Following his arrest, he had allegedly boasted to police that he was one kill short of 50 victims, a figure that matched missing persons data for the city. Illegal to live off the proceeds of that work, illegal to conduct that work in a house dedicated to prostitution and illegal to discuss or negotiate an agreement with potential customers. In Sweden, it's legal to sell sex, but illegal to buy it. In many countries including most of the United States, where it is a state issue prostitution is illegal.

But even in countries where it is not, the web of restrictions and regulations can be confusing to prostitutes and customers alike. We have a complicated relationship with the world's oldest profession.

And though it has always been legal to sell your body for sex in Canada, until last week, it was impossible to make a living from doing it. When I lived in Canada three years ago, national attention was focused on a pig farmer from British Columbia named Zacharia Pickton who was convicted of killing six prostitutes from Vancouver's down and out Downtown Eastside.

Lebanese prostitutes can legally work at a licensed brothel, but the government has a policy against issuing brothel licenses.