Mr. Speaker, last year, Reggie Littlejohn successfully led international efforts to free blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, who has fled four years of house arrest in China. Today, here in Ottawa, she asks parliamentarians to stand together against discrimination against girls occurring through sex selection.
Over decades, sex selection has caused a critical gender imbalance leading to human trafficking, kidnapping and sex slavery. Two hundred million girls are missing. As CBC reported, this is happening in Canada. The United Nations reports, “Renewed and concerted efforts are needed by governments and civil society to address the deeply rooted gender discrimination which lies at the heart of sex selection”.
We thank Reggie Littlejohn for her courage and determination to end discrimination against women and girls. We also thank her for calling on this Parliament to unite in its condemnation of discrimination against girls occurring through sex selection.