Fighting Wrongs with Wrongs? How Canadian Anti-Trafficking Crusades Have Failed Sex Workers, Migrants, and Indigenous Communities.

Authors

  • Robyn Maynard Stella

Abstract

Abstract

Indigenous populations, sex workers, and migrants have been legally, socially, and economically disenfranchised by the Canadian state in a multitude of ways—often in the name of “anti-trafficking.” In effect, state-led anti-trafficking enforcement measures fail to address the root causes of the harms created by past and present colonization, anti-sex work laws, and racist immigration measures and programs. This paper argues that anti-trafficking legislation and policies have been immeasurably harmful towards those they claim to protect.

 

Résumé

Les populations autochtones, les travailleuses du sexe et les migrants ont été privés de leurs droits juridiques, sociaux et économiques par l’État canadien de multiples façons—souvent au nom de la « lutte contre la traite des personnes ». En effet, les mesures d’application de la lutte contre la traite ne parviennent pas à traiter les causes profondes des préjudices créés par la colonisation passée et présente, les lois à l’encontre des travailleuses du sexe et les mesures et programmes d’immigration racistes. Cet article soutient que les lois et les politiques de lutte contre la traite des personnes ont été extrêmement préjudiciables envers ceux et celles qu’elles prétendaient protéger.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Alberta Federation of Labour. 2013. Backgrounder: ‘Accelerated’ TFW Approvals Reveals Widespread Abuse of Program. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Federation of Labour. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/afl/pages/914/attachments/original/1365551004/Background-er_Accelerated%20TFW%20approvals%20reveals%20widespread%20abuse%20of%20program_2013Apr9v2.pdf?1365551004. Bedford v. Canada, 2010 ONSC 4264 (CanLII).

Black, Debra. 2012. “Acceptance Rates for Refugees to Canada Decline Substantially Since 2006.” The Toronto Star, November 1. http://www.thestar.com/news/cana-da/2012/11/01/acceptance_rates_for_refugees_to_can¬ada_decline_substantially_since_2006.html.

Blackstock, C. 2011. “Why if Canada wins, Canadians lose: The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal on First Nations Child Welfare.” Children and Youth Services Review (33): 187-194.

Bolan, Kim. 2006. “Over 100 Arrested in B.C. Raid on Suspected Brothels.” National Post, December 9. http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=40a4fd8b-7d88-4cd9-a8ba-f1481b29d402&k=98761.

Bourassa, Carrie. 2012. “Funding Cuts in the 2012 Na¬tional Budget.” PDF Presentation. www.urfa.uregina.ca/swc/BudgetCuts2012.pdf.

Bruckert, Chris, and Tuulia Law. 2013. Beyond Pimps, Procurers and Parasites: Mapping Third Parties in the Incall/Outcall Sex Industry. Montreal, QC: Rethinking Management in the Adult and Sex Industry Project.http://www.nswp.org/sites/nswp.org/files/ManagementResearch%20(4).pdf.

Buckland, Benjamin S. 2008. “More Than Just Victims –The Truth About Human Trafficking.” Public Policy Research 15 (1): 42-47. Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford, 2013 SCC 72 (CanLII).

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). 2012. De¬partmental Performance Report Part III – 2011-12 Esti¬mates, by The Honourable Vic Toews, P.C., Q.C., M.P., Minister of Public Safety. Ottawa, ON: CBSA. http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agence/reports-rapports/dpr-rmr/2011-2012/report-rapport-eng.html.

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. 2013. Boom in Temporary Migrant Workers Creates a Vulnerable Workforce, Increases Workplace Inequality, by Anelyse Weiler and Gerardo Otero. Vancouver, BC: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/boom-temporary-migrant-workers-creates-vulnerable-workforce-increas¬es-workpl#sthash.sXYq53oR.dpuf.

Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR). 2012a. National Networking Meeting on Trafficking: Meeting and Workshop Report. Montreal, QC: CCR. http://ccrweb.ca/files/trafficking_meeting_report2011.pdf

_______. 2012b. “Protecting Trafficked Persons in Canada.” CCR Website. http://ccrweb.ca/en/trafficking.

_______. 2013. Temporary Resident Permits: Limits to Protection For Trafficked Persons. Montreal, QC: CCR. http://ccrweb.ca/sites/ccrweb.ca/files/temporary-resident-permit-report.pdf.

