Anti-Procurement vs. Anti-Prostitution

I would like to start this post by establishing that this group is not an anti-prostitution group, but an anti-procurement group. You may be asking yourself, "Are they not the same thing?" I say no, and there is a very crucial difference.

In writing this blog, I have hesitated in using the term anti-prostitution alongside the term anti-human trafficking. Anti-human trafficking implies exactly what it means: strong sentiments against those who traffick in human beings and a desire to take action against them. This is one of the primary goals of this group. Anti-prostitution, however, can imply more than an abhorrence of the practice of prostitution. It can also imply strong sentiments against the women who work as prostitutes. That is not what this group is about.

As I've mentioned before, prostitution is not something women just do. They are often forced into it, if not by an individual, than by poverty and lack of education. No little girl dreams of working the street in skimpy clothes in the middle of winter, hoping to entice a John so she can buy groceries for her children. That is why this group is Anti-Procurement. Procurement is the technical term for being a pimp/madame. The great PC machine of our time has not yet found a unisex term for those who engage in procurement.

I recently read an excellent article by a law professor from Michigan discussing how laws should not penalize prostitutes, but those who benefit from their work. I implied that in a previous post, but did not discuss it in length. In our letter writing/parade campaign, that must be one of our key goals. The Canadian criminal code must change to protect and help the women engaged in prostitution, and to punish those who benefit from their suffering. I would like to thank Jon for the link: http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/11/25/carr.human.trafficking/index.html . If anyone is interested in checking his blog, it is at http://jvd897.blogspot.com .

In a closing note, we must forget that men suffer in prostitution for the same reason as women. I often omit this in my posts, due to my hetero-centrist view of the world. In my defense I come from a small town, and have only made openly gay friends since coming to university. Gay men in the sex-trade face great silence around their plight, with the social stigma of homosexuality added to being a prostitute. I will do my best to include a more holistic view in future posts, and ask any members of the gay community reading this blog to hold me to this.