Daily Game of Russian Roulette
Prostitution is dangerous. Often, the women and the Johns don’t know each other or how the other will react.
“I play Russian roulette everyday I’m out there,” said Daphne*. “Am I going to be the next one coming home in a cardboard box?” |
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At the Little Red River Park, many women bring their Johns, but Daphne said it’s only ever with people you trust.
“You can be murdered out here. And this would be the ideal place for somebody to get dumped,” she said.
She had strategies to stay safe. For instance, she would only leave town if she knew and trusted the trick. She could give oral sex if she didn’t have a place to go so she could stay inside the car.
Around Little Red River Park she could get out of the car--as long as it wasn’t dark out--and still be within safe running distance to Pine Grove Correctional Centre. She would always have a cell phone, or at least tell her friends and family she was out working.
“Always, always, always, make sure that before you hop in the car that you remember, if you’re straight enough, if you can, remember the license plate,” she said.
Daphne said a good day would involve just one or two non-violent Johns and making enough cash for the day’s fix of drugs.
A bad day could be getting ripped off, beaten or worse.
“There’s guys who take women who don’t even wear a condom. Some of these tricks beat you up and leave you on the edge of town. Walking naked. Get kicked around,” she said.
“And there’s some of them who will [overdose] you just to have them use the date rape drug. Shoot you up and you could be lying there.”
Daphne is HIV positive. Even though she is an intravenous drug user, she never shared a needle in her life. She contracted the virus after being sexually assaulted.
Angela Di Paolo with the Prince Albert Outreach tries to do her best to help keep the women safe. She and her staff hand out condoms and “bad date sheets,” helping women identify vehicles and men who assault, or rip off prostitutes.
But even with that, Di Paolo said plenty of other dangers exist.
“You can be murdered out here. And this would be the ideal place for somebody to get dumped,” she said.
She had strategies to stay safe. For instance, she would only leave town if she knew and trusted the trick. She could give oral sex if she didn’t have a place to go so she could stay inside the car.
Around Little Red River Park she could get out of the car--as long as it wasn’t dark out--and still be within safe running distance to Pine Grove Correctional Centre. She would always have a cell phone, or at least tell her friends and family she was out working.
“Always, always, always, make sure that before you hop in the car that you remember, if you’re straight enough, if you can, remember the license plate,” she said.
Daphne said a good day would involve just one or two non-violent Johns and making enough cash for the day’s fix of drugs.
A bad day could be getting ripped off, beaten or worse.
“There’s guys who take women who don’t even wear a condom. Some of these tricks beat you up and leave you on the edge of town. Walking naked. Get kicked around,” she said.
“And there’s some of them who will [overdose] you just to have them use the date rape drug. Shoot you up and you could be lying there.”
Daphne is HIV positive. Even though she is an intravenous drug user, she never shared a needle in her life. She contracted the virus after being sexually assaulted.
Angela Di Paolo with the Prince Albert Outreach tries to do her best to help keep the women safe. She and her staff hand out condoms and “bad date sheets,” helping women identify vehicles and men who assault, or rip off prostitutes.
But even with that, Di Paolo said plenty of other dangers exist.
Police Officers speak with a woman they arrested after witnesses say a man tried to beat her saying she took his money.
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The murder of Prince Albert prostitute Antoinette Ruth Daniels in July, 2004 continues to serve as reminder.
Daniels, who was pregnant at the time of her death, was killed by Stephen Linsday Schutte after he picked her up as a John. He thought she stole his money so he beat her, killed her, and tried to dispose of her body first by burning it, then dumped it in the North Saskatchewan River. |
He is currently serving a life sentence in prison for the crime.
Donna Brooks at the YWCA said Daniels had stayed in a shelter for a short period of time, but fell back into the life of prostitution.
“If you’re the woman and you’re out there and you’re selling your goods, your body, yourself, you don’t necessarily know who your customers are. You don’t know this man that you’re getting into the vehicle with, across the river and into the bush or wherever you’re going with, you don’t know who he is,” said Brooks.
