THE HISTORY OF PROSTITUTION IN cANADA
Prostitution is generally defined as the practice of providing sexual services for money, but because it requires a buyer and seller it can more appropriately be defined as the practice of exchanging money for sexual services. Heterosexual prostitution (men as buyers and women as sellers) is most common; same sex prostitution exists on a smaller scale.
The buying and selling of sex has been organized through street prostitution, brothels and other call-in operations. Throughout the 1800's prostitution in Canada was organized around brothels. The houses were grouped together, often sharing their neighbourhood with taverns in the poorer parts of town. In Ottawa and Quebec City the brothel districts were in the "lower towns" ; In Saint John, Halifax, and in Kingston, Ont. they were near the docks: Montreal and Toronto each had a couple of districts. The brothels in Saint John and Halifax, provided gambling in addition to sex and alcohol, and were known to be some of the most financially successful houses in the first half of the 19th century.
In the mid 1840s, as the first wave of settlers moved west, the sexual exploitation of First Nations women by white men became common place. The North-West Mounted Police reported that the First Nations men brought their wives and daughters to the river flats below Lethbridge, Alta. for the purpose of prostitution, and in 1886 the traffic in these women became a national scandal involving employees of the Indian affairs department.
In 1880 the federal government decided to regulate against the prostitution of First Nation women and "An Act to Amend and Consolidate the Laws Respecting Indians" was introduced.
The Act prohibited keepers of bawdy houses from allowing First Nations women to work as prostitutes on their premises. Four years later the Act was amended to state specifically that keepers of "tents and wigwams," as well as houses, fell within the bawdy house provisions. This was done to ensure that native Canadians could be convicted of being brothel keepers.
With the development of the transcontinental railways, there was a mass migration westward at the turn of the century. Unlike the earlier settlers of thee west who had been mainly farm families, these migrants were mostly single men, either bachelors or husbands who had temporarily left their wives and families at home. This mass migration of single men upset the normal male- female ratio and created an environment in which prostitution flourished.
Brothels were established within convenient distance of the railway stations and unless they or their inmates came to the attention of social or moral reformers, who then exerted pressure on the authorities, little was done to to close them. The authorities were inclined to feel that prostitution had to be tolerated because it could not be eradicated.
On occasion when the North West Mounted Police did take action, it was usually for reasons other than a violation of the prostitution laws. Such reasons included arguments that prostitution was having a damaging effect on the Indians or on the railway construction projects, or evidence that brothel inmates were involved in other criminal activities. Local police across the prairies followed the NWMP policy and prosecuted brothel owners and inmates only when something worse than "illicit sex" was brought to their attention.
It was the parishioners and clergy of the Anglo-Saxon Protestant churches who took the least tolerant view of the existence of brothels. In some instances they mounted crusades to wipe out the traffic in women: In others they demanded that the women be driven out of town. Most often, however, since the brothels were regarded more as adjuncts to the liquor trade than as evils in themselves, the attention of the crusaders was directed toward combatting the evils of alcohol.
Public pressure to do something about prostitution was not always directed at the police or the politicians. On some occasions it was directed at the municipal authorities. Evidence suggests that the tactic may have been more successful, for between 1851 and 1881 many municipalities passed bylaws suppressing houses of prostitution, prostitutes', inmates and frequent visitors.
From 1890 on, legal representation made it more difficult to operate brothels, and streetwalking became a much common type of prostitution. Prostitutes' became dependent on middlemen, especially pimps. Brothels (sometimes organized as massage parlors) and call-girl operations ( often disguised as escort services) still exist today, but street prostitution is the most visible form of prostitution and receives the most attention.
Yet it has been estimated that only a small proportion of the prostitute population is engaged in street prostitution (estimates range from 10% to 33%. A significant number of the prostitutes who work the streets and other public places are juveniles both men and women.