CBC News. 2008. “Human Trafficking a Growing Problem in Canada, B.C. Expert Says.” CBC News, October 28. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2008/10/28/bc-human-trafficking-number.html.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). 2007. “Temporary Resident Permits.” CIC Website. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/inadmissibility/permits.asp.

_______. 2011a. “Facts and Figures 2011 – Immigration Overview: Permanent and Temporary Residents.” CIC Website. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/statistics/facts2011/temporary/01.asp.

_______. 2011b. “Backgrounder: Safe Streets and Com¬munities Act: Protecting Vulnerable Foreign Nationals against Trafficking, Abuse and Exploitation.” CIC Website. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/backgrounders/2011/2011-09-20.asp.

_______. 2012. “A Review of the Past 12 Months and Beyond at Citizenship and Immigration Canada: ‘It’s Been a Busy Time, But We Are Not Done Yet,’ Says Minister Jason Kenney.” CIC Website. http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=833319.

Coutts, Matthew. 2012. “Frustration Over Omnibus Bill C-45 Leads to Nationwide Protest, Hunger Strike.” Daily Brew, December 11. https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/frustration-over-omnibus-bill-c-45-leads-nationwide-185350221.html.

Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46 s 279.01 – 279.04.

Currie, Nora, and Kara Gillies. 2006. Bound by the Law: How Canada’s Protectionist Policies in the Areas of Both Rape and Prostitution Limit Women’s Choices, Agency and Activities. Unpublished manuscript. Funded by Status of Women.

Danforth, Jessica. 2010. Reproductive Justice, For Me, For You, For Real, For Now. Toronto, ON: Native Youth Sexual Health Network.http://www.nativeyouthsexualhealth.com/reproduc-tivejustice.pdf.

Department of Justice. 2014. “Technical Paper: Bill C-36, Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act.” Department of Justice Canada Website. http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/protect/p1.html.

Ditmore, Melissa. 2009. The Use of Raids to Fight Trafficking in Persons. New York, NY: Sex Workers Project. http://sexworkersproject.org/downloads/swp-2009-raids-and-trafficking-report.pdf.

Empower Foundation. 2012. Hit & Run: The Impact of Anti-Trafficking Policy and Practice on Sex Workers’ Human Rights in Thailand. Nonthaburi, Thailand: Empower Foundation. http://www.empowerfoundation.org/sexy_file/Hit%20and%20Run%20%20RATSW%20Eng%20online.pdf.

Farraday, Fay. 2012. Made in Canada: How the Law Constructs Migrant Workers’ Insecurity. Toronto, ON: Metcalf Foundation. http://metcalffoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Made-in-Canada-Full-Report.pdf.

Fudge, Judy. 2011. “The Precarious Migrant Status and Precarious Employment: The Paradox of International Rights for Migrant Workers (No. 11-15).” Working Paper Series. Vancouver: Metropolis British Columbia.

Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women (GAATW). 2011. Moving Beyond ‘Supply and Demand’ Catchphrases: Assessing the Uses and Limitations of Demand-Based Approaches in Anti-Trafficking, by Julie Ham. Bangkok, Thailand: GAATW. http://www.gaatw.org/publications/MovingBeyond_SupplyandDemand_GAATW2011.pdf

Grant, Melissa. 2014. “Fighting Sex Trafficking with Jesus: How the Religious Right’s ‘Healing’ Hurts.” Salon.com, April 27. http://www.salon.com/2014/04/27/fighting_sex_trafficking_with_jesus_how_the_reli¬gious_rights_healing_hurts/.

Harrison, Sarah. 2010. “Why Harper Silenced Sisters in Spirit.” The Mark, November 29. http://pioneers.themarknews.com/articles/3171-why-harper-silenced-sis¬ters-in-spirit/#.VaBCtHiTdSU.

Hunt, Sarah. 2014. “Why Are We Hesitant to Name White Male Violence as a Root Cause of #MMIW?” Rabble.ca, September 5. http://rabble.ca/news/2014/09/why-are-we-hesitant-to-name-white-male-violence-root-cause-mmiw.

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), SC 2001, c 27 s 118(1).

Indigenous Foundations – University of British Columbia. 2009. “Sixties Scoop.” Indigenous Foundations Website. http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/government-policy/sixties-scoop.html.

International Labour Organization (ILO). Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour.

ILO Global Estimate of Forced Labour 2012: Results and Methodology. Geneva, Switzerland: ILO. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---declara-tion/documents/publication/wcms_182004.pdf.

