Hooker Harvey's

43°39′38″N 79°22′35″W / 43.6605°N 79.3763°W / 43.6605; -79.3763

Outside view of a Harvey's restaurant
Hooker Harvey's in 2009

Hooker Harvey's is a Harvey's franchise in Toronto, Ontario, Canada notable for having been a hub for prostitution.

History

In the 1960s, Toronto's Jarvis Street was a hub for the sex trade, with the surrounding area containing strip clubs such as Zanzibar Tavern and adult movie theatres.[1][2] This led to the parking lot of the Harvey's franchise in that area to become a burgeoning sexual marketplace, giving this particular franchise its common nickname of Hooker Harvey's.[1] The Jarvis and Church street area is considered by Robyn Doolittle of the Toronto Star to be an especially high-end area of the Toronto street prostitution scene.[3] Workers can earn up to $300 a client, with one woman named Ebony quoting her services for hundreds of dollars an hour in the Harvey's franchise's parking lot.[3] Toronto's street prostitution scene is so lucrative due to Canada's laws surrounding prostitution, which used to criminalize activities such as operating brothels but not the actual act of prostitution itself.[3] This meant it was legally safer for prostitutes to offer their services on the street rather than indoors.[3] However, in 2013, these laws were struck down in the case Canada (AG) v Bedford and were replaced with legislation criminalizing the purchase of sex work, but not the selling.[4][5]

Over the years, Hooker Harvey's has endured many attempts to remove sex workers from the location.[2][3] In 2009, roadwork blocked the sidewalk outside of the Harvey's, making it difficult to solicit customers and resulting in many sex workers leaving the location.[3] In 2017, a rumour on social media spread claiming that a condominium would be built in Hooker Harvey's location. However, the City of Toronto later said there were no plans to demolish the location.[1][2]

Hooker Harvey's has also been the subject of artwork, with the anonymous digital artist Voidz publishing a digital rendering of a fake visual art installation outside of Harvey's franchise.[6] Voidz described the franchise as a "legendary Toronto icon" and said that the location was representative of Toronto's culture of dark humour.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Gee, Marcus (January 4, 2017). "Downtown Toronto continues to shed its grittiness". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Westoll, Nick (January 4, 2017). "Toronto's 'Hooker Harvey's' saved from proposed condo development amid online rumours". Global News. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Doolittle, Robyn (October 24, 2009). "End of the Jarvis stroll? Roadwork pushes prostitutes off their perch, and court case may mean bigger changes for them". Toronto Star. ProQuest 439618011.
  4. ^ Sampson, Lauren (2014). ""The Obscenities of this Country": Canada v. Bedford and the Reform of Canadian Prostitution Laws". Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy. 22 (137): 137–172. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  5. ^ Sarai, Randeep (June 2022). "Preventing Harm in the Canadian Sex Industry: A Review of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act" (PDF). House of Commons. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  6. ^ a b O'Neil, Lauren (November 15, 2018). "Toronto's infamous Hooker Harvey's just got a new tribute". BlogTO. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
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