Collaborative Proposal Creation
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Decriminalizing Sex Work: A Human Rights Approach to Advocating Sex Workers’ Right
- Proposal text
- Green Party of Canada: - Recognizes sex work as work, - Supports and advocates the full decriminalization of sex work, including for immigrants, - Promotes sex worker-led and community-based approaches to improve working conditions and assist sex workers who experience violence, - Rejects legislation that conflates sex work with human trafficking, violence and exploitation.
- Type of Proposal
- Public policy that the party would represent
- Objective / Benefit
- Under current criminal laws, sex workers are simultaneously treated as victims and criminals. The “Nordic Model” isolates sex workers, resulting in violence, discrimination, and lack of access to social, legal and health services. For migrant sex workers, this harm is exacerbated by provisions in the IRPR that forbid migrants from working in the sex industry under threat of detainment and deportation. The argument that sex workers are unaffected by criminalization is erroneous; not only are sex workers criminalized for selling sexual services in a public space, but they are impacted by the criminalization of clients and third parties.
- If your proposal replaces an existing policy or policies, which one does it replace?
- This would be considered as an update to G18-P010, as it calls for decriminalization and further explains how the aims G18-P010 (which is vague in details) can be attained.
- List any supporting evidence for your proposal
- (n.d.). Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform – Fighting to uphold sex workers' human rights. https://sexworklawreform.com/ Benoit, C. (n.d.). Understanding Sex Work. University of Victoria. https://www.uvic.ca/research/centres/cisur/projects/active/projects/understanding-sex-work.php Black, D. (2007, March 21). Charter challenge on prostitution filed | The Star. The Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/news/2007/03/21/charter_challenge_on_prostitution_filed.html Butterfly. (2018). Behind the Rescue: How Anti-Trafficking Investigations and Policies Harm Migrant Sex Workers. https://www.butterflysw.org/_files/ugd/5bd754_bbd71c0235c740e3a7d444956d95236b.pdf Butterfly. (2022, August 11). Open Letter on the Newmarket Crisis. Medium. https://medium.com/@butterflycsw/open-letter-on-the-newmarket-crisis-32e159d5a52b Butterfly: Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network. (2020, May 20). .Say no to Bill S-224, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (trafficking in persons).
- Does this proposal affect any particular group and what efforts have been made to consult with the group or groups?
- Sex work is made up of many individuals living on the intersections of marginality, including women, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and immigrants. There are many NGOs and social justice advocates, not to mention Global Greens, who advocate full decriminalization of sex work. I have worked with many sex work support organizations in Canada, including the Canadian Alliance of Sex Work Law Reform, Butterfly: Asian and Migrant Sex Worker Support Network, ANSWER Society, and SWAN Vancouver.
- Jurisdiction: Is this proposal under federal jurisdiction?
- Yes
- Please indicate the language the proposal is being submitted in.
- English
Amendments (1)
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Created at
24/02/2024 -
- 3
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