A List from W.H.O.R.E. (Women Helping Ourselves to Rights and Equality)
I've been doing a lot of research into prostitution and trafficking laws in Canada and internationally. Ever since the Willie Picton case broke in the media, I have been beside myself over the fates of women I don't know. I can't shake the feeling that they are my sisters.
Over the past few years, I have been working diligently on my own recovery of years of abuse in part because of the Picton case and the murdered and missing women of BC, Alberta, and now Saskatchewan.
I know what happens to women and children who go missing, because I myself went "missing" for seven years. During that time I was forced into acts of child prostitution and pornography. I watched my older sisters forced into turning tricks once they were no longer child like enough for our "guardian's" client base, and get kicked to the curb (literally) when they were no longer of use, or compliant.
So if you wonder why I have a blog peppered with nods of respect to prostitutes everywhere, this is why.
Mostly I want society to change their views on women. I want there to be changes to the laws in Canada, I want to see more assistance for captive women and children and more services for the survivors of such exploitation than there currently is. I want there to be better protection for prostitutes, if Canada doesn't have the will or the money to illegalize prostitution and assist current sex workers to get clean and off the streets, then lets make sure we ensure their human rights and safety while they participate in a legal activity. (Prostitution hasn't been illegal in Canada since the UN proclomation in 1958)
Studies show up to 68% of prostitutes are serially sexually assaulted as children[1]. They learn early on their only assets are their genitals. Hey, if you are being raped on a regular basis from before an age you can even remember, getting paid for it seems like a step up. Getting paid, seems like empowerment.
I want to see compassion and care on a large scale for the woman and children of the Earth, no matter where they reside, or how poor they may be, but first, I guess I have to start in my own back yard and learn a thing or two about the world I live in.
Missing People dot net: "Courting Death" by Dan Gardner, The Ottawa Citizen - an article focusing on the plights of prostitutes of the Downtown East Side of Vancouver. (Info on the Picton Farm)
"Prostitution inseparable of violence against women" by Lee Lakeman, the regional representative for B.C. and the Yukon of the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres.
Combating Sex trafficking: Advancing Freedom for Woman and Girls: Donna M. Hughes Professor and Carlson Endowed Chair Women’s Studies Program, University of Rhode Island Keynote AddressNortheast Women’s Studies Association Annual ConferenceUniversity of Massachusetts-DartmouthMarch 5, 2005
John Howard Society of Alberta: Research paper on Prostitution in Canada
The International Union of Sex Workers
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