The city of Edmonton will hold mandatory classes for independent escorts applying for business licences about the health and tax implications of working as a prostitute. The unusual training sessions are part of a new bylaw approved by city council yesterday that will allow escorts to work independently from agencies and field calls at home. Sex, however, must still take place at a hotel or a client's home.
Federal laws prohibit the operation of bawdy houses.
City councillors voted for the bylaw because they had no way to stop escort agencies from forwarding calls to prostitutes at home. Council also felt the new law will allow women to break free from those greedy escort agency operators who fine women for turning down dates and demand payments over and above the customers' introduction fee. Four of Edmonton's 10 licensed escort agencies were charged last year with living off the avails of prostitution, said Constable Deb Jolly, an Edmonton police officer and member of the city's dating and escort task force. Unscrupulous companies fine escorts who miss dates and refuse to perform certain sex acts, she said. Council approved the training classes to ensure that all women who enter the business are doing so with open eyes.