CPC convention - resolution regarding "sexual exploitation"

[Mister T 45020]

Not a surprising resolution, given what the throne speech had.

 

Point 3), as stated, as elements of what the socialist party in France seems to be proposing, re. Targeting clients.

[scribbles 6031]

It's one thing to frame a resolution during a party convention, and quite another to actually create and enact legislation. My thinking is that nothing will happen until the court proceedings are over with, and even then I am not sure this will be a major policy priority. With all the other scandals and fires burning, I can't see this being front-and-centre for the Cons.

 

I've been known to be wrong, though.

[scribbles 6031]

I'd be curious how they go about it if the decriminalization is due to a human rights or constitutional judgment. The easiest way to avoid trouble would be to pack it into an omnibus bill of some sort, but one would think it's too big a piece of legislation to do that.

 

Well, more to the point, I don't know that the Cons will have the political clout to follow through. They'll most likely lose their majority, if not their rule.

[2Legit 250]

If they are targeting the Asian women traffickers, I say go for it! If they are targeting independent girls in Canada then shame on them.

[cat 262460]

If they are targeting the Asian women traffickers, I say go for it! If they are targeting independent girls in Canada then shame on them.

 

There is no way to separate the two and there are already effective laws on the books for both. Human trafficking is trafficking whether it's for a field worker, house keeper, machine operator or sex worker. No need to change them, simply enforce them. If anything, our trafficking laws victimize the sex worker even more. They are arrested, held in detention then deported while still owing the broker that brought them in for the visa and other costs which they will never be able to pay off once they are back home. And in all honesty the numbers used to support changing the human trafficking laws are so outlandish it's staggering. Once again the Steven Harper gov't proves how truly out of touch they are...

 

cat

[Liv Waters 52361]

I agree with you Cat. Trafficking laws, and most major proponents of such legislation and related campaigns, including NGOs aiming to eliminate trafficking, end up reinforcing stigma, silencing and violence against migrant workers, and not just limited to sex workers.... Rarely are such efforts aimed at deconstructing or bringing redress to poverty, or unevenly enforced border control measures.

 

We should be suspicious that, to date, very few countries, for example allow for sexual labourers who have been picked up , detained and questioned in such sweeps to actually apply for a visa to stay in that given country. Countries such as Italy are one of the few exceptions. As it stands, international protocols governing trafficking allow for only two options when a worker has been identified as trafficked (a determination often made against the will of these global citizens); you are either a victim or a criminal. And, once you have provided your information, you are then of little value to authorities (and researchers) and are swiftly deported. This provides no meaningful way for those who are being harmed, or who seek protections, including under the law, to meaningfully report their concerns to authorities or even access supportive services.

 

It should be added that these problems are made possible through a whole variety of laws, including, by the way, under what has been often termed the 'stripper visa' policy aimed largely at women seeking to tour as exotic dancers in Canada", and are no longer able to as they are being denied working visas which were previously being granted....of course, driving the truly problematic situations further underground, and making illegals out of workers trying to make a living. Such a law, while purportedly aimed at helping to eliminate the trafficking of women and girls, and deceitful fronts for prostitution, actually does nothing helpful in terms of any of this...more sensationalism, more patronizing policies that do nothing to accord voice, dignity, labour and human rights to those affected.

 

I also agree with mistert, in that, we will have to see how the current legal challenges pan out to know what the implications are. For example, if the 'prostitution' laws currently under scrutiny are struck down by the highest Court (i.e. the Supreme Court of Canada, which is binding) and, in the process, sex workers consequentially have a foothold to access human and labour rights and Constitutional recognition, then there will be some clout to wield at the policy level in terms of redefining trafficking policy, including definitions of what constitutes trafficking, who would be considered to be a trafficked person, and what options would then be available to those caught up in this net.

 

There is also a continuum in relation to sex work and trafficking that exists that muddies the waters, in that;

 

1) some people are genuinely forced against their will, or tricked into migrating to a country under false pretenses;

 

2) some are indentured workers who know they will be doing sex work and are under obligation to repay a specific fee for being able to secure their entry into a given country, often with their passports being held or some other power play to guarantee they will comply ( ...problematic, yes, and ultimately a practice supported by oppressive legislation such as that discussed above). In such cases, the progressive sex work literature and many labour activists attest to the fact that many of these workers (not just women I might add) would still choose this situation over remaining in their countries of origin as they are seeking mobility and increased economic opportunities, and to be reunited with family members/loved ones). Due to personal resourcefulness , the assistance of organizations and sometimes even clients, workers are often able to manage transitioning into a less controlled working situation...And, with a more empowering and redefined trafficking policy scope, this has the potential to improve the odds for folks significantly;

 

3) some of these people are straight up travelling sex workers, quite informed and largely mobile (however undercover and trickily navigated) who have entered countries to work and make money, and still face the threat of being picked up in these sweeps and being made subject to such laws, regardless of the fact that what they are doing...how they see what they are doing....as sex work...as real work that has meaningful purchase in their lives; and,

 

4) there are those whose personal circumstances have the potential to cut across more than one, or even all of these categories and realms of experience; who may, in fact, have experienced circumstances of profound coercion, or perhaps, indenturement, but who move into other circumstances, including in making a more empowered choice to participate in some form of sex work.

