**This appears in today's edition of the National Post** As was the case with the last one, it's in the paid section of the site, so if you don't subscribe to the E-edition, there's no sense in me putting up a link. Pretty cool that I've been in there twice this year already! :)

The Blight of Prostitution

The debate playing out in the National Post's editorial pages contemplating the legalization of prostitution has proven engaging and illustrative. MP Dr. Hedy Fry's comments (see Saturday's Post) about the contributing factors that force women into prostitution are accurate, but I disagree with her contention that some women"chose" this life. Nobody with true freedom of action voluntarily deprives themselves of their dignity to sell their body for sex. To suggest that such is the case contradicts Dr. Fry's statements about what compels women into prostitution in the first place; the women in the sex trade are victims of abuse and degradation, often addicted to drugs, who recourse to selling themselves because they cannot contemplate any alternatives. Is this what we define as "freedom of action?" Hardly.
I also find myself in agreement with Roman Jarymowycz's statement that prostitution is contemptible and a blight on our society. However, he neglects to mention the role of pimps and johns, who prey upon these women, exploiting their drug dependencies and lack of self-worth, in order to attain their own depraved financial or sexual desires. The pimp is the ultimate denigrator of a woman, treating her as a resource with no compunction about depriving her of her value as a human being with dreams and aspirations of her own. That"pimping" in the image of 50 Cent flirts with mainstream acceptance in our society is indicative of the lack of education as to what a pimp does in objectifying and degrading women.
In prostitution there are no angels, only degrees of evil. To sanction this vile industry is to permit denigration of a person's self-worth and defy the principles of "life, liberty, and security of the person" as provided by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.