A Vancouver organization, which aims to protect women from violence, is speaking out against the move to establish a brothel in the city before the start of the 2010 Olympic Games.

Representatives from the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter hosted a panel discussion in Vancouver Thursday to express their concern about the promotion of prostitution in Vancouver.

To reinforce that message, the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter  invited activists from other countries including the U.S., Britain and New Zealand to participate in the discussion.

"We believe prostitution is not a choice or work in that it's part of the continuum of violence against women," said Daisy Kler, a spokesperson for the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter.

The discussion is being held in part to respond to local sex industry workers who are trying to establish a brothel, potentially in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, before the 2010 Olympic Games.

The legalized brothel concept is being broached by the West Coast Cooperative of Sex Industry Professionals, which became the first sex trade co-operative in Canada when it was set up in February. It is comprised of prostitutes and exotic dancers, who claim a brothel would increase safety for sex trade workers.

The co-op aims to secure an exemption from the federal government in order to operate the brothel legally.

Susan Davis, a former prostitute and organizer of the co-operative has said that the Olympics was an opportunity for Vancouver to show to the world that is trying to make the sex trade a safer place for women to work.

"The Olympics presents an interesting political time," she told the Canadian Press. "With the world coming here, maybe we should show people that we can rise above the old moral standpoint and do something really creative to stabilize people's safety."

A 'hairbrained' idea

But women on the panel today called the idea 'shameful' and said it would not reduce the harm or trauma inflicted on women in the sex trade.

Suzanne Koepplinger, executive director of Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center, is appalled at the idea of legalizing a brothel.

"This particular idea is one of the most hairbrained, knuckleheaded things I've ever heard come out of Canada," she said. "This particular issue is being paid very close attention to by people across the globe. I really hope that this is a watershed moment when the city of Vancouver will step up and do the right thing."

Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan said the city is not going ahead with the idea.

"There's no consideration whatsoever (to go ahead with it)," he said. "It is a federal issue, and that's not being discussed at all."

Vancouver East NDP MP Libby Davies, by contrast, has publicly voiced support for the legalization of prostitution and a brothel.

Kler says the idea of a brothel in Vancouver is just another form of legalizing and legitimizing prostitution, which would only hurt sex trade workers and not help them.

"We have clear agreement ... that the transition house workers who work with violence against women issues on a daily basis are saying this will not create safety for women, this is a bad move in the wrong direction," she said.

Kler said the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter, wants to prevent any move either to legalize prostitution or to set up a brothel in the city.

"Whether or not there will be a legalized brothel for the 2010 depends on what we do before it," she said.

With files from The Canadian Press and a report from CTV British Columbia's Mike Killeen