 

(On the last point) This is not uncommon at all...just like it is not uncommon for sex workers who may have always been in the country, and who may have worked in a more marginalized venue, to then have their circumstances change and engage the opportunity to work in another venue. In the course of my community activism, I've been privy to many stories such as this...And, in the case of grassroots activism by labourers who would outright identify as being trafficked at some point (e.g. see the film "Tales of the night fairies"), there is a strong contingent of those who go on to assert, regardless of potential continued marginalization, that 'yes, "I am now a sex worker" who makes choices every day to continue to participate in the industry'. The understanding that "money talks and bullshit walks" carries great currency in the lives of those who engage in erotic labour and who continue to be patronized and harmed by such oppressive measures and attitudes.

 

Of course, in such hopefulness for some structural policy changes or a favorable court ruling, it's important not to get romantic about the system...the current political party system, the courts or legislature... international governance practices, as they have been powerful forces in securing the oppression and economic disadvantage of so many historically oppressed communities...not to mention gross platforms for politicians to self-ingratiate themselves in the media...while, of course, having no meaningful vested interest or concern for the health and human rights of those they speak for, including sex working citizens....wherever a given worker sits on the continuum.

 

As I heard former Executive Director of Maggie's in Toronto recently state at a sex work conference: 'so long as we have difficulty making a connection between the worker who has parted from their own family to come to this country to take care of the children of some affluent couple; the agricultural worker who has lost their ability to farm back home and is now stuck in a compound picking the potatoes we eat every day; and the lived reality of a sex worker, we will collectively remain the self-fulfilling subjects of our own ignorance' (Keisha Scott, indirect, condensed quote).

 

We cannot afford to do this.

[2Legit 250]

It brings back some memories from the early 2000's. If you haven't read it, then you may want to: The Natashas: The New Global Sex Trade, by Victor Malarek. The characters change (from eastern Europe to Asia) but the stories somehow remain the same.

 

The banking/financial crunch around the end of the 2000's somewhat killed the Eastern Europe trafficking since there was no money to be made in Canada (mostly Toronto), so the East Euro traffickers just went to Dubai and Qatar. What I think will happen with the Asian trafficking is yet another economic issue, the real estate condo market is going to blow up one day and the Asian trafficking is going to stop. I kinda get the feeling the two (real estate condos and Asian women trafficking) are related, financially speaking.

 

So are the Tories really talking about prostitution trafficking markets or trying to prevent an economic meltdown due to the crazy condo market that fuels Asian women trafficking? You got to read between the lines!

[cinelli 22184]

i) The Conservative Party rejects the concept of legalizing the purchase of sex;

 

Pandering to their right-wing bible-thumping power base.

 

ii) The Conservative Party declares that human beings are not objects to be enslaved, bought or sold

 

This is real political nonsense. Are they trying to take credit for abolishing slavery? (Yes, probably, if they can) This is the standard Tory/Reform absolutism: if you don't agree with everything we say, then you must approve of slavery. Remember Tory Justice flunky Vic Toews and his argument for unfettered warrantless access to everyone's emails and computers? "If you don't support this you must be a child p0rnographer".

 

iii) The Conservative Party of Canada shall develop a Canada specific plan to target the purchasers of sex and human trafficking markets through criminalizing the purchase of sex as well as the acts of any third party attempting to profit from the purchase of sex.

 

So the government won't be collecting any fines from escorts or their customers? Because that would be profiting from the purchase of sex by someone else.

 

All in all, just more evidence of Harper and his holier-than-thou lapdogs hypocrisy. A lot of hot air and posturing with no interest in solving anything.

[hornplayer62 101]

Thanks Anna for this insightful post. In a Canadian political environment that is becoming increasingly dominated and trivialized by wedge issue politics, it is a challenge to image the kind of sensitive and intelligent legislation required to bring about meaningful change. I hope that there will be a wholesale repudiation of the Harper (and Rove) style of politics that has dominated Canada for the past 9 years and a return to a more thoughtful style of politics focused on advancing the public good. There are occasional glimmers - yesterday's ruling by the speaker on the independence of member being one.

[TheRiddlerMan 872]

Human trafficking will be the primary justification for the Swedish-style law they'll bring in if the Supreme Court strikes down the existing law. It'll have bipartisan support too, just as it does in Europe. France is in the process of imposing that kind of legislation right now, and its primary support is from the left. It will make great politics for the Conservatives - trotting out victims of sex trafficking will be a nice distraction from the Senate scandal.

 

We should enjoy sites like this one while we can, once those laws are in place the criminal onus will be on the consumers.

[cinelli 22184]

I hope that there will be a wholesale repudiation of the Harper (and Rove) style of politics that has dominated Canada for the past 9 years and a return to a more thoughtful style of politics focused on advancing the public good

 

Jesus I hope so too. I am constantly amazed anyone falls for the Harper/Sun Media style of governing through fearmongering and hatred.

 

This is not the Canada I grew up in and loved.