Thank you so much for that question.
I really want to highlight what Glendyne said, that it is just part of the culture. It is part of our patriarchal culture here, especially in Canada. We view ourselves as this very progressive nation, and in many ways we are, but we are falling short tremendously on gender equality and sex-based equality.
I really think the law is sound. I think the only area that really needs some tweaking, perhaps, is section 213. We know that our most vulnerable sex sellers who are on the streets, who are dealing with complex health issues, untreated mental health, intergenerational trauma and addiction, are the ones who are being targeted by that provision of PCEPA.
I really feel...and, please, I'm not a lawyer, so I can't say exactly what the answer is, but I can say that there is harm happening to women. In that regard, we are still targeting them in some facet. We need to completely remove all of the barriers they face. That includes expunging all records of any historical or current convictions that have been placed upon sex sellers, and also just highlighting where the harm is coming from. Again, that is from the culture and from patriarchy within our masculinity.
I really think we have wonderful men in Canada who are doing great things, but we have a social rot here as well that is taking over. We're seeing it heavily. Sex work ideology is infiltrating every single facet of Canadian women's lives. We can't walk down the street without being procured for sex. I'm jogging in my neighbourhood, with my children in a stroller, and men are pulling up and harassing me. At times I'm even with my husband. It's no holds barred.
It just feels like we're going to be thrown to the wolves and it's going to be open season on us. We really have to work on changing the narrative. Women deserve better than to be purchasable commodities for sexual consumption.