Dealing with prostitution in Canada

I take exception to CMAJ's comments about “john school” in a recent editorial.¹ To begin with, the “johns” are in fact exposed to direct feedback about the “public nuisance” aspects of prostitution, from community members whose neighbourhoods are negatively affected by street prostitution. I can assure you that from the community perspective, this problem is far greater than a simple “nuisance.”

More important, characterizing john school as a “morality play on prostitution” is inaccurate. We do not try to impose moral standards on the johns. Instead, we leave it up to them to decide if prostitution fits within their own set of socially developed morals and values. We allow them to hear real people's stories about prostitution: police officers who see the damage daily, women who have been there and who are now trying to turn their lives around, a mother who has experienced the heartbreak of seeing her daughter in prostitution, community members who live with prostitution in their neighbourhoods and health care personnel who work with women on the streets. Are there moral issues here? Of course, but the johns are left to decide these issues for themselves.

Ian Mitchell Co-ordinator Prostitution Offender Program of British Columbia John Howard Society of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia Vancouver, BC