By msnbc.com staff 3-26-12


The top court in Canada's Ontario province on Monday legalized pimping and brothels in an attempt to make prostitution less dangerous for those employed as sex workers.

The landmark decision noted that prostitution is very dangerous and existing laws prevented sex workers from banding together and hiring security guards.

Starting in 2013, sex workers will be able to work together in a brothel in any part of the province, the newspaper reported. On April 25, prostitutes will be able to hire body guards, the court decided.

Communicating for the purposes of prostitution will still be illegal, according to the judgement, the newspaper reported. Keeping this part of the current law in place will likely help assuage fears that the new laws will encourage sex workers into overtly propositioning clients in public, the newspaper added.