Thank you so much.

I have worked with women and girls in the commercial sex industry since 1990, and I have shared that work and best practices with Canadian and global organizations. I use the term “women and girls in the sex industry” to describe prostituted and trafficked women and girls. Women and girls in the sex industry have reported that prostitution and trafficking are difficult to separate. Even if a woman or girl starts out independently, she can be quickly picked up by a trafficker.

Sex purchasers rarely care if a woman or girl is trafficked or underage. In fact, many of them will pay more to have sexual services with an underage girl.

Over the last 25 years, I have seen a steady increase of women, and particularly girls, lured into the sex industry by traffickers or organized crime. Many girls are lured from universities, colleges, bars and even workplaces. Parents have often reported checking online sex sites to see if the sexual services of their daughters are being advertised. As painful as this is for parents, it is how they track whether their daughters are dead or still alive.

Without sharing too many details included in the content of the advertisements, I am aware that the level of violence women and girls in the sex trade experience by sex purchasers and traffickers includes violent beatings, torture, strangulation activity and forced engagement in fetish acts. The London Police Service refers to London, Ontario, as a trafficking hub because of its proximity to Highway 401, which allows easy movement between Detroit and Toronto. It is also because of easy access to hotels and motels just off the exit ramps into the city.

Between 2014 and early 2021, under my leadership, the London Abused Women’s Centre provided direct service to at least 2,888 women and girls who identified as being in the sex industry. I find that shocking. Sixty-eight girls reported they were underage, and of those girls, 15 reported that they were under the age of 15. Only six women of the 2,888 we helped reported entering the sex industry by choice.

Exiting the sex industry is difficult. Women and girls are terrified of the threats they receive from their traffickers, including threats to kill them or members of their family. Access to detox and rehab facilities is difficult, and finding a job can be impossible if women have criminal records. Even if they can find a job, too few jobs provide a guaranteed livable income. Affordable housing is almost non-existent, and social assistance is inadequate. Women and girls are forced to remain in the sex industry because they lack the supports necessary to move on in their lives.

A three-pronged approach is critical to the work of preventing trafficking. The three prongs include providing robust funding to organizations that work with women who are trafficked and prostituted, public awareness and education, and legislation and enforcement.

Women and girls in the sex industry need immediate access to well-resourced, fully informed services across this country, including access to safe houses. Core funding is essential. Grants and time-limited funding prevent the necessary long-term work required to help victims of trafficking.

Parents and children across Canada need consistent information through public awareness and education about trafficking, including on signs to look for, identifying coercion, internet safety and tactics of luring. The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act provides police with important tools to help women and girls.

Similar to the economics of supply and demand, it is the demand for prostitution that fuels the supply of women needed. That supply is provided by traffickers. When demand is reduced, so too is supply. Reducing demand, however, requires that police charge sex purchasers and that the Crown prosecute them. The failure of police across this country to enforce the PCEPA and the failure of Crown to support enforcement have contributed to growth in the commercial sex industry.

Finally, I want to talk to you about the importance of expunging records. As I said earlier, we know that women and girls who have a criminal record have a difficult time finding work. Expunging historically unjust convictions can help those women and girls move on.

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