My response to the Liberals' email asking for my thoughts:
I
would like to see Justin Trudeau come out with a clear statement around
decriminalizing the work of adult, consensual sex workers. I am a passionate
activist on this issue of human and civil rights, and will support the
candidate who supports an end to C36 and understands that decriminalization is
the best way to reduce risk to sex workers, decrease stigma, and ensure civil
equality to a population of workers who are discriminated against and
silenced.
Their response to me a few days later:
Dear
Jody,
Thank
you for writing to us about the Conservatives’ recently proposed prostitution
legislation, Bill C-36.
The
Liberal Party of Canada opposes this legislation. We have serious concerns that
Bill C-36 fails to comply with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the
requirements outlined by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Bedford decision.
We are also concerned that this legislation fails to adequately protect the
health and safety of vulnerable people, particularly women.
We
have called on the government to produce evidence of the legal opinions it
sought in drafting this legislation, however, the Conservatives continue to
refuse to release this information. They have also refused to submit this
legislation as a reference to the Supreme Court of Canada in order to determine
its constitutional validity.
Given
all of these concerns, we remain troubled the legislation will not actually
make life safer for sex workers.
Thank
you again for contacting us on this important issue. It is through dialogue
with Canadians like you that the Liberal Party of Canada can continue to
develop policies that reflect the values of Canadians.
Kind
regards,
James
Cano
Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
And my response back to them, sent today:
I
really appreciate that someone took the time to respond to my query. However, I
urge you to make your platform just a bit more specific around WHAT you will do
for sex workers. For instance, I am unclear whether you would support
decriminalization of adult, consensual sex work, or if you still like the idea
of further criminalization but believe that C-36 isn't a good law for doing
that. I feel this is one of the most important civil and human rights issues in
our country right now, as tens of thousands of consenting adult sex workers
work in the shadows without our support, without the same access to civil and
criminal remedies such as police, courts, contract law, employment standards,
workers' comp.
If
the Liberals are looking for more information and research to help them take a
firm position on this issue, here are some links that I think have great
sources of information. The first is the site of a very large research project
going on right now in Canada, which involves subjects who are connected to the
sex work industry in a variety of ways. The second is the site of an
organization I work with from time to time and am very closely tied to, Peers
Victoria. The third is the site of Maggie's, a Toronto sex worker organization
that has collected some excellent resources. The fourth is the site of
Stella's, a Montreal sex worker organization.
There's
so much more information I'd be happy to connect you to, from all around the
world. This is an emotional issue, but the research around it is very clear.
Nothing improves - for sex workers or the communities they live in - through
criminalization. Yes, bad things happen to some sex workers, but how does any
of that improve by criminalizing the work? The question is not whether we'd
want our children to be sex workers (we activists are constantly having that
question thrown at us), it's what kind of a work place and safety structure
we'd want for them if they were doing this work.
Please
take a clear stand on this issue as one of human and civil rights. The Liberals
stand a very good chance of forming the next government. Be brave, humane and
evidence-based, and support a decriminalized workplace for adult, consenting
sex workers.
And what will they say next? Stay tuned.
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