Kari, Shannon. 2006. “BC Massage Parlours Raided.” Globe and Mail, December 9. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/bc-massage-parlours-raided/article972542/.

Kennedy, Mark. 2014a. “New Federal Law on Prostitution Coming Soon.” Canada.com, April 27. http://o.canada.com/news/national/new-federal-law-on-prostitution-coming-soon.

_______. 2014b. “Stephen Harper Blasted Over Remarks on Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women.” Ottawa Citizen, August 23. http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/stephen-harper-blasted-for-re-marks-on-missing-and-murdered-aboriginal-women.

Krüsi, Andrea, Katrina Pacey, Lorna Bird, Chrissy Taylor, Jill Chettiar, Sarah Allan, Darcie Bennett, Julio Montaner, Thomas Kerr, and Kate Shannon. 2014. “Criminalisation of Clients: Reproducing Vulnerabilities for Violence and Poor Health Among Street-Based Sex Workers in Canada, A Qualitative Study.” BMJ Open 4: 1-10.

Land, Lorraine, Liora Zimmerman, and Andrea Bradley. 2012. “A Legislative Roadmap as Idle No More Revs Up.” OKT Barristers and Solicitors Online. http://www.oktlaw.com/blog/a-legislative-road-map-as-idle-no-more-revs-up/.

Lowman, John. 2000. “Violence and the Outlaw Status of (Street) Prostitution in Canada.” Violence Against Women 6 (9): 987-1011.

Maggie’s: Toronto Sex Workers Action Project. 2011. “Our Principles.” Maggie’s Website. http://maggiestoronto.ca/about.

Maynard, Robyn. 2010. “Sex Work, Migration and Anti-Trafficking: Interviews with Nandita Sharma and Jessica Yee.” Briarpatch Magazine, July 1. http://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/sex-work-migration-anti-trafficking.

_______. 2011. “Safer Sex Work: The Case for Decriminalization.” Briarpatch Magazine, May 6. http://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/safer-sex-work.

_______. 2012. “Carceral Feminism: The Failure of Sex Work Prohibition.” Fuse Magazine 35 (3): 28-32.

Mogulescu, Kate. 2014. “The Super Bowl and Sex Trafficking.” New York Times, January 31. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/opinion/the-super-bowl-of-sex-trafficking.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=2.

Nakache, Delphine, and Paula J. Kinoshita. 2010. The Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker Program: Do Short-Term Economic Needs Prevail Over Human Rights Concerns? Montreal, QC: Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP). http://oppenheimer.mcgill.ca/IMG/pdf/IRPP_Study_no5.pdf.

National Council of Welfare. 2007. First Nations, Métis and Inuit Children and Youth: Time to Act. Ottawa, ON: National Council of Welfare. http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2007/hrsdc-rhdsc/HS54-1-2007E.pdf.

Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC). 2010. What Their Stories Tell Us: Research Findings

From the Sisters in Spirit Initiative. Akwesasne, ON: NWAC.

_______. 2012. Bedford Case: Understanding NWAC’s Position on Prostitution – November 2012. Akwesasne, ON: NWAC.

Office for Systemic Justice. (n.d.). Migrant Workers in Canada: Working in Situations with Significant Elements of Human Trafficking. London, ON: Canadian Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph.

Oppal, Wally T. 2012. Forsaken: The Report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. Victoria, BC: Ministry of Justice. http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/public_inquiries/docs/Forsaken-ES.pdf.

Oxman-Martinez, Jacqueline, Jill Hanley, and Fanny Gomez. 2001 “Canadian Policy on Human Trafficking: A Four-Year Analysis.” New Directions for Refugee Policy 10 (4): 7-29.

Portuguese Canadian National Congress. 2009. Moving Towards Visibility: Non-Status Immigrants and the Social Service Sector. Toronto, ON: Portuguese Canadian National Congress. http://atwork.settlement.org/down¬loads/atwork/Moving_Towards_Visibility_Non-Status_Immigrants_2009.pdf.

Public Safety Canada. 2012. National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking. Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada. http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/ntnl-ctn-pln-cmbt/ntnl-ctn-pln-cmbt-eng.pdf.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). 2012a. “I’m Not For Sale: Minister Toews Launches RCMP Human Trafficking Youth Outreach Campaign.” RCMP Website. http://nationtalk.ca/story/im-not-for-sale-minister-toews-launches-rcmp-human-trafficking-youth-outreach-campaign.

