306 Academics are Concerned About Canada’s Sex Work Laws

This week, CBC has been on a sex trafficking news rampage, with broadcast and radio pieces, and a horde of online articles, including this, this and this, to list only a few.

And on Tuesday, Conservative MP Joy Smith, a slavery abolitionist, fired back at National Postcolumnist John Ivison for suggesting that her recent report on prostitution laws, The Tipping Point, where she argues for a prohibition on purchasing sex, is seriously flawed and shouldn’t influence legislation.

Following the Supreme Court’s Bedford decision to strike down Canada’s anti-prostitution laws, the government has until the end of this year to craft new ones. And the debate over their future continues, with hundreds of academics from around the world urging the federal government to fully decriminalize sex work in Canada.

An open letter sent yesterday to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and opposition leaders, is signed by 306 academics who complain that the federal government is “considering the introduction of new legislation to criminalize the purchasing of sex,” which they say will harm sex workers and hinder efforts to combat sex trafficking.

Rachel Browne
VICE
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