Most recent articles on prostitution related laws, opinions, comments

[wilbur]

'Positive Effects' of Swedish Sex Purchase Ban Heavily Exaggerated, New Report Finds

Submitted by NSWP on 5th February 2015

Holmström says in the DN article that she was mainly surprised that no one had investigated how sex workers said they were impacted by the law.

I wonder if this person was born yesterday. The radical feminists who have controlled Swedish politics and social attitudes for the last 2 decades, have consistently denied sex-workers any voice at all, except for those who have an axe to grind against men in general. Sex workers who do not agree with them are simply deemed suffering from Stockholm Syndrome and labelled as ignorant of their own misfortune and unaware of their own exploitation by gender patriarchal structures.

This study will be shouted down by the radical feminists who control the government and their brainwashed male followers, the same as every other study done in the past by reputable academics.

The Swedish government funds all kinds of research on society in order to determine if any aspect generates gender bias. For example, they funded not so long ago a study to find out if musical toys promoted any gender bias.

A society gone totally wacko.

 

[canada-man]

https://terb.cc/vbulletin/showthrea...lead-to-human-trafficking-arrest&goto=newpost

noise complaints lead to human trafficking arrests

 

[LAS0023]

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/search/all/source/the-arena/no-johns-arrested-in-ontario/4035041814001

 

[alexiadx]

awesome piece

Who is Listening? Remembering Indigenous Sex Workers

FEBRUARY 11, 2015
By Naomi Sayers

https://decolonization.wordpress.com/2015/02/11/who-is-listening-remembering-indigenous-sex-workers/

As I sit here drafting this, I am wondering what can I write that I haven’t already written, or that other people haven’t already stated elsewhere? There isn’t much more that I can say, or that we can say collectively. It is now 25 years since the first march in Vancouver’s downtown east side called for action to the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. And now, 25 years later, we still march, we still write, we still shout…who is listening?

In the past couple of years, media coverage of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (#MMIWG) has increased and there has also been social media campaigns bringing the issue to increased audiences. For many Canadians, the last few years may have been the first time they heard or read about this issue. This might be considered progress by some. But for many families, the fight to be heard and listened to is an ongoing battle against colonial desires to erase Indigenous women and Indigenous peoples. Our current Prime Minister summed up his government’s stance on #MMIWG when he stated in December that it wasn’t “really high on our radar, to be honest.” This moment of honesty is a denial of the ongoing colonial violence against Indigenous women, which is part of a larger trend of the Prime Minister denying colonialism existed in Canada at all. Indigenous women and girls continue to go missing or are murdered; they do not matter to him. There is no colonial past or present. So, we continue to write, to march, to shout, and to assert our presence and our demands.

It is difficult to see the realities of gendered colonial violence ignored and erased from the political realm. It is even more difficult to see these violences further entrenched through increased criminalization. This increased criminalization is most evident with the erasure of Indigenous women’s realities and voices, ignored when the current government’s passed the new prostitution laws. In the midst of unprecedented attention to #MMIWG, colonial violence against Indigenous women becomes further normalized and entrenched through law.

In 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruled three criminal code provisions that criminalized prostitution as unconstitutional—these provisions violated sex workers’ right to life, liberty and security of person. The most obvious example of how these laws negatively impacted sex workers’ lives is the horror of Robert Pickton. Canadians of all backgrounds know about Pickton, but some Canadians are less aware of John Martin Crawford. Crawford preyed specifically on Indigenous women who worked the streets.

Street based sex workers rely on different screening methods for their own safety and protection. One such method is communicating with a potential client about services and screening for safety, which also includes examining the car before entering. However, when communication between a potential client and an outdoor sex work is criminalized, the sex worker is forced to make hasty decisions that could ultimately force them into violent and dangerous scenarios. In its decision, the SCC stated, “if screening could have prevented one woman from jumping into Robert Pickton’s car, the severity of the harmful effects is established.” It cannot be stated enough, but predators who prey on outdoor sex workers, and specifically Indigenous sex workers, are aware of the precarious and vulnerable position outdoor sex workers are placed in.

Sadly, the government, in response to the SCC decision, enacted extremely broad and ill-defined laws that will continue to regulate and criminalize outdoor sex workers under a very similar law that contributed to predators like Crawford and Pickton preying on outdoor sex workers, who are predominantly Indigenous women. When the government says that Indigenous women are made vulnerable by being forced to enter into prostitution, they emphatically ignore the complexities of their lives and most certainly, they ignore the history of colonialism. The government’s solution to these complex social issues doesn’t respond to Indigenous sex workers’ unique needs; rather, the government contributes to their vulnerability by forcing them to work under dangerous laws—laws that have already been ruled unconstitutional and that continue to ignore the realities of Indigenous sex workers.

