As a large urban centre, Surrey has its share of street-level prostitution, and in fact, I think we have identified 160 young women who are working in street-level prostitution in the city of Surrey, most of them in terrible circumstances and only there because of their substance abuse issues. But the criminality associated with the behaviour, both for the person who is part of the communication process....
It is absolutely essential, I think,for us to have a lever to try to transition these young women—and sometimes not-so-young women—into a better station in life, and that's how we approach it as police officers. It is a lever. It provides us with a certain authority under the Criminal Code that gives us an in with that young sex trade worker, so we can work with other community partners. In Surrey, for example, the Servants Anonymous Society, SAS, provides us with an opportunity to move those people into different circumstances.
And the more difficult you can make it for them to continue that type of lifestyle, I think the more motivation there is for them to move to a different place in life.