Making a place for escort work: A case study

This case study focused on the steps taken by a Canadian city bordering the United States to manage the commercial sex component of an adult entertainment package that draws many American visitors. It explored how the city dealt with the potential of community stigmatization resulting from its growing reputation as a place for easily accessible sex trade. The distinctive Canadian laws related to the sex industry, the predominantly laissez‐faire attitude toward people's sex lives, and concerns about maintaining the atmosphere of safety and privacy protection preferred by many residents set boundaries to the approach that could be taken. The specific historical, geographic, social, and political location of the city figured prominently in its choice of a normalization rather than a spatialization strategy.