June 2013  
You might hear it called modern day slavery.

 

It's an extreme form of violence against women, and it's hiding in plain sight. With your help, the Canadian Women's Foundation is taking a stand to end human trafficking of women and young girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Canada.

SPOTLIGHT: WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING


Human trafficking of women and girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation is an international problem, but many of us don't realize that it's happening right here in our own communities.

 Hand holding

Women and girls are being trafficked inside Canada, to Canada and across Canadian borders.

 

The women and girls who are bought and sold in Canada are most often marginalized, and include Aboriginal, racialized, and immigrant women, abuse survivors and vulnerable young girls.

 

Women and girls who become trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation are recruited by organized crime groups, gangs, pimps, peers and sometimes by family members. Traffickers use deception and coercion to lure their victims, with promises of a better life, romantic relationship, false job opportunity or by abduction.

 

Marbles Young girls are at especially high risk of sexual exploitation because traffickers receive a higher financial gain for girls under 18. The average age of a trafficked girl is 13 and getting younger.

 

We fund programs that help women and girls escape sexual exploitation and rebuild their lives. We've developed the Canadian Women's Foundation Task Force on the Trafficking of Women and Girls in Canada, to bring together experts, survivors and community leaders to help stop trafficking in its tracks.

 

 Find out more about the facts about human trafficking in Canada.  

TAKE ACTION: WHAT CAN YOU DO TO END HUMAN TRAFFICKING  


 

Learn about it

Get informed on how women and girls are being trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation across Canada.  

   

Speak up about it
Sexual exploitation is driven by demand. Speak up about the realities of women and girls exploited in the sex industry, and speak out against men buying sex with young girls.  

 

Challenge it

Contact your federal, provincial or local government representative to ask what they're doing about the trafficking of women and girls, raise the issue with your local paper, or bring it up at a community meeting.   

 

Stop it 

If you suspect that human trafficking is happening in your community, or you are a victim of human trafficking,

contact a local sexual assault line, women's crisis line, or police.    

      

Change it
Help the Canadian Women's Foundation bring an end to human trafficking of women and girls for the purpose of exploitation in Canada. Donate today! 

Are Canada's Prostitution Laws Unconstitutional? Understanding the Supreme Court of Canada's Bedford Case.


Prostitution and human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation are separate but related issues. The demand to buy and sell women and young girls for sex is driving trafficking in Canada.

 

As you've likely seen on the news, the Supreme Court of Canada is being asked to uphold the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision that Canada's prostitution laws are unconstitutional. Many of you have asked for clarification on this complex debate.

 

The Canadian Women's Foundation and our  Task Force on the Trafficking of Women and Girls in Canada is focused on the most marginalized and vulnerable, young girls and trafficked women who are forced into prostitution from both Canada and abroad.

 

While prostitution is technically legal in Canada, many of the activities related to it are criminal offenses. Currently it is illegal to:

  1. communicate for the purposes of prostitution (solicitation)
  2. operate a bawdy house (indoor brothel)
  3. live off of the avails of prostitution (pimping/exploiting)

Bedford vs. Canada is the case before the Supreme Court of Canada, to challenge these three laws.

 

The women who brought forward the appeal are concerned that Canada's laws violate their liberty and security rights and should be struck down to fully legalize prostitution and allow for the operation of bawdy houses and living off of the avails. Supporters of this position claim that indoor brothels are safer than the street and that the current laws prevent women from hiring bodyguards or drivers.

 

The opposing perspective held by many women's groups, asserts that indoor brothels are no less risky and that prostitution is inherently dangerous and an extreme form of violence against women. A coalition of women's groups, formerly prostituted women and others are calling for the Supreme Court to decriminalize women (solicitation) and to uphold the laws that continue to criminalize johns, pimps and exploiters (banning legal brothels and pimping/exploiting).  

 

If the Supreme Court upholds the appeal that Canada's prostitution laws are unconstitutional, it would be up to provinces or municipalities to licence indoor brothels or up to the Federal Government to pass new legislation.

 

The appeal does little to protect the most vulnerable women and young girls who are forced into prostitution and who would continue to be exploited in underground and unregulated brothels.  

 

The Canadian Women's Foundation will closely follow the decisions made by the Supreme Court and the resulting impact on the legal environment for trafficked women and girls in Canada.


With your support, we can end human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Canada.

 

Sincerely,

  Beverley Wybrow signature

Beverley Wybrow

President and CEO 

Issue 19    
In This Issue
What is human trafficking?
Help end human trafficking
Learn More

 

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