Brothel in Your Neighborhood

I've thought for a long time that it made no sense to treat prostitutes as criminals. It also made no sense to arrest and fine their customers. Government has no right to tell us how to use our own bodies and they have no right to tell us who we can have sexual contact with.

That said, this new Ontario law that allows prostitutes to legally use their homes as brothels doesn't sit right with me. No-one in their right mind would want a brothel operation as their next door neighbor. And don't think that it can't happen in your nice, expensive neighborhood because prostitution is a lucrative business.

When I was a child, we were very poor and lived in a once upscale townhouse that had been converted into 4 apartments. A prostitute lived in one of those apartments and that's where she ran her business. As a child, I often saw men going into her apartment and also heard what went on. What she and her customers did in private was nobody's business but when it affected the other, innocent tenants it became a matter of disgust.

That is my worry. Can a brothel now be legally allowed to open in any family neighborhood? Can it be allowed to open a few houses up from elementary schools?

There will no doubt be unpopular and unexpected fallout from this newly revamped law. Prostitution is still looked upon as a seedy and dirty occupation by most people. I think it would be more accepted if there was a designated area in the city that allowed it to operate freely. That way, people would be aware of where to go or where to stay away from. It would give them a choice.

But government doesn't use logic. They announce laws or changes in laws and then leave the populace to deal with it. They will seldom admit they made a mistake or that it could have been done with more forethought.

So now we wait and see who and what moves into our nice, tidy little neighborhoods.

Post script: I hadn't noticed before but this new law also allows prostitutes to openly solicit on the streets and, I'm assuming, on the internet and newspapers. Now, if that isn't mind boggling, I don't know what is. I thought our laws were supposed to represent the wishes of the majority but I can't believe the majority of Ontario citizens want open prostitution on the streets and in their neighborhoods.