Aboriginal Legal Services, as an example, have always accepted clients and met them where they're at. In terms of trying to find resolutions, a good life solution for any individual is to meet them where they're at. Embracing diversity and understanding people have lived choices as adults that within law.... I think it is worth repeating that the act of selling sex itself has never been unlawful in the country of Canada.
Putting in place parameters that meet the safety requirements that don't result in things like overpolicing or criminalization of indigenous people, which is already at beyond an acute level.... I don't even refer to it as overincarceration any more; I refer to it as mass-incarceration, because we continue to apprehend indigenous children into child welfare institutes and we continue to penalize and put indigenous people into custody.
When there are some levels of autonomy and when people have power to make decisions and the ability to do things in a safe way, then we see less loss of life. We see that. We've seen that in places like New Zealand, within their model, where sex workers have a better relationship with police officers. Sex workers can utilize the law within that country to put forward their rights. If we're truly at a place that's concerned with human rights—and the national inquiry set up their entire calls for justice on this parameter—then those human rights have to include those basic things like dignity, life and liberty.