When the government ignores these histories and present realities, it sends a clear message to Canadians: sex workers’ lives do not matter. The law continues to criminalize outdoor sex workers and will continue to put the most marginalized and vulnerable in harm’s way. Predators like Pickton and Crawford will continue to prey on women who work outdoors and who come from Indigenous backgrounds. We need to stand together to support those who continue to do sex work and those who continue to do sex work under dangerous laws. We need to acknowledge their realities and we need to acknowledge their resistance and resiliency.

At the end of the day, we can continue to take these issues to the streets, to march and to shout. But if we aren’t listening to the Indigenous women that live and work on the streets, what does that tell them? It tells them that we are not valuing their truths. If not us, who is going to listen to them? We cannot rely on the government to listen.

During this time, I ask that people not forget about current sex workers when they are praying, remembering, and marching for the missing and murdered. There are Indigenous women who continue to work in the sex trade; we must not forget about them because their realities and truths are important too. We must acknowledge the history of this march and the resistance that it grew out of, including resistance to the state and resistance to the ongoing criminalization of Indigenous sex workers’ lives. We can’t wait for another Pickton or Crawford to prey on our daughters, mothers, or sisters.

___________________________________________________________________________

Naomi Sayers is the creator of www.kwetoday.com, and identifies as an indigenous feminist, sex work activist. She is currently enrolled in the common law program at the University of Ottawa.

 

[canada-man]

Durham police say man faces multiple charges after female escort robbed, assaulted

Durham Regional Police say a man is facing multiple charges after he allegedly assaulted and stole from a female escort when their “business relationship” fell apart.
According to police, in May 2014, the male suspect agreed to provide transportation and advertising services for the woman.
Police allege that the relationship “quickly deteriorated” and the suspect began to keep all of the proceeds from the victim’s services. The suspect is also accused of threatening the woman and being physically abusive.
About a week after entering into the agreement with the man, police say the victim managed to escape.
In December, police allege that a female friend of the suspect tracked down the victim in a hotel room. The man allegedly went into the room, pepper sprayed the victim and held a knife to her throat. Police say her money was stolen and the suspect demanded more cash to compensate him for her decision to end their business relationship.
According to investigators, the male suspect located the victim once more at the end of January and she was again assaulted and robbed.
Police say they have arrested Taylor Eibbitt, 25, in connection with the incidents. Eibbitt is facing 14 charges including trafficking in persons, material benefit from sexual services, robbery, and possession of a prohibited weapon.
The female accused in the December robbery, a 19 year old from Ajax, has been charged with robbery and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon. Police say the female friend’s identity is protected under a publication ban.
Anyone information regarding this incident can contact Det. Const. Groeneveld of the Human Trafficking Unit at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 3260 or Crime Stoppers anonymous at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).


Read more: http://www.cp24.com/news/durham-pol...cort-robbed-assaulted-1.2240449#ixzz3S3RmrG16

 

[squeezer]

MPP Cheri DiNovo's statement in support of rights of sex workers on Feb 18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agvwhc0vRpY#t=61

 

[canada-man]

AURORA, Ont. -- A Toronto man is facing 44 charges in connection with a human trafficking investigation.
York Regional Police say they began the investigation in November after they were contacted by a female who said she wanted help to get out of the sex trade.
Rory Thomas Mitchell, 29, faces charges including human trafficking, procuring to become a prostitute, sexual assault, exercising control, forcible confinement and drug trafficking and firearms offences.
He's scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket on March 11.
Police say they believe the accused -- who also uses the alias "Chris" -- may be involved with other vulnerable young women and they are asking anyone with information to contact investigators.

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-m...ith-human-trafficking-investigation-1.2267232

 

[canada-man]

TORONTO - A 19-year old Toronto man is facing a slew of charges, including sexual assault, armed robbery and forcible confinement.
Police allege the suspect targeted several sex trade workers in January and February -- setting up dates, then sexually assaulting and robbing the women.
O'Neil Forrester was arrested and charged on Wednesday.

