Legalize Prostitution?
Monday, December 10th, 2007If Robert Pickton’s victims were involved in a legalized profession many of these women would still be alive today. The mere fact that the victims were castigated, outsiders, marginalized, allowed Pickton to kill at will — because no one cared.
The voluminous-ness of the crimes, the sheer amount of his victims, is what led to Pickton’s serial killing demise. It took that amount of street workers to die in order for the authorities to finally pay attention and get him.
Escort services already run rampant in every major Canadian city. The phone book companies, daily, profit from the avails of prostitution. What we are really talking about here when it comes to prostitution is a street presence.
According to investigative journalist Stevie Cameron, whose book, The Pickton Trial, chronicled the trial’s early going, and her upcoming book, The Pig Farm, to be released in a year-and-a-half, and that deals with the entire tragedy, said that many jurors do not know many of the facts about the case that we do. Pickton’s defense did a superb job. The second-degree murder conviction on six counts resulted from the issue of other people’s access to his farm and some measure of reasonable doubt.
Pickton did do it. He even confessed at one point.
The trial has cost the tax-payers an unbelievable amount. It will cost us $100,000 per year to imprison Robert Pickton – and he will never get out. No parole for him.
What about the 20 other charges? The 20 other women whom he killed? Will they get their day in court? Not likely. He is already going away for good.
Is this justice?
How can there be justice when our culture has already written these women off, just like the serial killer, as being sub-human. Not worthy of our pity or of police protection.
Just another missing prostitute on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside:
“Maybe she went home….I heard she went back to her family and her kid. Did you see her lately? Have you seen her? It is not like her to leave like that without saying goodbye. I hope she’s okay. Is she sober? I heard she kinda straightened out and went back to Steve. Have you seen her? She left her favorite sweater at my place. I hope she’s okay”….