Pubdate: Mon, 04 Nov 2002
Source: Report Magazine (CN AB)
Copyright: 2002 Report Magazine, United Western Comm Ltd
Contact:  http://www.report.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1327
Note: This is the BC Edition
Author: Marnie Ko

A CHOICE OF JAIL OR DETOX

Nanaimo RCMP Try An Innovative Way To Help Prostitutes Get Off The Streets

SINCE September 19, prostitutes arrested by Nanaimo RCMP have been offered 
a choice: voluntarily enter a seven-day detox program to kick a cocaine or 
heroin habit (often both), or go to jail. And while the program, a first in 
Canada, has not been operating very long, the Mounties already have at 
least one positive success story to offer.

The first woman to complete the treatment is 29 now. She has a serious drug 
addiction and has been a prostitute since age12. When she was arrested in 
late September, she was offered a break. If she entered the program and 
gave it her full effort, police promised to stay the charges against her.

The program was the brainchild of Constable Shawna Baher. The soft-spoken, 
recently married officer came up with the idea because she felt other 
methods were only putting a band-aid on the problem. "We were not getting 
to the root problem of prostitution in Nanaimo, which is drug addictions," 
she says. "We don't have pimps here; we have cocaine- and heroin-addicted 
girls who prostitute to get money to buy drugs." Until now, girls working 
in the sex trade have been arrested, thrown in jail or fined, and within 
days they are back on the streets, still with an out-of-control drug habit 
to feed.

It was Const. Baher who went into the woman 's jail cell and made her an 
offer: detox instead of jail time. The woman agreed. "She went through the 
program, and she liked it so much that she wants to go into a long-term 
treatment program," the constable notes happily. "She wants more help."

Women accepting the offer must phone the detox centre twice a day until a 
bed is available, take the first bed open (there are only about 10 beds 
available in the centre, which houses both men and women) and complete the 
full seven days of the program. Const. Baher phones all the girls who 
accept the detox program on a daily basis, "just in case they need 
motivation to stay there." The crown prosecutor's office is co-operating 
fully with the RCMP.

The program is still in its development, and there are hurdles to overcome. 
Some girls will not do the program; others cannot stick with it. "The first 
girl we put through the program went to detox but couldn't handle it," says 
Const. Baher. "She ran out the door. We had to breach her release, and she 
ended up in jail for 45 days."

Nanaimo Mounties also regularly send out "john letters." When a man is 
stopped by police in the downtown hooker stroll--even if he is not 
arrested--a letter is sent to the registered owner of the car (oftentimes, 
an unsuspecting wife). The letter informs the vehicle's owner that the car 
was seen on a certain date on a particular street, and a known prostitute 
was seen getting into the car.

Nanaimo police also run a restorative justice program for men who patronize 
prostitutes. When men are arrested on prostitution-related charges, they 
are offered a sentencing circle of sorts, with members of the community, 
residents living near the hooker stroll, and an ex-prostitute. The 
committee establishes a punishment for the john, and he is required to make 
a $500 donation which goes to the detox program helping the prostitutes. So 
far, of the six johns arrested in September, five have indicated a 
willingness to go through the alternative sentencing program and escape a 
court-imposed punishment.

Says Const. Baher, "As one guy told me, the $500 donation is cheaper than a 
lawyer."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens