Playing the Victim: A Critical Analysis of Canada’s Bill C-36 from an International Human Rights Perspective
35 Pages Posted: 28 Jun 2016
Date Written: June 27, 2016
Abstract
This article analyses the recent legislative reforms regulating the Canadian sex industry, Bill C-36, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act. Bill C-36 has been described as an ‘abolitionist’ approach to sex work, drawing heavily from the ‘Nordic model’ which is increasingly being adopted across the globe. This ‘abolitionist’ approach rests on the radical feminist perspective of sex work as inherently exploitative, and accordingly, seeks to re-focus criminal measures solely on the demand-side of the transaction. This article examines the foreseeable impact of the abolitionist perspective enshrined in Bill C-36 on the lives of domestic Canadian sex workers, from an international human rights perspective, paying particular attention to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
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