The relationship between human trafficking and sex work remains one of the most contentious issues in the anti-trafficking field. There are those who view all sex work as exploitative, and therefore a root cause of trafficking, and those who view it as a livelihood strategy that, like other informal work, is sometimes performed under exploitative conditions. The former propose criminalisation and the ultimate eradication of the industry, while the latter propose decriminalisation and increased attention to labour rights and working conditions. The debate goes on and on and no resolution seems possible.
The United Nations Trafficking in Persons Protocol, adopted in 2000, makes it clear that trafficking and sex work are distinct phenomena, and that trafficking and forced labour occur in a range of economic sectors. However, in practice, trafficking into sex work has received disproportionate attention from media, NGOs, and policymakers. Despite this attention, the ways in which anti-trafficking policy has been enforced has not always been helpful: many anti-trafficking interventions, encouraged by prostitution prohibitionists based in the West, focus primarily on raiding sex industry sites and forcibly removing women from them. The harmful effects and human rights violations that occur during and after raids have been well documented by both academics and activists in all regions of the world.
Since the passage of the "Nordic model" of sex work in Sweden in 1999, an approach that criminalizes the purchase of sex, there has been increasing debate about the model's potential application in Canada, where exchanging sex for money is not illegal, but virtually every activity required to do this work is. In 2006, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights and the Subcommittee on Solicitation Laws, mandated by Parliament to review the prostitution-related provisions of Canada's Criminal Code in order to improve sex workers' safety and reduce the exploitation and violence they experience, released a report which included a minority opinion seemingly endorsing the Nordic model.
February 21, 2016
To the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Pre-Inquiry Secretariat,
We write to you on behalf of the Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform, an alliance of sex worker rights and allied groups across Canada working towards reform of Canada's sex work laws, in order to create safer and healthier communiites.
Among our members and women that we work with are women – including Indigenous women – who sell sex on the street, in massage parlours, in-call and out-call agencies, and strip clubs. In addition to the frontline services that we provide, we advocate for an end to the disproportionate criminalization and police surveillance of targeted communities, as well as meaningful social, economic and health supports for women who sell sex.
The manner in which sex work is criminalized, regulated and enforced in Canada is a profound violation of sex workers' human rights, including a number of human rights that Canada has a legal obligation to uphold pursuant to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
This report is submitted by a coalition of organizations working to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights for Canada's review during the 65th Session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (herein referred to as the 'Committee'), taking place October 25th 2016. The report examines violations of articles 10 and 12 of the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (the Convention) with respect to comprehensive sexuality education, access to a comprehensive package of sexual and reproductive health information and services (including safe abortion services), the denial of sexual and reproductive health care on moral or religious grounds, the health and safety of sex workers and the criminalization of the non-disclosure of HIV. The List of Issues prepared by the Committee in March 2016 requests that Canada provide information on a number of issues outlined in this report.
Les recherches universitaires et communautaires effectuées au cours des 30 dernières années ont démontré les effets néfastes du droit criminel sur la santé et la sécurité des travailleuses du sexe. Ces recherches établissent que la criminalisation des travailleuses du sexe, de leurs clients et des tierces personnes est l'un des facteurs clés qui contribuent à la violence vécue par les travailleuses du sexe, en plus d'avoir diverses autres conséquences néfastes telles qu'encourager la stigmatisation et la discrimination.
Academic and community-based research over the past thirty years has demonstrated the negative effects of criminal law on the health and safety of sex workers. This research identi es the criminalization of sex workers, their clients and third parties as a key contributor to violence experienced by sex workers, among other repercussions including stigma and discrimination. Various human rights organizations, UN bodies and courts have af rmed this research and concluded that criminalization of the sex industry supports exploitation and other human rights abuses.
Academic and community-based research over the past thirty years has demonstrated the negative effects of criminal law on the health and safety of sex workers. This research identifies criminalization as a key contributor to violence experienced by sex workers, among other repercussions such as stigma and discrimination. In particular, Indigenous and im/migrant women who sell or exchange sex are targeted for violence. Predators are aware that police are not only less inclined to investigate disappearances of sex workers, but they also know that Indigenous and im/migrant women are constantly avoiding police for fear of detection, apprehension, and in the case of im/migrant women, deportation.
Alors que le travail du sexe et les personnes qui y travaillent sont souvent au centre des débats des députés et législateurs au Parlement, nous, les travailleuses du sexe, sommes rarement consultées sur les politiques et les lois qui affectent nos vies. Nous avons peu d'options pour faire entendre nos besoins en tant que communauté par les personnes qui écrivent et renforce les lois contre nous.