To browse Academia. Skip to main content. You're using an out-of-date version of Internet Explorer. Log In Sign Up. Donna M Hughes. Right Hon. Elizabeth May, MP, Leader of the Green Party of Canada April 23, Dear Sirs and Madam, Weβthe undersignedβare women who work in different capacities to end violence against women and to protect and advance women s rights to equality.
Prostitution is a practice in which women s subordination to men is inherent and lived out repeatedly. Consequently, we are writing to you today to urge you to support the Nordic approach to legislation on prostitution for Canada, because it includes legislation, intensive social supports, and public education strategies, all designed to reduce and eliminate prostitution.
We are aware of the March 27 open letter from the Gender and Sexual Health Initiative at the University of British Columbia GSHI , which calls for decriminalization of all aspects of prostitution, including buyers and profiteers, on the grounds that this is the only evidence-based policy option. The list of signatories implies that only those with formal credentials can research or interpret evidence.
We reject both of these premises. That evidence proves that prostitution is violence against women. This is not only a dispute about evidence; it is a dispute about goals and principles, and legislators will have to decide carefully which principles they wish to uphold, and which goals they wish to pursue, for women in Canada.
The evidence in the same studies and government reports cited in the GHSI letter supports intensive efforts, worldwide, to reduce and eliminate prostitution.