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-man-facing-sexual-assault-forcible-confinement-charges-1.2268675

 

[canada-man]

Mississauga man charged after allegedly trying to recruit prostitutes over Facebook

MISSISSAUGA – A Mississauga man was charged on Monday (March 16) after a man allegedly tried to lure an undercover Peel Regional Police officer posing as an underaged person on social media into a life of prostitution.

Dimitri Majdalani, 30, has been charged with attempting to procure a prostitute, after Peel police say a man contacted an officer, who was posing as a 17-year-old girl on Facebook, and tried to convince her to become a prostitute.

Attempting to procure a prostitute differs from the charge of soliciting a prostitute, in that solicitation refers to an attempt to acquire the services of a prostitute, whereas procurement of a prostitute refers to attempting to lure someone into becoming one.

"A lot of times these online guys will claim to be the same age as the person they're speaking to," said Const. Fiona Thivierge.

"They will often pose as someone the same age and convince them to meet them by saying 'let's go shopping or go hang out,' and once they (the victim) gets there, it's actually an old guy."

Thivierge said sexual assault victims are often lured in the same way, but in this case Majdalani is accused of trying to recruit women to become prostitutes.

Peel police are investigating to determine if any other victims were contacted by the accused through Facebook or other social media platforms.

"It's not common for someone to have only done it once, so obviously we're looking for anyone who may have been approached," said Thivierge.

She also also said that many who are contacted but don't fall for the ruse don't contact police to make them aware of the incident.

"People will assume nothing has happened to them and they're not a victim. Somebody tried, but they didn't do it, so there's nothing to it. But there is something to it; they're not allowed to do that," she added. "Who knows how many people they actually got to do it, and how many people are now stuck in it (prostitution)."

Since the case involved a victim the man allegedly thought was a minor, police are reminding parents to remain vigilant when it comes to their children's online activity.

They are also asking anyone of any age who believe they may have been contacted by the suspect or anyone else for the same purposes to contact the Peel Police Vice Unit at 905-453-2121, ext. 3555 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

http://www.therecord.com/news-story...-trying-to-recruit-prostitutes-over-facebook/

 

[escapefromstress]

PIVOT's response to Chris Hedges

Speak with sex workers, not for them

Written by Brenda Belak on March 18, 2015

http://www.pivotlegal.org/speak_with_sex_workers_not_for_them

A walk through Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside can be an overwhelming experience for anyone unfamiliar with the neighbourhood or the myriad social issues that intersect in this community.

The poverty and results of that poverty are easily visible. And if you were to walk through the streets of this community without speaking with any of its residents, you might well come to conclusions based on the preconceptions and assumptions you carried with you about what it means to be poor.

That seems to be precisely what happened when veteran journalist Chris Hedges recently visited the Downtown Eastside. He describes the neighbourhood as “filled with addicts, the broken, the homeless, the old and the mentally ill, all callously tossed into the street.”

He also portrays it as filled with “desperate street prostitutes.” It’s clear that Hedges isn’t really interested in the Downtown Eastside, though, or the experiences of the people who live and work there. His target is the global sex trade, and the people he passed by in the Downtown Eastside are little more than rhetorical objects he uses to attack an entire industry he wants to bring down.

Hedges uses Downtown Eastside sex workers as props to support his treatise that sex work is part of the imperialist, racist capitalist machine. “The wretched of the earth…” he writes, “are imported to serve the desires and fetishes of those in the industrialized world.”

Hedges champions the Swedish approach of criminalizing the purchase of sex as a means to end prostitution and trafficking. It’s an approach that has been adopted here in Canada under Bill C-36, the federal Conservatives’ Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, enacted in December 2014. The new law also makes it illegal to advertise sexual services, work collectively with other sex workers, and communicate in public for the purpose of prostitution.

Like the Harper Conservatives who drafted C-36, Hedges conflates all sex work with trafficking. This confusion can have harmful results for sex workers and migrants alike. He relies heavily on (and misquotes) a report by the ILO concerning international human trafficking. He claims that child trafficking has exploded in Germany and the Netherlands, while Sweden, which the criminalizes purchase of sex, has “cut street prostitution by half.”

However, a recently released report says that sex work has not necessarily diminished in Sweden -- it’s simply become less visible. The Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (agreeing with a 2014 report by the Stockholm County Administrative Board) found the decrease in street-based sex work may have more to do with the use of cell phones and the internet to connect buyers and sellers than the law. What the law has actually done is increase stigma for sex workers, cutting them off from health and other services and limiting their abilities to negotiate with and refuse clients. The Association stated that the law is putting those who sell sex “in an even more precarious position” and that it should be changed to better protect sex workers’ rights.

