R. v Gowan
R. v Gowan is a March 1998 case tried by the Ontario Court of Justice which ruled that, while a woman being topless as form of protest and free speech is legal, her being topless while she engages in a commercial purpose such as prostitution is illegal.[1]
Details of the case
On June 3, 1997, 31-year-old prostitute J. Gowan took her shirt off and bared her breasts on Montreal Road in the Ontario city of Vanier.[1] Afterwards, Gowan held her breasts, pulled her nipples, and asked nearby car drivers several times if they "want to fuck" her.[1] On two occasions, Gowan did this while she was leaning into other people's cars during a red light.[1] Considering Gowan's behavior—rather than her toplessness itself—to be indecent, Cecile Couture reported Gowan to the authorities.[1]
Ruling
In her ruling, Judge Jennifer Blishen stated that the evidence indicates that the purpose of Gowan's toplessness and provocative behavior was to engage in prostitution and that thus, unlike the actions of Ontario woman Gwen Jacob several years earlier, Gowan's toplessness was commercial in nature.[1] In addition, Blishen stated that she "cannot find that the community would tolerate the use of a woman's bare breasts in public in order to sell any form of service or product" since "[s]uch conduct would appear to promote the objectification of women and the accompanying social harm."[1] Elaborating on this, Blishen wrote that Gowan's actions "portray women in a humiliating manner as sex objects, with the resulting loss of dignity."[1] Thus, Blishen found that Gowan's actions constituted an indecent act in a public place contrary to section 173(1)(a) of the Criminal Code" and that thus Gowan is "guilty as charged."[1] As a result of her conviction for indecent behavior, Gowan was fined $250.
Criticism
In her 2009 book Law's Dream of a Common Knowledge, Mariana Valverde criticized this ruling by arguing that it ensured that "the women who have the best 'lawful excuse,' as law puts it, to go around topless are expressly forbidden from doing so."[2] Elaborating on this, Valverde states that a "new line has been drawn, between the speaking, rational, political woman, who can now bare her breasts even in the presence of unsuspecting children, and the whore of old, who must be covered while outdoors."[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i R v. Gowan [3 March 1998] Doc. Ottawa 97-20544 (Ontario Court of Justice, Provincial Division).
- ^ a b Valverde, Mariana (2009). Law's Dream of a Common Knowledge. Princeton University Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-1400825561. Retrieved 2017-03-08.
- v
- t
- e
- Brothel
- Call girl
- Ranch (brothel)
- Drugs and prostitution
- Feminist views on prostitution
- Prostitution by region
- Sex drive-in
- Prostitution statistics by country
- Violence against prostitutes
- Child prostitution
- Forced prostitution
- Internet prostitution
- Male prostitution
- Types of prostitution in modern Japan
- Sex for fish
- Street prostitution
- Survival sex
- Window prostitution
- Decriminalization of sex work
- Prostitution law
- Association for Promoting the Extension of the Contagious Diseases Acts
- Canada (AG) v Bedford
- Contagious Diseases Acts
- R v Hutt
- Massage Parlours Act 1978
- Prostitution age of consent
- Prostitution law in Canada
- Prostitution Reform Act 2003
- R. v. Gowan
- Right to sexuality
- Sexual and reproductive health and rights
- Sexual Offences Act
- World Charter for Prostitutes' Rights
- A Vindication of the Rights of Whores
- Call Me Elizabeth
- Happy Endings?
- The Happy Hooker
- Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies
- The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl
- Mary Wept over the Feet of Jesus
- Nocturnal Revels
- Paying for It
- Pauline's: Memoirs of The Madam on Clay Street
- Playing the Whore
- Revolting Prostitutes
- Sex Power Money
- $pread
- Unspeakable Things
- Whore of New York
- You'll Never Make Love in This Town Again
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- American Samoa
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Brunei
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Cape Verde
- Chad
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- East Timor
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Greece
- Guam
- Guatemala
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Ivory Coast
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macau
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Mexico
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- Norway
- Oman
- Overseas France
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Samoa
- Saudi Arabia
- Scotland
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Suriname
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Togo
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- Bahamas
- British Overseas Territories
- Central African Republic
- Crown dependencies
- Czech Republic
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Dominican Republic
- Dutch Caribbean
- Republic of Macedonia
- Solomon Islands
- Soviet Union
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Prostitution portal
- Category