_______. 2012b. “Frequently Asked Questions About Human Trafficking.” RCMP Website. http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ht-tp/q-a-trafficking-traite-eng.htm#q7.

Sayers, Naomi. 2014. “#C36 Brief submitted to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs.” KWE Today Online, September 8. http://kwetoday.com/2014/09/08/c36-brief-to-the-senate-standing-committee-on-legal-and-constitutional-affairs/.

Sex Professionals of Canada (SPOC). 2014. “Condemnation Grows As More Sex Workers’ Groups Speak Out Against Police Harassment – Urge Parliament to go a Different Route.” SPOC Website. http://www.spoc.ca/.

Sex Workers United Against Violence (SWUAV), Sarah Allan, Darcie Bennett, Jill Chettiar, Grace Jackson, Andrea Krüsi, Katrina Pacey, Kerry Porth, Mae Price, Kate Shannon, and Chrissy Taylor. 2014. My Work Should Not Cost Me My Life: The Case Against Criminalizing the Purchase of Sex in Canada. Vancouver, BC: Pivot Legal Society. http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/pivotlegal/pages/615/attachments/orig-inal/1401811234/My_Work_Should_Not_Cost_Me_My_Life.pdf?1401811234.

Sharma, Nandita. 2005. “Anti-Trafficking Rhetoric and the Making of a Global Apartheid.” NWSA Journal 17(3): 88-111.

_______. 2006. Home Economics: Nationalism and the Making of Migrant Workers in Canada. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.

Sikka, Anette. 2009. Trafficking of Aboriginal Women and Girls in Canada. Ottawa, ON: Institute on Governance. http://iog.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/May-2009_trafficking_of_aboriginal_women-1.pdf.

Smith, Andrea. 2005. Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide. Brooklyn, NY: South End Press.

Statistics Canada. 2006. Measuring Violence Against Women: Statistical Trends 2006. Ottawa, ON: Ministry of Industry. http://ywcacanada.ca/data/research_docs/00000043.pdf.

Stella. 2013. The Basics: Decriminalization of Sex Work 101. Montreal, QC: Stella. http://chezstella.org/docs/StellaInfoSheetTheBasic.pdf.

Supreme Court of Canada. 2013. Factum of the Interveners, Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United Against Violence Society, PACE Society, and Pivot Legal Society. Ottawa, ON: Supreme Court of Canada. http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/sites/default/files/imce/SCC%20Factum%20of%20Intervner%20Women’s%20Coali¬tion.pdf.

United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW). 2010. “UN Finds Canada and Ontario Violate Human Rights.” UFCW Canada Website. http://www.ufcw.ca/index.php?%20Itemid=295&id=2149&lang=en&op-tion=%20com_content&view=article.

Global Report on Trafficking in Persons. Vienna, Austria: UNODC. http://www.unodc.org/documents/Global_Report_on_TIP.pdf.

UN Women. 2013. “Note on Sex Work, Sexual Exploita¬tion and Trafficking.” UN Women Website. http://www.nswp.org/sites/nswp.org/files/UN%20Women’s%20note%20on%20sex%20work%20sexual%20exploitation%20and%20trafficking.pdf.

van der Meulen, Emily. 2010. “Illegal Lives, Loves, and Work: How the Criminalization of Procuring Affects Sex Workers in Canada.” Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women’s and Gender Studies 8 (2010): 217-240.

van der Meulen, Emily, and Elya M. Durisin. 2008. “Why Decriminalize? How Canada’s Municipal and Federal Regulations Increase Sex Workers’ Vulnerability.” Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 20 (2): 289-312.

Walia, Harsha. 2010. “Transient Servitude: Migrant Labour in Canada and the Apartheid of Citizenship.” Race & Class 52 (1): 71–84.

_______. 2012. “Young, Brown and Proud: Personal Purpose and Political Activism.” Our Schools/Our Selves 21 (3): 31-40.

_______. 2013. Undoing Border Imperialism. Oakland, CA: AK Press.

Wingrove, Josh. 2013. “Fifteen Tory Motions to Know About from the Convention.” The Globe and Mail, November 3. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/fifteen-tory-motions-to-know-about-from-the-convention/article15232762.

Wrinch, Peter. 2014. “The New Sex Work Legislation Explained.” Pivot Online. http://www.pivotlegal.org/the_new_sex_work_legislation_explained.

Downloads

Published

2016-07-13