Despite these findings and similar research, Hedges concludes that criminalization is the most effective way to protect the “aboriginal women” he saw working in the Downtown Eastside. Had he bothered to speak with sex workers instead of only abolitionist organizations, he would have heard calls for decriminalization, an approach that prioritizes sex worker safety and recognizes sex workers as people making choices about their lives. The decriminalization of sex work is also supported by recent evidence from research conducted both here in B.C. and around the world.

In Vancouver, evaluations of the actual experiences of sex workers revealed that targeting clients still exposes sex workers to “significant safety and health risks, including: displacement to isolated spaces; inability to screen clients or safely negotiate terms of transactions; and inability to access police protection.”

Criminalizing clients has the same negative impacts on sex workers’ safety as criminalizing sex workers. That’s why sex workers’ organizations such as Sex Workers United Against Violence argue that decriminalization is a more effective way to ensure their safety and improve the conditions under which they work.

Hedges comes to the opposite conclusion. He decided what he wanted to find before he came looking. When you go searching for the answers you want, you get the answers you want.

Hedges is scheduled to give the keynote address at “The State of Extraction” conference, hosted by Simon Fraser University from March 27-29.

 

[escapefromstress]

Sex worker to launch legal challenge against NI prostitution ban

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...ostitution-ban

Laura Lee says new legislation that criminalises the payment of sex among consenting adults is a breach of European human rights law

Henry McDonald Ireland correspondent
Sunday 22 March 2015

A sex worker is using European human rights legislation to try to overturn a new law in Northern Ireland that makes it illegal to pay for prostitutes.

Dublin-born law graduate Laura Lee is launching an unprecedented legal challenge that could go all the way to Strasbourg, against a human trafficking bill which includes banning the payment for sex among consenting adults.

The region is the only part of the UK where people can be convicted of paying for sex. The law, which was championed by Democratic Unionist peer and Stormont assembly member Lord Morrow, comes into effect on 1 June.

Lee told the Guardian she will launch her case at the high court in Belfast in the same month as the law comes into effect.

The justice minister, David Ford, has already warned that the Police Service of Northern Ireland may not be able to convict men contacting prostitutes for sex because intercept evidence from clients’ mobile phones would be inadmissible in the courts.

Lee, 37, said: “I am doing this because I believe that when two consenting adults have sex behind closed doors and if money changes hands then that is none of the state’s business. The law they have introduced has nothing to do with people being trafficked but simply on their, the DUP’s, moral abhorrence of paid sex.

“I believe that after June 1st, sex workers’ lives in Northern Ireland will actually be harder and the industry will be pushed underground.”

Lee, who lives in Edinburgh but travels to Belfast and Dublin to see clients, said her legal team would be referencing several articles of the European convention on human rights to challenge and overturn Morrow’s law.

“First of all we will need to exhaust domestic remedies starting in the Belfast high court, possibly going to the supreme court, the House of Lords and eventually the European court of human rights.

“There are several articles that we can look starting with article 8 that governs the right to privacy. We will also focus on article 2 that concerns the right to life and we will argue that this law puts sex workers’ safety by the fact the legislation will drive the trade further and further underground.

“And then article 3 is about protection from degrading treatment, which is very relevant because in Scotland police have been subjecting sex workers to terrible things such as strip searching on women working in Edinburgh saunas. Our legal team will also refer to the right to earn a living enshrined in the European social charter.”

Lee said she will fund the case partly via crowdfunding on social media networks and from sex worker campaign groups across the world.

Lee, an Irish psychology graduate whose range of services include S&M and bondage, said she was also taking the legal challenge to thwart an attempt to introduce a similar law criminalising the consumers of sex in the Irish Republic.

An alliance of radical feminist groups and a number of nuns from Catholic religious orders are lobbying southern Irish political parties to pass a Nordic-style law outlawing the purchase of sex.

“This case hopefully will put a big dent in the campaign to bring in this law across the border in the Republic. There is a massive propaganda campaign to claim that north and south in Ireland sex workers are women who are trafficked into the country. This is total nonsense. In 2014 there wasn’t a single arrest in connection with sex trafficking in Northern Ireland. The majority of sex workers like myself are independent and 70% are single mothers trying to earn a living in these hard times. No one has the right to take that option away from them,” she said.

