Ellen Agger

Hookers organize

TORONTO – Henry Morganthaler supports the decriminalization of prostitution. So does June Callwood. And a growing number of concerned Canadians are giving serious thought to the issue. It is all in response to the efforts of BEAVER (Basic Education and Vital Equal Rights) to stir the conscience of the public about the forgotten rights of hookers.

Formed last November, with the blessing of Margo St. James of COYOTE (the San-Francisco based group leading the campaign for decriminalization), BEAVER's aims are to disseminate information about hookers' rights groups all over the world, build a strong lobby for legal change in Canada, and offer assistance and support to individual hookers.

Clayton Ruby, well-known civil rights lawyer, came out strongly in defence of hookers when a recent proposal to change Canada's Criminal Code called for stiffer penalties for soliciting: "The proposal focuses on a non-problem, a nuisance at worst, and it will mean that the cops will back to picking up prostitutes who 95% of the time are harming no one." Toronto Star, May 2, '78)

At a St. Lawrence Centre Forum last November, "Prostitution: Where Sex and Class Meet" Judith Ramirez of Wages for Housework took on alderman Pat Sheppard and Allan Sparrow, architects of the Yonge Street 'crackdown.' Addressing the largely feminist audience of over 400 she said: "There is nothing involved in the decriminalization of prostitution that isn't also involved in the fight of any other group of workers. It's the value of women's labour time that is at stake. In a prohibited market hookers keep only 10% of what they earn, and that reinforcs the role of women as unpaid and underpaid servants."

BEAVER is currently circulating a brief which calls on the federal government to remove prostitution-related laws from the Criminal Code. Baba Yaga, founder of the organization, is a frequent speaker at schools, conferences, rallies, and other public events, building support for the cause. She recently appeared on the popular Lynn Gordon Show, televised nationally, and was a featured speaker at the Festival of Life and Learning" at the University of Manitoba, where she appeared on a panel with co-worker Margo St. James.

For your copy of BEAVER's brief — which individuals and groups are being asked to endorse — write to BEAVER, c/o Wages of Housework, PO Box 38, Stn. E, Toronto M6H 4E1