Sarson & MacDonald Hansard discussion November 20, 2020

November 20, 2020

To: , Minister of Justice: [email protected] , MP Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke: [email protected] , MP Cumberland-Colchester: [email protected]

Re: The specific Hansard discussion, October 29, 2020, during Meeting No. 3 of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights between the Minister of Justice David Lametti and MP Randall Garrison regarding “sex work” with references made to Bill C-36 and the Bedford rulings.

During this specific discussion no reference was made to the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA) which criminalizes demand for the prostitution of human beings in Canada. Making reference to the Bedford decisions must include the following fact that the sellers—the pimps— and the buyers who are predominately men, take violent misogynistic pleasure when torturing women in prostitution. Making a reference to Bedford rulings means acknowledging that:

1. In Bedford v. Canada, 2010, in paragraph 26 Terri Jean Bedford refers to the ―physical and psychological torture” she suffered, plus being ―raped and gang-raped too many times to talk about‖ and ―beaten on the head with a baseball bat.‖1 2. In Bedford v. Canada, 2010, paragraph 531 says police can charge pimps and johns under various sections of the Criminal Code, including ―torture.‖ 2 The legal reality is that only State actors, not non-State actors, can be held criminally accountable for torture under section 269.1.

HERSTORICAL REALITY. This reality that torture victimization occurs in prostitution is decades old knowledge that also appears in documents submitted to the Canadian government. For instance:

1. 1979: Reverend Brad Massman of Toronto testified before the House of Commons Justice Committee, saying that johns want ―to burn, torture and beat…‖ women prostituted (p. 13).3 2. 1993: The Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women report given to the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women spoke of ―torture” (p. 5).4 3. 2010: Doug Lepard‘s, MissingWomen Investigation Review includes investigations of Donald Bakker who serially raped and did ―torture‖ women in prostitution (pp. 215, 364); and of Malcolm Bruce Leach who inflicted ―sadistic torture‖ of a woman in prostitution (p. 367).5 4. 2013: The federal RCMP report on domestic sexualized exploitation of female persons aged 14 to 22 included descriptions of acts of ―torture” suffered by the female youth and young women.6 5. 2014: The Native Women‘s Association of Canada report mentions torture many times; as one woman said, ―Torture is torture. I survived it. I‘m an expert of it‖ (p. 51).7

Since 1993, we have worked caring about Canadian women and women globally who have survived non- State torture. We have repeatedly informed government politicians, presented to the JUST Committee, Page 1 of 4

Sarson & MacDonald Hansard discussion November 20, 2020 met with Minister Monsef and you Minister Lametti, and others. We supported Ms. Lane who wanted to present to the JUST Committee, not being asked she submitted her non-State torture ordeals in a brief to JUST.8 On 23 January 2020, we supported a woman who described the non-State torture, sexualized exploitation, and suicidal ordeals to the staff member of MP Lenore Zann. It was this woman‘s quest to explain to Lenore Zann via her staff member that she needed non-State torture to be criminalized to feel included and respected as a person of equal worth. Betrayal of institutional trust,9 occurs with systemic dismissal of non-State torture victimizations inflicted against women in prostitution; in intimate partner violence;10 in domestic or family violence; in human trafficking, and or in pornographic victimization. Denial of non-State torture victimization does not adhere to your statements Minister Lametti of promoting ―fair access to justice for all‖ within a ―people-centered justice system.‖ Mr. Garrison, your naming the prostitution of women as ―sex work‖ appears to ignore or be an uninformed statement; otherwise, it means there is an acceptance that sexualized non-State torture is inflicted against women in prostitution or using your terminology inflicted in ―sex work.‖ The sexualisation of torture, when described by Terri Jean Bedford as ―sex work‖ is unacceptable. Such acceptance reeks of patriarchal misogyny that in our opinion has no place in Canadian society and culture.

QUESTIONNAIRE ON NON-STATE TORTURE WOMEN SUFFER IN PROSTITUTION. On June 23, 2017, a Canadian woman sent us her response to our research participatory questionnaire,11 stating examples of the acts of non-State torture she suffered in prostitution. She wrote the perpetrators included male pimps, male johns or perpetrator ‗clients‘, male friends, and male others unknown whose misogynistic torture pleasures included for instance:  Food/drink withheld  Forced to eat one‘s or another‘s bowel  Chained or handcuffed to a stationary movements object  Raped by one person, and group that,  Burnt did at times, last ―for entire nights‖  Fingers, toes, and limbs twisted and  Raped with a weapon, other objects, and dislocated with animals  Tied down naked for prolonged periods  Prevented from using the toilet, smeared of time with urine, feces, or blood  Sat on making breathing difficult  Choked  Forced to lie naked on the floor/without  Threatened to be killed bedding/warmth  Called derogatory names and treated as a non-person

HANSARD DISCUSSION. Listening to your conversation Mr. Garrison and Minister Lamentti, to your statement that ―A bunch of things around it [PCEPA] …. [is] what we have to review,‖ from our experience minimizes the misogynistic non-person put-downs inflicted against prostituted women by non- State torturers who are pimps, johns, and others. This language is a dismissal of the intent of the PCEPA. The Act recognizes the significant social and personal harms caused by the objectification and commodification of women in prostitution, while leaving space for the small percentage of women who choose to sell their bodies.12 Prostitution is frequently a need for survival or occurs because childhood victimizations led to youth being trafficked,13 and aged into prostitution. The recent report that the RCMP‘s culture is misogynistic,14 reflects our knowledge that prostituted women and exploited girls so non-State tortured already lack protective and legal protection. Systemic patriarchal failure to criminalize Page 2 of 4

