From the ECP press release

Canadian sex workers win decriminalisation: a victory for women’s right to safety everywhere

On 29 September 2010, the High Court in Ontario, Canada, abolished the laws banning street soliciting (communicating for the purposes of prostitution), working together from premises (bawdy house) and living off the avails of prostitution as they make sex workers more vulnerable to violence.  The decision was a result of a legal challenge brought by three sex workers who argued that the laws endangered their health and forced them into unsafe working conditions.  It is a victory for women and sex workers everywhere who have been campaigning for decriminalisation of grounds of health and safety.

Ontario Judge Susan Himel concluded that the laws violated the constitution which guarantees “the rights to life, liberty and safety’.  She said: “I find that the danger faced by prostitutes greatly outweighs any harm which may be faced by the public,” . . . .”These laws, individually and together, force prostitutes to choose between their liberty interest and their right to security of the person as protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

Celebrating after the case the three women who brought the case commented: “Sex workers can now pick up the phone and call the police to report a client who has mistreated them . . . the ruling would allow sex workers to set up unions, have health and safety standards, hire bodyguards, and pay income tax.”