Beschreibung:
AbstractThis paper conducts a feminist analysis of Canadian prostitution control during the period between 1914 and 1970. The major intent of this analysis is to outline the manner in which the prostitution-related vagrancy provisions were enforced from the beginning of the First World War through to their repeal in the early 1970s. The effects of two world wars, the eugenics movement of the 1920s, the Great Depression and the liberalized sexual mores of the 1960s on prostitution control are assessed. Throughout this analysis, it is noted that Canadian prostitution control was characterized by an underlying chauvinist bias which overrode all other factors. Furthermore, it is also noted that feminists generally declined to become involved in the prostitution debate, and that many women's groups and organizations sided with the male-dominated military and criminal justice systems.