Sex-trade works and business owners are at odds in downtown Sydney as police crack down on prostitution.
Sharon Mumford owns a salon and spa on Charlotte Street. She says sex workers often hang out in front of her business, and she’s worried it’s driving customers away.
“Even for us working inside the salon, we can be a little apprehensive about having that many people out in front of the business at any given time, and it does reflect on downtown business,” says Mumford.
Business owners have been complaining to council and to police. Coun. Eldon MacDonald raised the issue at a meeting with the board of police commissioners Tuesday evening.
“In order for us to have a friendly, family environment in our downtown core, this type of activity can’t continue,” he says.
While prostitution isn’t exactly a new issue in Sydney, police say this particular group of sex workers seems especially brazen.
“It certainly wasn’t at the forefront, where it was occurring right out in all hours of the day and night, including the morning, right on our main street,” says Cape Breton Regional Police Chief Peter McIsaac.
However, police say recent changes to Canada’s prostitution laws make it difficult for them to discourage solicitation on downtown streets.
“It’s legal to partake in that activity in a public place, as long as it’s not near a park, a church, a playground or a daycare,” says McIsaac.
Rather than targeting prostitutes, Canada’s new laws crack down on johns.
“Those are the ones that we will be targeting,” says McIsaac. “We will be trying everything in our power to identify those individuals.”
Police are also working with community groups, like addictions services, to address the drug trade they say often pushes vulnerable women into prostitution.
“The root cause of these problems that are causing these women to be on the street and forcing them into that situation, that’s the stuff we’ve got to work together on,” says McIsaac.
In the meantime, business owners are encouraged to continue calling police about the unwanted solicitation.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Sarah Ritchie
