VANCOUVER - There's no telling how many high-rise brothels may be in Vancouver, according to one expert.
UBC Faculty of Law assistant professor Benjamin Perrin, an expert on human trafficking, says condos - such as the one in Yaletown where 29-year-old Jeffrey Bian was stabbed to death June 11 - make for great illegal brothels.
"They blend into the community, which makes it difficult for police to identify, and offers johns a higher level of discretion," he said.
Perrin wasn't fazed to learn the suspects in Bian's murder may have been robbing a number of brothels across the city.
"There's a great deal of money being made," he said.
"It's not surprising they would become the target of armed robberies, just like grow-ops are."
Vancouver police told media Monday that the nature of the businesses means robbery victims are unlikely to come forward.
Perrin says Crime Stoppers operators were recently trained in human trafficking and the sex trade, and offered the anonymous tip line as an alternative - especially for women forced into the trade and looking for protection.
Matt Kieltyka reports for Vancouver 24 hours.
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alive
2 years ago
Too obvious?
The idea of making it legal must have crossed some minds?
Just like with soft drugs, we all know it happens, so why not get a better chance at controlling it, and get rid of the parasites?
Bailey
2 years ago
Prohibition effects
The prohibition of behaviour that is not intended to cause harm is such a bad idea in a democracy that you can make a case that democracy ceases to exist when such laws are made.
Look at the consequences of just two such laws; the one prohibiting the sex trade and the one prohibiting substances.
The first has led to a robust re-emergence of slavery worldwide. So robust that it's no longer confined to sex workers, but has spread to industrial workers in some places.
The second has created such an enormous cash flow into organized criminal conspiracies that no industry or regulatory agency can be considered to be safe from corruption by them.