Keeping an eye on Joy Smith who wants to punish TERB Hobbyists. I haven't seen anything on the SPOC.Ca site(sex professionals of Canada) on Smith's proposed to outlaw the buying of sex where in both Norway and Sweden is not working.
OTTAWA -- Canadians who exploit children or traffic humans outside our borders could still be prosecuted in Canada if a new private member's bill from a Manitoba MP makes it through the House.
But a law to make buying sex a crime will have to wait.
Kildonan-St. Paul MP Joy Smith introduced her new bill earlier this month. It will come up for debate Oct. 25.
Human trafficking is sometimes referred to as the modern-day slave trade. It is defined by the United Nations as the recruitment, transportation, harbouring or receipt of people using threats, violence, force, fraud or deception. Most of the victims are women, about half are children and about 70 per cent are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Others end up in forced-labour situations, often as domestic help or in illegal drug operations. Human trafficking was added to the Criminal Code in 2006.
Smith's latest legislation seeks to go after Canadians who traffic victims abroad. Currently, Canadian laws can only prosecute offenders who traffic people into, out of or through Canada.
Smith said that's not good enough, when so many countries where the victims come from can't or don't have the ability to prosecute offenders.
"We need to take responsibility for Canadians who traffic and enslave victims in other countries," said Smith.
The bill also gives more specific examples of what exploitation is to aid prosecutors in court.
However what the bill won't do is enact a Nordic model of prostitution, which views women who sell sex as victims and the men who buy sex as the criminals. In Sweden, being caught buying sex could net you a year in jail or a fine of up to 50 days pay.
Currently in Canada it is illegal to keep a bawdy house, live off the avails of prostitution or procure a person into the sex trade. It is not illegal to sell or buy sex.
Smith's national strategy on human trafficking included going after the buyers and last July she said she intended to use her next private member's bill to do so.
However last year an Ontario judge struck down Canada's prostitution laws and said they were unconstitutional. Ottawa is appealing that decision.
A source in the government said the fear was if Smith's bill was put on the order paper it could upset the government's argument on appeal.
It is likely if a law to charge the buyers of sex ever appears it will come from cabinet rather than the backbench, so the changes can be better supported with programs and money.
The Swedish law has been in place since 1998 but has had mixed reviews in its impact on the sex trade.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/smith-seeks-to-boost-laws-on-human-trafficking-131772493.html
Is there a right way to deal with prostitution?
Posted by John Michael McGrath on Thursday, October 20, 2011
There's an interesting op-ed in the Toronto Star today, brought to my attention by @firecatkitty on Twitter. It responds to the question, now before the Ontario appeals courts, of what to do with our laws on sex work. In particular, this part:
Conservative MP Joy Smith has one answer: more criminal law. Smith’s campaign to criminalize the purchase of sexual services reflects a crusade by conservatives, evangelical Christians and some feminist organizations to import Swedish prostitution laws to Canada. These laws decriminalize sex workers while criminalizing purchasers (clients). The purchase of sexual services is not currently illegal in Canada. The Swedish model aims to eliminate the sex industry by “ending demand” for prostitution. In this imaginary scenario, criminal sanctions will eliminate clientele for commercial sex and thereby end sexual exploitation.
Measured on its own terms, the Swedish model has proven ineffective and harmful. In Sweden and other Nordic countries that have adopted such legislation, prostitution has not been eliminated, only reshuffled. Sociological research in Sweden has shown a significant shift from street-based to online sexual advertising since the law was adopted in 1999.
I first heard about the Swedish model several years ago as an alternative to Amsterdam-style legalization and regulation. Sweden's laws were motivated by a belief that prostitution is, in itself, a form of violence against women and that they are victims in the sex trade. But criminalizing any part of the trade still leaves sex workers with many of the same problems. One issue in Sweden is that it still leaves women and their clients vulnerable to blackmail.