Morrow defended his bill and criticised any move via the courts to overturn the legislation. “If Europe or any other court did this they would be ignoring the will of the people and the overwhelming majority of those in the Northern Ireland Assembly,” he said.

In October the Stormont assembly voted by 81 votes to 10 which in article 6 of Morrow’s anti-trafficking bill banned payment for sex.

 

[canada-man]

https://terb.cc/vbulletin/showthread.php?519023-Winnipeg-man-42-charged-with-prostitution-of-girl-17

 

[escapefromstress]

Saskatchewan to make stripping illegal in bars again

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/saskatchewan-stripping-illegal-bars-again-162751566.html

After making stripping in bars legal last year, Premier Brad Wall says he wants to reverse course.

Wall announced Wednesday the Saskatchewan Party government will amend the liquor laws, again, to make stripping illegal in bars.

It was only in January 2014, that Saskatchewan ended a decades-long ban on nude dancing in places that serve alcohol. Under those amended rules, total nudity was still outlawed, but dancers could strip down to pasties.

Now, that change is going to be reversed. The concern is over the exploitation of women in such establishments.

Wall said the government made a mistake allowing partial stripping. He says the links to human trafficking and organized crime are too serious to turn a blind eye. Wall said the change can be made in a matter of weeks.

Regina City Council recently rejected a proposal for a strip bar in an industrial area after establishing zoning rules. A Christian group applauded the move, although others thought the city had no right to reject a legal business that followed all the rules.

 

[escapefromstress]

Pimps target teens at Montreal malls

Montreal police warning parents to watch for warning signs

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/pimps-target-teens-at-montreal-malls-1.3017126

Montreal police are warning parents that pimps are hanging around Montreal-area shopping centres, trying to lure teens into prostitution.

Police say pimps are using strategies that manipulate victims into thinking it's their own choice, then trapping those victims into a cycle of violence. Pimps are targeting malls, schools, youth centres, metro stations and bus terminals, said Montreal police officer Josée Mensales, who co-created the Survivors program, focused on sexual exploitation.

Mensales said a pimp will often approach teen after teen, using flattery and offering his phone number and eventually someone responds.

Teen recruited over several months

"Jennifer" — a woman whose identity CBC has agreed to protect — was at a Montreal-area mall when she met a person she thought was becoming a friend but instead turned out to be a pimp.

Jennifer says they were friends for several months before he convinced her to try working at a strip joint. Throughout those months, he gradually introduced her to a life of luxury, buying her expensive meals and thousands of dollars' worth of clothes and shoes. She says he took her to strip joints to make her feel more comfortable in that environment.

"I think a lot of teenagers are attracted to money and fame and luxurious things....quick money. So basically (after seeing) all of this for months and months I was telling myself, 'oh it's not that bad, maybe I could try. I'll try one night and see if I like it,'" she said.

Jennifer says she realized she was in trouble when the man demanded she hand over the money after her first shift. The situation became violent and he would threaten to expose her life in the sex industry to her family. "I didn't want my family to know so I was so scared and... there was a lot of stuff I was doing just for him not to go back to my family and tell them," she said.

Mensales says pimps often present the idea of stripping as temporary, when in reality, it is their way of forcing women into a life of sexual exploitation. "The victim doesn't feel like she's being exploited at first. She feels like she's actually working for a common plan — buying a condo, buying a car, within a couple of months it's paid for, that's what these traffickers, these pimps are presenting to their victims," Mensales said.

Signs of Trouble

Signs of trouble include a change in behaviour, sudden access to expensive clothes and jewelry, new tattoos (pimps often "brand" their victims), and friends your teen seems to know by nickname only, said Montreal police officer Diane Veillette, who co-founded the Survivors program.

Montreal police advise that if you see signs of trouble, seek help but be careful about what you say to your teen.

"Never say anything negative about the pimps because the victim will reject (you) as a parent because she will think you are judging her. They will close the door," Veillette said.

Mensales and Veillette say parents needing help can contact their local police station to get in touch with the Survivors program, which can put them in touch with various resources that can provide support.

Talk to your teens

They also highly recommend keeping communication lines open with teens before a problem ever arises. Discuss possible intentions strangers could have when they approach, possible ways the teen could answer, be clear that they can walk away if they do not feel safe, Mensales said. Also let them know they can call you at any time without judgment, she said.

Mensales also suggested to try to listen to the songs they're listening to, read out the lyrics, find out your teen's opinions about the messages in the music.

