiring such ads to appear first and take at least as much space as the sex ads.
Another possibility that I can see would be to make offering to pay for sex a fineable offence but not accepting an offer of sex for money. This would essentially protect those who are not in the industry from being propositioned by would-be clients.
I think we can draw a parallel between purchasing sexual services and consuming alcohol. Given the harm alcohol can cause, one can make a rational case for its prohibition in principle, presumably if the prohibition were reasonably enforceable. The experience of the 1920's showed that it was unenforceable and merely pushed alcohol underground.
The next best option in that case is legalization and regulation. Though alcohol consumption is legal today, at least now we see signs on pub walls informing women of the harm alcohol can cause fetuses. Since I'm an alcoholic and have been a teetotaler for many years now, I do not know what kind of advertizing exists on alcohol bottles, but including the AA website would make sense. None of such educational advertizing would be possible under prohibition since the Government can't regulate what is not supposed to exist.
The purchase of sex is even more harmful to society and ought to be a fineable offence in principle, but again only if the law can be adequately enforced.
I do not know how effectively the new laws relating to the purchasing of sex have been enforced, but I can say that the online advertizing of its sale have not been enforced at all. Though the reason is not clear to me, I would guess either police incompetence, lack of manpower, or more likely a legal loophole (one can legally advertise one's own services and the sites on which providers advertize are located beyond Canada's jurisdictional boundaries). To prohibit sex workers from advertizing their services online would likely be struck down for potentially endangering the safety of sex workers, yet to not do so allows them to advertize on foreign unregulated websites resulting in the government being unable to do anything to inform anyone in the industry of their options.
One possible solution I could see would be the following:
Sex workers would be allowed to advertise only on sites that submit to Canadian sexual advertizing guidelines (to which foreign websites could voluntarily choose to submit), violation resulting in a fine; and advertizers being allowed to post such ads on the condition that they submit to the Government's sexual advertizing guidelines requiring pages on which these ads are posted to also advertize STD and sex addiction information, government-funded skills training programs, crisis help lines, mental health services, 12-step groups, and other remedies for both providers and clients with the aim of guiding participants out of the industry, and requiring such ads to appear first and take at least as much space as the sex ads.
Another possibility that I can see would be to make offering to pay for sex a fineable offence but not accepting an offer of sex for money. This would essentially protect those who are not in the industry from being propositioned by would-be clients.
