Justice committee  Well, we all acknowledge, and we've heard from many here, that we have significant exploitation happening. In fact, the multiple studies tell us that those with agency in this business are between 2% and 10%. The rest have no agency. Then is the answer to that to throw out the la

Justice committee  It's even bigger than that. Certainly, we have seen cases in which the exploiter has engaged that youth in other crimes, such as smuggling guns or drugs, and in one case even murder, where they were being considered as an accessory to murder. This is then held over their head. Ev

Justice committee  I'll be really quick. Certainly we have [Technical difficulty—Editor] here in Vancouver. There needs to be a combination of the police and a social worker, so that these women are not only faced with the justice system, but also have a social worker with them who is looking after

Justice committee  Well, the law actually does that. The law is focused on the demand. I absolutely hear Ms. Lam's testimony. I want to say that I've heard this from survivors as well. I've heard the same things. They are saying that they're tired of burying their friends, but they recognize that

Justice committee  Well, it's very interesting, because just a couple of years after their new law was brought in, they appeared for the first time on the TIP, trafficking in persons, report. They have been alerted in every report since that they have a problem with trafficking. Here's what's real

Justice committee  The first thing I want to say is that I think there probably are some things that can be done to reduce the harm to sex workers, particularly educating the police and everyone. Sex workers should not be charged at all. That's what the law's intent was. We were going after the exp

Justice committee  Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you. I am Lynne Kent, chair of the Vancouver Collective Against Sexual Exploitation. We are a collective of organizations and individuals with many years of work and experience in this field. Bill C-36, in my