Jennifer says she's convinced her connection to her family — which she describes as a middle-class suburban family — helped her escape her situation.

When the violence got so bad that she feared for her life, Jennifer contacted police and filed a domestic abuse complaint. Her pimp eventually went to prison. Now she is back in school and moving on with her life.

The fact that Jennifer came from a happy home, with two loving parents — both professionals — does not surprise Mensales. "It doesnt mean because you're a professional... your child does very well at school — that means nothing. They potentially could be trapped into a situation like this one." she said.

 

[escapefromstress]

Kathleen Wynne says new federal prostitution law is constitutional

Ontario premier had asked attorney general to review the new legislation after court-ordered rewrite

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...-prostitution-law-is-constitutional-1.3017808

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says a review of the new federal prostitution law by the attorney general's office has found it is constitutional.

Wynne issued a statement the day after the law came into effect in December, saying she had a "grave concern" that it would not make sex workers safer.

She asked Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur to review the law and advise her on the constitutional validity.

Wynne says today that the review found "there's no clear unconstitutionality" so Ontario will be upholding the law.

A coalition of sex-trade workers and their supporters has previously called on Wynne to not enforce the law, which criminalizes paying for sex, communicating for sex or advertising sex services.

The sweeping new changes to the way prostitution is regulated in Canada follow a Supreme Court decision that found the old laws violated the rights of prostitutes.

 

[escapefromstress]

RCMP breaks up prostitution ring with Montreal links

http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/rcmp-breaks-up-prostitution-ring-with-montreal-links

MONTREAL GAZETTE
Published on: April 1, 2015
Last Updated: April 1, 2015 3:17 PM EDT

Investigators with the RCMP are on the lookout for two people allegedly involved in the trafficking of young women after dismantling the Montreal cell of a Canada-wide prostitution ring along with another major cell in Toronto.

According to a release issued on Wednesday, the investigation which started in January 2014 targeted “an Asian-based international criminal organization that is allegedly involved in the smuggling of young women into Canada for sexual exploitation through various bawdy-houses.”

Investigators are still searching for Mélanie Williams-Johnson, 20, of Montreal and Jeonghwan Seo, 34, of Toronto.

In total, police carried out 16 searches in Montreal and Toronto and made six arrests. Among the accused are Kai Chen, 37, from Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Nan Wu, 33, also from Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Le Yu, 38, from Montreal, and Anyang Cui, 26, from Montreal.

All of the accused have appeared — or will appear this week — at the Montreal courthouse to face a variety of charges linked to sexual exploitation.

The RCMP say they seized computers, cell phones, two vehicles and large sums of money in connection with the case.

The victims were mainly from Korea and China, and allegedly received assistance from the criminal organization to enter Canada illegally via land crossings or with visas. Police believe they were then put to work as sex workers.

 

[canada-man]

Kathleen Wynne says new federal prostitution law is constitutional

Ontario premier had asked attorney general to review the new legislation after court-ordered rewrite

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...-prostitution-law-is-constitutional-1.3017808

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says a review of the new federal prostitution law by the attorney general's office has found it is constitutional.

Wynne issued a statement the day after the law came into effect in December, saying she had a "grave concern" that it would not make sex workers safer.

She asked Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur to review the law and advise her on the constitutional validity.

Wynne says today that the review found "there's no clear unconstitutionality" so Ontario will be upholding the law.

A coalition of sex-trade workers and their supporters has previously called on Wynne to not enforce the law, which criminalizes paying for sex, communicating for sex or advertising sex services.

The sweeping new changes to the way prostitution is regulated in Canada follow a Supreme Court decision that found the old laws violated the rights of prostitutes.

Police said they will continue to do as they did under the old laws

 

[canada-man]

http://spoc.ca/


ONTARIO TURNING ITS BACK ON SEX WORKERS
Statement by: Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, COUNTERfit Women's Harm Reduction Program (South Riverdale Community Health Centre), Families of Sisters in Spirit, Maggie’s - Toronto Sex Workers' Action Project, POWER (Prostitutes of Ottawa-Gatineau Work Educate & Resist), Sex Work Advisory Network Sudbury (SWANS), South Western Ontario Sex Workers, Sex Professionals of Canada, STRUT, Terri-Jean Bedford, Nikki Thomas, STOP The Arrests Sault Ste Marie, Butterfly (the Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network), NOW Magazine, Jane Doe (Sexual Assault Activist), The Feminist Coalition in Support of Full Decriminalization and the Labour and Human Rights of Sex Workers

April 1, 2015 — While Ontario Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur has not yet publicly released her review of Canada’s new, misguided sex work law, we understand – according to a reported statement today by Premier Kathleen Wynne – that this review has found “no clear unconstitutionality” in the so-called Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act. We disagree with this conclusion, and are profoundly disappointed that the province appears to be turning its back on sex workers and Ontarian communities, despite Premier Wynne’s own “grave concerns” with the new sex work law.

