Year after year, the Montreal Grand Prix finds itself fighting against this image that sticks to its skin, that of being an epicenter where pimps from Canada and the United States converge. However, this event is indeed major for pimps of all kinds.
Although Montreal is one of the hubs of human trafficking in Canada and of sex tourism, the supply of prostitution doubles and often triples during F1, particularly for young adults (women and men) and teenagers.
In June 2018, Quebec held two major events on its territory: the Montreal Grand Prix and the G7 Summit in Charlevoix. In less than a month, the prostitution offer on the Internet for greater Montreal and Quebec City then doubled with nearly 8,000 entries (telephone numbers, postings, emails); 55% of these announcements concerned Montreal, Laval and the South Shore and 16%, Quebec City.
In addition to this image associated with prostitution, F1 also drags that of machismo and hypersexualization: the bodies of young women happily marry the chassis of cars. The famous half-dressed “grid girls”. Monaco had also replaced them in 2015 with “grid boys”, dressed in denim shorts. However, in 2018, the girls were back. Chase the natural and it comes back at a gallop…
The victim ostrich game
Faced with this reality, what does the promoter of the event do? He meets with politicians to assure them of his support for the cause, that of the fight against sexual exploitation. He also believes that using the services of decently dressed co-ed staff at the F1 venue is a big step in countering hypersexualisation. This is indeed a good start. But what else does he do? Nothing !
At the Special Commission on the Sexual Exploitation of Minors, to the question “what part of your budget is devoted to combating sexual exploitation? the proponent’s response was that “no part of our current operating budget is devoted to the fight against sexual exploitation”.
However, he acknowledges before the Commission that pimps “do not hesitate to mischievously link their offer of ‘services’” to his event.
Paying for sex in Canada is illegal
Since 2014, the purchase of sexual services has been illegal in Canada. This is the message of an awareness campaign that will be broadcast as part of the Grand Prix; the objective being to attack clients of prostitution and sex tourists. It’s a great initiative!
Although the F1 promoter has no intention of spending money to fight against sexual exploitation, could he not at least support this campaign by posting it, for example, on all the sites where the events will be held, including the VIP parties? And, why not in the stables?
Reference-www.journaldemontreal.com