Criminal law has perpetually trapped sex workers within dualities of criminality and victimization. Whereas the previous criminal offences concerning sex work framed sex workers in terms of nuisance and criminality, the passage of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA) in 2014 legally enshrined sex workers as victims, invalidating the labour of sex … Read more
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Criminal law has perpetually trapped sex workers within dualities of criminality and victimization. Whereas the previous criminal offences concerning sex work framed sex workers in terms of nuisance and criminality, the passage of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA) in 2014 legally enshrined sex workers as victims, invalidating the labour of sex … Read more
Submission to the International Commission of Jurists’ consultation: “Developing principles to address the detrimental impact on health, equality and human rights of criminalization with a focus on select conduct in the areas of sexuality, reproduction, drug use and HIV” February 2019 The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (“Legal Network”) welcomes this opportunity to make a submission … Read more
“Re: City of Toronto’s consultation on human trafficking The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (“Legal Network”) promotes the human rights of people living with, at risk of or affected by HIV or AIDS, in Canada and internationally, through research and analysis, litigation and other advocacy, public education and community mobilization. We are also a member of … Read more
Highlights of our work in Canada and around the world from April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018.
“Exploitation within the sex industry, including human trafficking, is of great concern to sex workers and to allied groups such as the Legal Network working to uphold sex workers’ human rights. However, anti-trafficking policies must be based on evidence and human rights — not ideological positions on sex work or moral panic.”
The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network welcomes this opportunity to provide comments on recommendations that Canada has received during its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which took place on May 11, 2018. In this brief, the Legal Network provides comments on priority recommendations that Canada should consider accepting of the 299 recommendations received during the UPR. … Read more
Last month, representatives from holistic practitioner, sex worker and human rights organizations gathered in Committee Room 1 at Toronto City Hall to make deputations to the Municipal and Licensing Standards Committee about the bylaws governing holistic practitioners and body-rub providers. The meeting was prompted by a study of licensing for holistic centres and body-rub parlours, … Read more
It is now well recognized, not just by sex workers but by a wide range of human rights organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women, and the Center for Health and Gender Equity, United Nations bodies such as the UN Development Programme, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, … Read more