Buying Sex

Examining the relationship between sex and commerce, this Canadian documentary talks with lawyers, professors, and sex workers, who discuss the economic and social benefits and drawbacks of prostitution, while clients talk about paying for sex. Activist Valerie Scott, who believes that prostitution will always exist, advocates for legal protection; she would like to see Canada follow the lead of New Zealand, where prostitution has been decriminalized. Fellow activist Trisha Baptie remembers colleagues who went missing when she worked the streets, some of them ending up as victims of serial killer Robert Pickton. Like Scott, she fears that prostitutes are vulnerable to the most dangerous predators. Co-directors Teresa MacInnes and Kent Nason also speak with academics and brothel owners in New Zealand and Sweden (the latter nation has decriminalized prostitution but—somewhat paradoxically—paying for sex is still considered a criminal activity). In addition, Buying Sex includes footage from Teen Rebel, Teen Mom, which features Baptie, and Pascha—The Biggest Brothel, which contains explicit material (MacInnes co-directed the first film). Although violence against Swedish street walkers has decreased since decriminalization, sex workers are finding it harder to make a living since their customers still face the possibility of arrest and public humiliation. Toronto professor Janine Benedet, on the other hand, would like to see prostitution abolished altogether, but knows that won't happen anytime soon. During the course of the documentary, Ontario's high court rules that the laws against brothel operation and earnings from prostitution are unconstitutional. If Buying Sex raises more questions than answers, MacInnes and Nason vividly illustrate the complexity of the issue, where every solution seems to create a new set of problems. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)