Elliot Penner and Shelley Cook of the John Howard Society talk about a Prostitution Offender Program that 13 men arrested for soliciting prostitutes recently participated in. Thirteen men snared in police stings last fall have gone to school for a day and learned the risks of buying sex from prostitutes.
The men were caught in undercover operations that involved a female officer posing as a prostitute in Kelowna and Vernon.
Other Mounties were nearby and arrested them as soon as they asked what services she provided. If the "johns" had no record and were co-operative, they got one chance to dodge their date in court and learn how to change their behaviour.
Community agencies teamed up to teach the johns how communicating with sex workers affects the women, themselves and downtown businesses along the stroll.
The pilot program taught four women from Kelowna and Vernon how to say no to men, ways to respect their bodies and themselves, and how to avoid situations that degrades or endangers them. Like the men, if they completed the 2. Former prostitutes on the road to recovery shared their stories with the women. The goal is to get the women out of their risky lifestyles and into transitional housing, said Jenn Straume of NOW Canada, a non-profit agency that serves women at risk.
