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'They're not here for the Victorian houses': Moncton woman complains of men cruising for sex

A Moncton woman says she doesn't feel safe in her own neighbourhood because there are too many men looking to pick up sex workers.

Genevieve Braun of Moncton's Victoria Park area, is fed up with men prowling her neighbourhood and bothering women.

"There's a lot of harassment toward women and girls and it's happening daily," said Braun.

"They're not here for the Victorian houses."

Braun refuses to leave her house at night.

Same cars keep coming back

She was approached three times this summer alone. One of those times happened at the corner of Weldon and Park streets, a few feet from Edith Cavell School, a kindergarten to Grade 8 school.

"He just stopped and waved at me. His window was already down and he said, 'Hey, are you busy right now? Want to go on a date?' And I knew right away what he meant," she said.

"I totally flipped out, called him a whole bunch of names and he sped up and drove away."

Braun has lived in the area for 12 years. She only started noticing that men were loitering and cruising around the neighbourhood after she moved her office into her sun room.

"I started noticing the same cars over and over everyday."

Around 1 p.m. on a Sunday, Braun witnessed a man picking up a prostitute near her house.

Braun called police, but she said it took an hour for them to get back to her. By that time the man had already left the area.

She said the police officer told her there's nothing he could do anyway.

"To me, that doesn't make sense."

Braun has taken matters into her own hands and set up a database to collect images and the licence plate numbers of men in their vehicles, who she believes are looking to pay for sex.

She has more than 140 men registered in her database.

She's also brought the issue forward to the city and asked for a police task force to be put in place. She also wants surveillance cameras to be installed.

'What they're doing is not illegal'

Charles Léger is a Moncton city councillor for the area. He's also chair of the Codiac REgional Policing Authority, a group responsible for overseeing planning, police coverage and fiscal management of the Codiac RCMP.

CBC
CBC

Léger said federal changes to prostitution laws in 2014, which shifted to target people who buy and exploit sexual services, have made solving the issues in the Victoria Park neighbourhood "much more complicated for the RCMP."

But he said the city is rolling out a plan in April to address Braun's concerns. The plan isn't finalized yet, but it could include changes to the design of the neighbourhood, installation of surveillance cameras and better lighting.

"Right now, all of the options are on the table with respect to what other communities have done and the successes they've had," he said.

"The sex workers need to also feel safe in the environment. What they're doing is not illegal."

In the meantime, Léger said people shouldn't hesitate to contact RCMP if they see men harassing women.