Status of Women committee  I'll just add to that. There is no monolithic experience of people who are involved in the sex trade. Of the people I spoke with, some come from loving homes. Some of them come from the foster care system. Sixty-eight percent of my sample had some experience in foster care systems when they were younger, but not all individuals of foster care will definitely take that path.

Status of Women committee  I guess the only comment is to completely agree with you. I think there has just been, for whatever reason--and I'm not really sure what the reason is, if it's some type of moral stigma, if it's some type of.... I could speculate until the cows come home on why we don't have exit programs.

Status of Women committee  When we talk about reducing risks.... I'll talk about the study I have completed. It was a fairly small sample of about 60 women involved in prostitution across the prairie provinces. We also surveyed 173 service providers who provided services, both state-mandated and non-governmental organizations who provided services, mostly for young people involved in prostitution.

Status of Women committee  Yes, absolutely. First, I'd like to thank the committee for their important work and for inviting me to attend and present today. Most of the information I'll be presenting today is the result of my work as a research associate at the research centre on violence against women, where I studied for eight years, and research after the Montreal massacre.