“It is not safe, at all.”
The same goes for the Johns, who don’t know who they’re picking up. That’s where the rules for walking the stroll come in.
Prostitutes holding hands with their pimps walk on the outside, so tricks know they’re available. If two girls are together they don’t walk side-by-side, so the tricks won’t be afraid of getting jumped. Likewise, most prostitutes wouldn’t get into a vehicle that has more than one man.
The Prince Albert police respond to prostitution in a two ways, said Sgt. Kelly McLean. Mainly, they enforce laws by arresting prostitutes and Johns. To a lesser extent they try to help them get out of the lifestyle.
Since 2008, the police have laid 125 prostitution charges.
While it’s unclear if it’s the Johns or the prostitutes being charged, McLean said it’s easier from a legal perspective to get charges to stick to women.
“It’s probably easier to gather evidence on a prostitute than it is on a John. You have to remember that there’s certain elements of that offence that we have to be able to prove in order to present a case to the crown to have it successfully prosecuted,” he said.
But McLean added they are getting more tools to use against the Johns, such as seizing their vehicles and forcing them to go to “John School” to get some education before getting it back.
“We want these people to understand as clients that it’s not just the service that they’re purchasing on the street.”
McLean also said they recognize prostitutes as victims themselves. The multi-agency task forces known as the Centre for Responsibility and the HUB have been working to share information and intervene when they can.
For Daphne it’s good that there’s some enforcement, but demand remains high and after 26 years, Daphne has both physical and mental scars.
“I didn’t feel that I had a purpose in this life because I felt very dirty because I was a prostitute,” said Daphne.
“To me, I feel like I’m a dog. I’m just a piece of meat, and you’re the dog coming to eat me.”
Donna Brooks at the YWCA said Daniels had stayed in a shelter for a short period of time, but fell back into the life of prostitution.
“If you’re the woman and you’re out there and you’re selling your goods, your body, yourself, you don’t necessarily know who your customers are. You don’t know this man that you’re getting into the vehicle with, across the river and into the bush or wherever you’re going with, you don’t know who he is,” said Brooks.
“It is not safe, at all.”
The same goes for the Johns, who don’t know who they’re picking up. That’s where the rules for walking the stroll come in.
Prostitutes holding hands with their pimps walk on the outside, so tricks know they’re available. If two girls are together they don’t walk side-by-side, so the tricks won’t be afraid of getting jumped. Likewise, most prostitutes wouldn’t get into a vehicle that has more than one man.
The Prince Albert police respond to prostitution in a two ways, said Sgt. Kelly McLean. Mainly, they enforce laws by arresting prostitutes and Johns. To a lesser extent they try to help them get out of the lifestyle.
Since 2008, the police have laid 125 prostitution charges.
While it’s unclear if it’s the Johns or the prostitutes being charged, McLean said it’s easier from a legal perspective to get charges to stick to women.
“It’s probably easier to gather evidence on a prostitute than it is on a John. You have to remember that there’s certain elements of that offence that we have to be able to prove in order to present a case to the crown to have it successfully prosecuted,” he said.
But McLean added they are getting more tools to use against the Johns, such as seizing their vehicles and forcing them to go to “John School” to get some education before getting it back.
“We want these people to understand as clients that it’s not just the service that they’re purchasing on the street.”
McLean also said they recognize prostitutes as victims themselves. The multi-agency task forces known as the Centre for Responsibility and the HUB have been working to share information and intervene when they can.
For Daphne it’s good that there’s some enforcement, but demand remains high and after 26 years, Daphne has both physical and mental scars.
“I didn’t feel that I had a purpose in this life because I felt very dirty because I was a prostitute,” said Daphne.
“To me, I feel like I’m a dog. I’m just a piece of meat, and you’re the dog coming to eat me.”