Prostitution Tag

02 Jun 2020 Funding for Victims of Human Trafficking Quietly Removed

In the midst of the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, the Canadian federal government has quietly removed funding for several programs that work with sex trafficking survivors. The London Abused Women's Center released a press release on May 12th announcing that federal funding for their organization and others had been eliminated. Here is a portion of what they released: After waiting for months and repeatedly contacting the Justice Department, organizations across Canada providing long-term support to trafficked, prostituted and sexually exploited women and girls discovered their funding proposals submitted to the Justice Department...

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07 May 2020 A Good News Story for Victims of Sexual Exploitation

Good news in Alberta! Bill 8: Protecting Survivors of Human Trafficking Act has recently been tabled. The goal of the bill is to protect survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. In short, the bill helps victims of human trafficking. There are some highlights worth noting: A judge has the ability to grant a protection order to the victim, which means the trafficker cannot get close to, speak to or engage with the victim. The bill adds a tort. A tort refers to a civil clause that allows the victim...

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02 Mar 2020 Ontario court lets off two pimps, declares prostitution law unconstitutional

In 2014, Parliament passed the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (Bill C-36) to implement the “Nordic Model” of prostitution law in Canada. This model, and our current law,  prohibits the purchase of sex, while granting immunity to those who are prostituted. It also prohibits third parties, particularly pimps, from promoting and profiting from prostitution. The Nordic Model recognizes the prevalence of coercion in prostitution and is designed to ensure that abuse and violence can be reported by prostituted women (and men) without fear of legal repercussions. A provincial court...

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10 May 2018 Anti-porn MP selected to co-chair human trafficking parliamentary group

By Lighthouse News Peace River-Westlock MP Arnold Viersen has been selected as the co-chair of an All-Party Parliamentary Group to end Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. The All-Part Parliamentary Group (APPG) was launched on April 26th, at a press conference in Ottawa. Viersen says the group has members from all the major parties in both the House of Commons and the Senate. The APPG is modelled after the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group to end Modern Day Slavery. “That’s where we got the idea,” he says. “There’s a number of other Committees similarly...

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24 Jul 2015 Highs and Lows of the 41st Canadian Parliament

On June 18th, the House of Commons adjourned, setting the stage for an election campaign that will end the 41st session of Parliament. This is an appropriate time to look back on the past four years and see what was accomplished, especially through the lens of ARPA Canada and the issues that we focus on. Pre-born Human Rights: When the Conservatives were handed a majority in the last federal election, many Christians hoped that pre-born human rights would finally be addressed. These hopes were in vain. Although some courageous MPs stood up for the pre-born, the leadership of all the political parties in the House of Commons did their utmost to suppress these efforts.   Motion 312, championed by MP Stephen Woodworth, was the first motion that held promise. It asked that “a special committee of the House of Commons be appointed and directed to review the declaration in Subsection 223(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada which states that a child becomes a human being only at the moment of complete birth.” Local ARPA chapters hosted presentations by Mr. Woodworth on this motion and many ARPA supporters encouraged MPs to support it. But with the party leaders all vocally opposed, the motion died in the House by a vote of 203 to 91. Yet Motion 312 reignited a discussion that was quiet for too long. Momentum for addressing this injustice was building.
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23 Mar 2015 Swedish government releases report demonstrating Canada’s law against prostitution will work

ARPA Canada has worked on the prostitution issue over the past few years. One of the legislative solutions we've lobbied hard for is for Canada to adopt the Swedish model concerning the sex trade. We were pleased when Parliament introduced and eventually passed a "made in Canada" version of the Swedish model. Four months later, Margaret Wente, of the Globe and Mail, has penned an op-ed pointing out the success of the Swedish model and the failures of the decriminalization route and the rather intriguing flip in ideological lines: progressives...

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28 Jan 2015 Making the Case: Prostitution

The following article, "Making the Case: Prostitution" was originally published in the Reformed Perspective magazine. It has been included here as a reference item for our readers.  There is more to the world's oldest profession than most people realize. Commonly referred to as “the oldest profession”, prostitution is a vice that just won’t go away. Or so we are told. Even some Christians suggest that there’s no sense in trying to “legislate morality”. After all, if we don’t have laws against adultery, why should there be laws against prostitution? Why should...

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05 Nov 2014 Bill C-36 passes 3rd reading in the Senate

With thankfulness to God, we are pleased to announce that Bill C-36, Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, has passed third reading in the Senate and now only requires royal assent to become law. You helped table this law - thank you! As we have communicated before, we have been supportive of it since it was released last spring and are thankful it has come this far. The bill needs only to receive royal assent, after which it will become law - in time for the December 19th deadline provided by the...

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25 Sep 2014 Applauding New Prostitution Legislation

Mark Penninga, Interior News, Sept 23, 2014: On September 15th, BC saw its first ever conviction of human trafficking under Canada's Criminal Code. A 29 year-old man from Vancouver forced 11 teens, as young as 14, into prostitution. But this sure wasn't the first time someone was trafficked in BC. The US Department of State estimates that there are between 1500 and 2200 people trafficked through Canada to the US each year, and that doesn't include the trafficking that stays in Canada. For those who think that this is a problem for bigger centres like Vancouver and Toronto but not in places like Smithers and Hazelton, think again. Public Safety Canada's report on the issue reveals that it is Aboriginal women, youth, and children who are among the most likely victims in Canada. The leading cause of human trafficking in our nation is for the purpose of sexual exploitation, usually through prostitution. Our Supreme Court struck down Canada's prostitution law last year and gave Parliament one year to come up with a new one. The new legislation, Bill C-36, is excellent and worthy of our full support. For the first time in Canadian history, it makes the purchasing of sexual services a crime.
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