Brief to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs regarding Bill C-36, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act

This brief compares the Criminal Code provisions proposed by Bill C-36 against the Criminal Code provisions struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada in R v. Bedford. It explains how the new law, if enacted, will replicate the effects of the old law on the security of sex workers and, as such, reproduce the harms the Supreme Court of Canada found to be unconstitutional. It further explains how these harms also constitute violations of international human rights law and how criminalization of sex work undermines the global response to the HIV/AIDS epidemics. Finally, it issues a recommendation for Bill C-36 to be rejected in its entirety.

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