Adult prostitution should be decriminalized, according to 67 per cent of residents and business owners in the Downtown Eastside and Strathcona neighbourhoods.
The Simon Fraser University online survey of 122 participants — 91 residents, 27 business owners, four didn’t indicate a group — offered a rare glimpse of public opinion from the Vancouver neighbourhoods most affected by street prostitution.
It also showed that 77 per cent of residents support brothels in non-residential areas and 76 per cent said the sale of sex should be legal.
Seventy-two per cent said buying a sexual service from an adult should be legal, according to the study, Community Attitudes to Street Prostitution in the Downtown Eastside and Strathcona.
