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PACE, RCMP working to educate johns

After a recent prostitution sting, RCMP are getting a better sense of the sex trade situation here in Grande Prairie. Superintendent Don McKenna says the day of the operation was cold and snowy and he was surprised with the number of people that were arrested.

The late November bust caught a total of 34 men and one woman allegedly trying to solicit sexual services. McKenna says they are trying to help the workers at the same time and sign them up with Project Kare’s High Risk Registry Program.

“For the most part they do give us their DNA and we offer them alternatives to leave the sex trade,” says McKenna. “We can put them in touch with counsellors or even help them get out of town.”

Project Kare was developed by the RCMP’s K Division in 2003 “to investigate the deaths of several vulnerable missing persons in the Edmonton area.” It is a sub-unit of the Missing Person’s Unit and has been replicated by police forces across the country. They work to collect DNA and other information that could be used to identify someone should they go missing.

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A program for the johns is also being developed by PACE. McKenna says it’s important for them to understand the workers are usually marginalized individuals.

“People that are seeking the services of someone in the sex trade, they really should know how marginalized and what a terrible thing it is. And that these young ladies need their help, they need help in general and they don’t need to be treated like that.”

The “john school” could be considered as an alternative measure to the court process in the future. It might not be offered to everyone, and any prior criminal record would be weighed by a judge as a factor.

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