A registry for johns gone wrong

A South-Shore man was arraigned in a Montreal courthouse Tuesday for allegedly beating a prostitute with a window scraper and trying to stuff her into the trunk of his car. But while his trial's outcome remains uncertain, the man has likely purchased his last blowjob: he's about to be added to the "bad tricks list."

Compiled and distributed monthly by Stella, a Montreal drop-in and help centre for sex workers, the bad tricks list contains physical descriptions of the men, their vehicles and the location, time and date of reported assaults--but no names. The list grows by about six descriptions a month and now stands at about two hundred. The list is distributed to prostitutes, as well as the hotels and bars they frequent, but not to the police.

Stella has been keeping track of dishonest and violent johns since it opened four years ago, but few are ever prosecuted. Most prostitutes are wary of police and often choose not to report assaults.

The seedy back-alley tryst is the best way for prostitutes to get attacked, warns Claire Thibotot, a Stella coordinator. Thibotot adds that, ever since prostitutes were scattered from their traditional place of business north of Chinatown approximately four years ago, they have become easier targets for violent assaults.

"These women now have to work in isolated areas, making them much more vulnerable to incidents of aggression," Thibotot said.

--Patrick Lejtenyi