This finding flies in the face of the December 2013 ruling in R. v. Bedford, in which the Supreme Court of Canada rightly upheld the human rights of sex workers. The new law is extremely similar to the old one, which was struck down by the Court as unconstitutional, and even further criminalizes sex work in some respects. More than 190 lawyers from across Canada have gone on record expressing their concerns with the law’s constitutionality (or lack thereof). It should also be noted that the Attorney General chose not to meet with sex workers and their allies while her review was underway, preferring not to hear from those on whose backs these laws will be tested.

Canada’s current sex work law replicates – and is even worse than – the failed “Nordic” model for sex work. The model chosen targets sex workers’ clients, their means of advertising their services, and even preserves much of the unconstitutional prohibition on any communications about sexual services, including by sex workers themselves. It continues to surround sex work with a web of criminality. Sex workers have consistently articulated the many ways in which criminalizing them, their clients and their work settings does nothing to protect them, but instead undermines their ability to control their conditions of work to protect their health and safety. The law ensures that harms to sex workers will continue, and is a terrible step backwards.

Even if the Ontario Attorney General has concluded the law is “not clearly unconstitutional,” this is hardly an endorsement of the law – and certainly doesn’t remove the fact that the new provisions will contribute to the risks of harm faced by sex workers. The Government of Ontario must not enforce this misguided law. We will continue to fight for the development of laws and policies that promote health, safety and human rights for all Canadians.



No Justice No Peace - Honouring Cindy Gladue
Coordinated by No More Silence and STRUT
No More Silence website & their statement: HERE

Date & Time: Thursday, April, 2, 2015 at 12pm(EST)

Location: Ministry of Attorney General, 720 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario.

Cindy Gladue was an Indigenous mother and 36 years old when she was murdered in an Edmonton motel room 4 years ago. Last week an almost all white and almost all male jury decided to acquit her killer, a white Ontario man, because they believed that Cindy had consented to the violence that left an 11 cm wound in her vagina causing her to bleed to death.
Cindy's death is a reminder that Indigenous women' lives and sex workers' lives are not valued in this deeply racist, sexist and misogynist society.

We support the calls for an appeal and other forms of justice!

Join us to express our outrage!

Endorsed by: Aboriginal Legal Services Toronto, Women in Toronto Politics, Maggie’s: Toronto Sex Workers Action Projec...t, Idle No More Toronto, South Western Ontario Sex Workers, Families of Sisters In Spirit, Outburst: Young Muslim Women’s Project, Pomegranate Tree Group, Butterfly (Asian and migrant sex workers), RAMP (Radical Access Mapping Project), Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, George Brown College School of Labour, Rittenhouse, Anti-Colonial Committee in the Law Union of Ontario, Chocolate Woman Collective, Sex Professionals of Canada (SPOC), Toronto Rape Crisis Centre Multicultural Women against Rape, COUNTERfit: Women's Harm Reduction Program (Riverdale Community Centre) Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), The Redwood, CUPE 3903 First Nations Solidarity Working Group, South Asian Legal Clinic Grassroots Committee-Ontario, London Prisoners Justice Film Festival, Native Youth Sexual Health Network, Critical Ethnic Studies Conference Committee (York), The Aboriginal Law Student Association of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Shameless Magazine, Black Lives Matter

Others cities across Canada on April 2, 2015, will have events as well! More info can be found HERE.

 

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Ontario review finds Ottawa’s sex-work law constitutional - Globe and Mail

Link

Ontario will uphold Canada’s new prostitution law after a review by the province’s Attorney-General found it to be constitutional, Premier Kathleen Wynne said Wednesday.

Wynne issued a statement the day after the law came into effect in December, saying she had a “grave concern” that it would not make sex workers safer, and asked the Attorney-General to review the law and advise her on the constitutional validity.

The Premier said Wednesday that the review found the law to be constitutional so Ontario will be taking no further action “at this point.”