Importing another form of criminalization to replace Canada's current one doesn't seem like a giant leap forward. It will be interesting to see how the Appeals court—and then, of course, the Supreme Court (with two new judges) rules on this matter.
http://toronto.openfile.ca/blog/curator-blog/curated-news/2011/there-right-way-deal-prostitution
OTTAWA -- Canadians who exploit children or traffic humans outside our borders could still be prosecuted in Canada if a new private member's bill from a Manitoba MP makes it through the House.
But a law to make buying sex a crime will have to wait.
Kildonan-St. Paul MP Joy Smith introduced her new bill earlier this month. It will come up for debate Oct. 25.
Human trafficking is sometimes referred to as the modern-day slave trade. It is defined by the United Nations as the recruitment, transportation, harbouring or receipt of people using threats, violence, force, fraud or deception. Most of the victims are women, about half are children and about 70 per cent are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Others end up in forced-labour situations, often as domestic help or in illegal drug operations. Human trafficking was added to the Criminal Code in 2006.
Smith's latest legislation seeks to go after Canadians who traffic victims abroad. Currently, Canadian laws can only prosecute offenders who traffic people into, out of or through Canada.
Smith said that's not good enough, when so many countries where the victims come from can't or don't have the ability to prosecute offenders.
"We need to take responsibility for Canadians who traffic and enslave victims in other countries," said Smith.
The bill also gives more specific examples of what exploitation is to aid prosecutors in court.
However what the bill won't do is enact a Nordic model of prostitution, which views women who sell sex as victims and the men who buy sex as the criminals. In Sweden, being caught buying sex could net you a year in jail or a fine of up to 50 days pay.
Currently in Canada it is illegal to keep a bawdy house, live off the avails of prostitution or procure a person into the sex trade. It is not illegal to sell or buy sex.
Smith's national strategy on human trafficking included going after the buyers and last July she said she intended to use her next private member's bill to do so.
However last year an Ontario judge struck down Canada's prostitution laws and said they were unconstitutional. Ottawa is appealing that decision.
A source in the government said the fear was if Smith's bill was put on the order paper it could upset the government's argument on appeal.
It is likely if a law to charge the buyers of sex ever appears it will come from cabinet rather than the backbench, so the changes can be better supported with programs and money.
The Swedish law has been in place since 1998 but has had mixed reviews in its impact on the sex trade.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/smith-seeks-to-boost-laws-on-human-trafficking-131772493.html
Is there a right way to deal with prostitution?
Posted by John Michael McGrath on Thursday, October 20, 2011
There's an interesting op-ed in the Toronto Star today, brought to my attention by @firecatkitty on Twitter. It responds to the question, now before the Ontario appeals courts, of what to do with our laws on sex work. In particular, this part:
Conservative MP Joy Smith has one answer: more criminal law. Smith’s campaign to criminalize the purchase of sexual services reflects a crusade by conservatives, evangelical Christians and some feminist organizations to import Swedish prostitution laws to Canada. These laws decriminalize sex workers while criminalizing purchasers (clients). The purchase of sexual services is not currently illegal in Canada. The Swedish model aims to eliminate the sex industry by “ending demand” for prostitution. In this imaginary scenario, criminal sanctions will eliminate clientele for commercial sex and thereby end sexual exploitation.
Measured on its own terms, the Swedish model has proven ineffective and harmful. In Sweden and other Nordic countries that have adopted such legislation, prostitution has not been eliminated, only reshuffled. Sociological research in Sweden has shown a significant shift from street-based to online sexual advertising since the law was adopted in 1999.
I first heard about the Swedish model several years ago as an alternative to Amsterdam-style legalization and regulation. Sweden's laws were motivated by a belief that prostitution is, in itself, a form of violence against women and that they are victims in the sex trade. But criminalizing any part of the trade still leaves sex workers with many of the same problems. One issue in Sweden is that it still leaves women and their clients vulnerable to blackmail.
Importing another form of criminalization to replace Canada's current one doesn't seem like a giant leap forward. It will be interesting to see how the Appeals court—and then, of course, the Supreme Court (with two new judges) rules on this matter.
http://toronto.openfile.ca/blog/curator-blog/curated-news/2011/there-right-way-deal-prostitution