In recent years a fourth approach to prostitution in Canada is that of abolition. Abolitionists consider prostitution to be a personal choice and hence a private matter between consenting adults. They want activities between prostitute and customer decriminalized, arguing that this is the best way to prosecute profiteers who manipulate individual prostitutes and take their money.
The buying and selling of sex has been organized through street prostitution, brothels and other call-in operations. Throughout the 1800's prostitution in Canada was organized around brothels. The houses were grouped together, often sharing their neighbourhood with taverns in the poorer parts of town. In Ottawa and Quebec City the brothel districts were in the "lower towns" ; In Saint John, Halifax, and in Kingston, Ont. they were near the docks: Montreal and Toronto each had a couple of districts. The brothels in Saint John and Halifax, provided gambling in addition to sex and alcohol, and were known to be some of the most financially successful houses in the first half of the 19th century.
In the mid 1840s, as the first wave of settlers moved west, the sexual exploitation of First Nations women by white men became common place. The North-West Mounted Police reported that the First Nations men brought their wives and daughters to the river flats below Lethbridge, Alta. for the purpose of prostitution, and in 1886 the traffic in these women became a national scandal involving employees of the Indian affairs department.
In 1880 the federal government decided to regulate against the prostitution of First Nation women and "An Act to Amend and Consolidate the Laws Respecting Indians" was introduced.
The Act prohibited keepers of bawdy houses from allowing First Nations women to work as prostitutes on their premises. Four years later the Act was amended to state specifically that keepers of "tents and wigwams," as well as houses, fell within the bawdy house provisions. This was done to ensure that native Canadians could be convicted of being brothel keepers.
With the development of the transcontinental railways, there was a mass migration westward at the turn of the century. Unlike the earlier settlers of thee west who had been mainly farm families, these migrants were mostly single men, either bachelors or husbands who had temporarily left their wives and families at home. This mass migration of single men upset the normal male- female ratio and created an environment in which prostitution flourished.
Brothels were established within convenient distance of the railway stations and unless they or their inmates came to the attention of social or moral reformers, who then exerted pressure on the authorities, little was done to to close them. The authorities were inclined to feel that prostitution had to be tolerated because it could not be eradicated.
On occasion when the North West Mounted Police did take action, it was usually for reasons other than a violation of the prostitution laws. Such reasons included arguments that prostitution was having a damaging effect on the Indians or on the railway construction projects, or evidence that brothel inmates were involved in other criminal activities. Local police across the prairies followed the NWMP policy and prosecuted brothel owners and inmates only when something worse than "illicit sex" was brought to their attention.
It was the parishioners and clergy of the Anglo-Saxon Protestant churches who took the least tolerant view of the existence of brothels. In some instances they mounted crusades to wipe out the traffic in women: In others they demanded that the women be driven out of town. Most often, however, since the brothels were regarded more as adjuncts to the liquor trade than as evils in themselves, the attention of the crusaders was directed toward combatting the evils of alcohol.
Public pressure to do something about prostitution was not always directed at the police or the politicians. On some occasions it was directed at the municipal authorities. Evidence suggests that the tactic may have been more successful, for between 1851 and 1881 many municipalities passed bylaws suppressing houses of prostitution, prostitutes', inmates and frequent visitors.
From 1890 on, legal representation made it more difficult to operate brothels, and streetwalking became a much common type of prostitution. Prostitutes' became dependent on middlemen, especially pimps. Brothels (sometimes organized as massage parlors) and call-girl operations ( often disguised as escort services) still exist today, but street prostitution is the most visible form of prostitution and receives the most attention.
Yet it has been estimated that only a small proportion of the prostitute population is engaged in street prostitution (estimates range from 10% to 33%. A significant number of the prostitutes who work the streets and other public places are juveniles both men and women.
In recent years a fourth approach to prostitution in Canada is that of abolition. Abolitionists consider prostitution to be a personal choice and hence a private matter between consenting adults. They want activities between prostitute and customer decriminalized, arguing that this is the best way to prosecute profiteers who manipulate individual prostitutes and take their money.