Violence and the Outlaw Status of (Street) Prostitution in Canada

This chapter examines homicides of sex workers in British Columbia from 1964 to 1998. It examines how the “discourse of disposal” – i.e. media descriptions of the ongoing attempts of politicians, police and residents’ groups to “get rid” of street prostitution from residential areas – may have contributed to a sharp increase in homicides of street prostitutes after 1980. It concludes that the main obstacles to creating safer working conditions for prostitutes are the prohibition of prostitution and stigmatization of prostitutes.