“We will uphold the law,” she said. “We’ll obviously monitor and determine the impact of the law, but there’s no clear unconstitutionality in the law.”

The sweeping new changes to the way prostitution is regulated in Canada follow a Supreme Court decision that found the old laws violated the rights of prostitutes.

Attorney-General Madeleine Meilleur said her senior staff concluded that the new law answers concerns that the Supreme Court had about the previous law, but she would not divulge their reasoning.

“The legal opinion that was provided to me is privileged, so I’m not going to express every single detail that was in the legal opinion, but the importance to you is that it’s constitutionally sound,” she said.

Meilleur said there are approximately 26 cases being prosecuted in Ontario under the new law.

A coalition of sex-trade workers and their supporters said Wednesday the new law, which criminalizes paying for sex, communicating for sex or advertising sex services, is extremely similar to the old one, and called on Ontario to not enforce it.

“[We are] profoundly disappointed that the province appears to be turning its back on sex workers and Ontarian communities, despite Premier Wynne’s own ‘grave concerns’ with the new sex work law,” said the group that includes the Sex Professionals of Canada, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the sex-trade workers who launched the original court challenge.

“Sex workers have consistently articulated the many ways in which criminalizing them, their clients and their work settings does nothing to protect them, but instead undermines their ability to control their conditions of work to protect their health and safety. The law ensures that harms to sex workers will continue, and is a terrible step backwards.”

 

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Repeat of the spoc page essentially:

NOW- Reaction to Wynne finding that C36 is not "clearly unconstitutional":
https://nowtoronto.com/news/ontario-turning-its-back-on-sex-workers/#.VRx1XKuqKFM.twitter

In response to Premier Kathleen Wynne's statement today saying that Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur has not found the new sex work laws unconstitutional, NOW Magazine has joined a network urging the Ontario government not to enforce them.

Please find the statement below:

While Ontario Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur has not yet publicly released her review of Canada’s new, misguided sex work law, we understand – according to a reported statement today by Premier Kathleen Wynne – that this review has found “no clear unconstitutionality” in the so-called Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act. We disagree with this conclusion, and are profoundly disappointed that the province appears to be turning its back on sex workers and Ontarian communities, despite Premier Wynne’s own “grave concerns” with the new sex work law.

This finding flies in the face of the December 2013 ruling in R. v. Bedford, in which the Supreme Court of Canada rightly upheld the human rights of sex workers. The new law is extremely similar to the old one, which was struck down by the Court as unconstitutional, and even further criminalizes sex work in some respects. More than 190 lawyers from across Canada have gone on record expressing their concerns with the law’s constitutionality (or lack thereof). It should also be noted that the Attorney General chose not to meet with sex workers and their allies while her review was underway, preferring not to hear from those on whose backs these laws will be tested.

Canada’s current sex work law replicates – and is even worse than – the failed “Nordic” model for sex work. The model chosen targets sex workers’ clients, their means of advertising their services, and even preserves much of the unconstitutional prohibition on any communications about sexual services, including by sex workers themselves. It continues to surround sex work with a web of criminality. Sex workers have consistently articulated the many ways in which criminalizing them, their clients and their work settings does nothing to protect them, but instead undermines their ability to control their conditions of work to protect their health and safety. The law ensures that harms to sex workers will continue, and is a terrible step backwards.

Even if the Ontario Attorney General has concluded the law is “not clearly unconstitutional,” this is hardly an endorsement of the law – and certainly doesn’t remove the fact that the new provisions will contribute to the risks of harm faced by sex workers. The Government of Ontario must not enforce this misguided law. We will continue to fight for the development of laws and policies that promote health, safety and human rights for all Canadians.

Signed by NOW Magazine, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, Butterfly (Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network), COUNTERfit Women's Harm Reduction Program (South Riverdale Community Health Centre), Families of Sisters in Spirit, the Feminist Coalition in Support of Full Decriminalization and the Labour and Human Rights of Sex Workers, Maggie’s - Toronto Sex Workers' Action Project, Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies (University of Toronto), POWER (Prostitutes of Ottawa-Gatineau Work Educate & Resist), Sex Work Advisory Network Sudbury (SWANS), South Western Ontario Sex Workers, Sex Professionals of Canada, STOP The Arrests Sault Ste Marie, STRUT, Women in Toronto Politics, and Jane Doe (Sexual Assault Activist),Terri-Jean Bedford and Nikki Thomas