Through our public vigil we wanted to draw attention to the reality of human trafficking. The Superior Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal for Ontario have declared unconstitutional certain articles in the Criminal Code which prohibit prostitution in a bawdy-house and soliciting sex in public. These two tribunals have also declared the articles which criminalize living off the profits of another’s prostitution, unconstitutional.

CATHII considers prostitution as violence and as a form of exploitation of which women are the main victims. Even more, it considers that this demand is the foremost cause of human trafficking, whether it is in the request for sexual acts of to offer perilous work.

The members of CATHII deplore that this judgement legalizes sexual exploitation without taking into account the social and economic context, and the inequalities between men and women which still exist today.

We want the Canadian Government to remember this commitment in its response to the ruling by the Superior Court on prostitution.

Prostitution: Ottawa consults the population about a new law

This year, the Federal Government must re-examine the law that frames the practice of prostitution following the judgement handed down in December by the Superior Court dealing with the Bedford prostitution ruling. So as to further its reflection, they have just launched a public consultation on the internet. All citizens are invited to respond to a survey. The consultation will take place from February 17 – March 17, 2014.

The consultation addresses, in particular, the buying and selling of sexual services and the act of benefitting financially from the prostitution of another person.

The Superior Court’s decision is available here