Riverdale Avenue Books Announces 'Dominatrix on Trial' Memoir

NEW YORK — Riverdale Avenue Books this week announced the newly published autobiography of Terri-Jean Bedford—one of Canada's most notorious citizens, under the name Madame deSade—who took her challenges of the sex worker laws in Canada all the way to the Supreme Court. In the book, Terri-Jean details how she became the country's "most famous leather-clad dominatrix," a public figure appearing on the evening news as she took on the Canadian legal establishment to ultimately change sex worker law throughout Canada. The country's prostitution laws were struck down in 2010. Bedford’s autobiography, Dominatrix on Trial, chronicles her life born into poverty to her rise to national notoriety. As a poor bi-racial girl, she was placed into a foster home at six, where she was abused. She was later moved into various children’s homes and lived there until she was 16, when she left to make it on her own. Terri survived by working numerous unskilled jobs. Her talents and interests helped her move into the world of the professional dominatrix, after which life was never the same. Located just outside of Toronto, her elaborate Bondage Bungalow became the target of a police raid in 1994. Six highly publicized years of trials and appeals later, she was convicted under bawdy-house laws and paid a small fine. In 1999, she opened a similar facility in downtown Toronto, one that closed without police interference in 2002. “Terri-Jean Bedford is a feminist icon, a revolutionary who not only fought for what she believed, but for freedom for both women and men,” said Lori Perkins, founder of Riverdale Avenue Books. “She is a courageous and strong woman who continues to have a lasting impact on Canada and sex work.” A few years later she was at the center of Bedford vs. Canada, a five-year constitutional challenge to Canada’s sex trade laws. The Supreme Court vindicated her struggles. She remains a vocal advocate for civil rights and the disenfranchised. A play based on her life story is currently in production in Windsor, Ontario, in 2022. Books and downloads are available on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles Nook, iTunes, and Kobo. Riverdale Avenue Books publishes e-books and print titles under 13 imprints. Started by Perkins in 2012, Riverdale is a full-service publisher with a subsidiary rights department.