One obvious remedy — banning prostitution — was never on the court’s agenda, however. That’s because the plaintiffs in the case were self-styled sex workers who claimed theirs is a profession like any other and were trying to use the case to eliminate limitations that the law had placed on it.

So the court ordered parliament to make life safer for prostitutes without offering any ideas for how to do that.

Allowing prostitutes to hire “drivers” or “bodyguards” would mean de facto legalization of pimping, as Canada’s prosecutors unsuccessfully argued. Citing the notorious case of serial killer Robert Pickton, who preyed on prostitutes in British Columbia, the court implied that repealing existing laws could be justified if doing so saved “one” woman. What are the justices going to say the first time a prostitute gets killed by her driver?

As for brothels, they may be safe havens, as the court claims. Then again, they may be virtual prisons, as with some in Germany.