Sarson & MacDonald Hansard discussion November 20, 2020 non-State torture does not ―promote fair access to justice for all‖ and is not a ―people-centered justice system.‖ It even disregards that torture is a distinct non-derogable human right written into the 1947 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 5 says that ―no one‖—that women and girls shall not be subjected to torture; article 7 says women and girls are entitled to non-discriminatory legal equality. By 2030 the government has committed to reach the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) of eliminating all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls (SDGs 5.1-5.2), including eliminating the exploitation and torture of children (SDG 16.2). The wilful dismissal of this known truth about non- State torture victimizations are inflicted against women and girls prostituted and exploited means the government knowingly allows non-State torturers to continue torturing if when, ―A bunch of things around it [PCEPA] …. [is] what we have to review,‖ rejects identifying and criminalizing that non-State torture is a form of male violence inflicted against women in prostitution and is not ―sex work.‖ Non- State torture is a crime against the humanity of all women and girls including women and girls prostituted or exploited.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald

Jeanne Sarson, MEd, BScN and Linda MacDonald, MEd, BN Co-founders Persons Against Non-State Torture (NST) Human Rights Defenders 361 Prince Street, Truro, NS, Canada B2N 1E4 P: 1.902.895.6659 | C: 1.902.956.2117 www.nonstatetorture.org [email protected] | [email protected] [email protected] Co-authors WOMEN UNSILENCED Our refusal to let the torturer-traffickers #EndNonStateTorture win!to be released the spring 2021 Friesen Press #torture #humantrafficking #CallItFemicide Sarson, J., & MacDonald, L. (2018). Having non-state torture recognized by the UN and member states as an infringement of woman‘s human rights is imperative. Canadian Woman Studies/Les Cahiers de la Femme, 33(1. 2):143–155.

Cc‘ed MP Members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights

Iqra Khalid: [email protected] Mike Kalloway: [email protected] Michael Cooper: [email protected] James Maloney: [email protected] : [email protected] Rhéal Fortin: [email protected] : [email protected] : [email protected] Luc Thériault: [email protected] : [email protected] Sameer Zuberi: [email protected]

And: Marion Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE): [email protected] Nathalie Levman, Senior Counsel, Department of Justice: [email protected]

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Sarson & MacDonald Hansard discussion November 20, 2020

Endnotes

1 Bedford v. Canada, 2010 ONSC 4264 (CanLII). http://canlii.ca/t/2cr62 2 Ibid. 3 Robertson, J. (1979). Pornography and its effects A survey of recent literature. Ontario Status of Women Council. 4 The Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women. (1993). Changing the landscape: Ending violence ~ Achieving equality. Minister of Supply and Services. 5 Lepard, D. (2010). MissingWomen investigation review. Vancouver police Department. BC. https://www.bwss.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/36185748-VPD-Missing-Women-Report.pdf 6 Human Trafficking National Coordination Centre (HTNCC). (2013, October). Domestic human trafficking for sexual exploitation in Canada. Royal Canadian Mounted Police. https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/lbrr/archives/cnmcs-plcng/cn000042761614-eng.pdf 7 Native Women‘s Association of Canada. (2014, March). Sexual exploitation and trafficking of Aboriginal women and girls Literature review and key informant interviews. https://www.nwac.ca/wp- content/uploads/2015/05/2014_NWAC_Human_Trafficking_and_Sexual_Exploitation_Report.pdf 8 Lane, A., & Holodak, R.G. (2016). Brief to: The House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights in view of its study of bill c-242 an act to amend the Criminal Code (inflicting torture). https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/JUST/Brief/BR8406577/br- external/LaneAlexandra-e.pdf 9 Smith, C. P., & Freyd, J. J. (2014). Institutional betrayal. American Psychologist, 69(6), 575-587. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037564 10 Sarson, J., & MacDonald, L. (2019). ―A difficult client‖: Lynn‘s story of captivity, non-state torture, and human trafficking by her husband. International Journal of Advanced Nursing Education and Research, 4(3), 107-124. https://gvpress.com/journals/IJANER/vol4_no3/13.pdf?emci=426a1d92-af8b- ea11-86e9-00155d03b5dd&emdi=29c3fba8-c38b-ea11-86e9-00155d03b5dd&ceid=2140048 11 Persons Against Non-State Torture. (n.d.). Questionnaire 3: Torture inflicted in prostitution. https://www.nonstatetorture.org/~nonstate/research/participate/questionnaire-3 12 Justice Laws Website. (2014). Statutes of Canada Chapter 25. https://laws- lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/2014_25.pdf 13 Sarson, J. (2017). [Review of book Human Trafficking: Contexts and Connections to Conventional Crime, edited by Joan A. Reid]. Journal of Human Trafficking, 3(4), 338-340. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23322705.2016.1221723?forwardService=showFullText&t okenAccess=AMvN8gnWMZRYrvmVuQVN&tokenDomain=eprints&doi=10.1080%2F23322705.2016. 1221723&doi=10.1080%2F23322705.2016.1221723&journalCode=uhmt20 14 Bastarache, M. (2020). Broken dreams broken lives The devastating effects of sexual harassment on women in the RCMP Final report on the implementation of the Merlo Davidson Settlement Agreement. https://merlodavidson.ca/wp-content/uploads/RCMP_Final-Report_Broken-Dreams.pdf

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