Publication Topic : Sex Work

HIV, Human Rights, and Sex Work in Canada: Submission to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 47/17 entitled “Human rights in the context of HIV and AIDS”

A growing body of research confirms that the criminalization of any aspect of sex work, including the criminalization of clients, sex workers, and third parties in sex work, violates sex workers’ human rights and is in itself a social determinant of health by creating barriers to accessing health care services and building relationships with health … Read more

Respect, Protect, Fulfill: Supporting the HIV Legal Network

Respect. Protect. Fulfill. You can help challenge wrongs, advance rights, and transform lives. Denied basic healthcare. Criminalized and vilified for love. Unfairly targeted by police. These abuses, and more, are too often the experience of people living with HIV and of communities affected by HIV. At the HIV Legal Network, our mission has always been … Read more

Caught in the Carceral Web: Anti-Trafficking Laws and Policies and Their Impact on Migrant Sex Workers

In Canada, a complex and multiscalar web of laws has been constructed to target sex trafficking. These laws range from federal prohibitions against human trafficking in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Criminal Code, to provincial laws that provide tools to raise awareness of the offence, to detect alleged traffickers and to provide victims … Read more

Media Advisory: LEADING SEX WORK AND LABOUR ISSUE EXPERTS TO LAUNCH CRITICAL REPORT ON IMPACTS OF ANTI-TRAFFICKING LAWS IN CANADA

Media Invited to Join Virtual Webinar on Law, Policy, and Migrant Sex Workers For immediate release  Members of the media are invited to attend the virtual launch of a groundbreaking report, “Caught in the Carceral Web: Anti-Trafficking Laws and Policies and their Impact on Migrant Sex Workers,” that maps the tangled web of Canadian anti-trafficking … Read more

HIV, Hepatitis C and Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections in Canada: Top Election 2021 Issues

Joint press release: HIV, Hepatitis C and Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections in Canada: Top Election 2021 Issues Health and human rights groups identify priorities for federal policymakers as people in Canada head to the polls Tuesday, September 14, 2021 – More than 60,000 people are currently living with HIV in Canada, approximately 13% of … Read more

Joint Submission to Toronto City Council on Bill 251, Combating Human Trafficking Act, 2021

Butterfly (Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network) (“Butterfly”) was formed by sex workers, social workers, legal and health professionals to provide support to, and advocate for, the rights of Asian and migrant sex workers. Butterfly was founded upon the belief that sex workers are entitled to respect and human rights; regardless of their immigration … Read more

JOINT SUBMISSION TO UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Equality and Non-discrimination with a Focus on Indigenous Women and Girls and Intersecting Forms of Discrimination

The HIV Legal Network and the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN) make this submission in support of the plan of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (“CEDAW Committee”) to develop a new General Recommendation on Indigenous women on the topic of “equality and non-discrimination with a focus on Indigenous women and … Read more