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The impact of migrant trafficking on Canada is estimated at between $120
million to $400 million per year and accounts for approximately 8,000 to 16,000
people arriving in Canada per year illegally. ("Organized Crime Impact Study,"
Solicitor General of Canada)
Vietnamese and Chinese mafia are increasing operations in brothels in Toronto,
Canada. They traffic in women from Southeast Asia. Agents pay recruiters up
to $8,000 for a woman, who then sell the women to pimps for about $15,000.
Agents take 10% of the earnings beyond the original contract. The women are
forced to service buyers’ 12 hours a day, 400 buyers or $400,000 to pay off
their debt. Women are abused and terrorized, being beaten and reportedly burned
with hot irons. (Rob Lamberti, "Sex Slaves: Fodder for Flesh Factories the
Women Earn Nothing But Tips Until They Pay Off Their $40,000 Contracts," Toronto
Sun, 10 May 1998)
About twelve 16-30-year-old Asian girls and women were trafficked into Canada
each week on visitor's permits and sold into prostitution. The girls and women
were bought in North America for up to $15,000 by a network that made about
U.S. $1. 4 - $2.2 million annually. The women are sold to brothel owners in
Markham and Scarborough Toronto and Los Angeles and forced into $40,000 debt
bondage. (Police, "Police Bust Sex-slave Ring" 11 September 1997 & "Toronto
police uncover sex slave ring," United Press International, 11 September
1997)
1000 employment authorizations for foreign exotic dancers are issued every
year. ("Canada’s Paper for EU Conference on Trafficking in Women for Sexual
Exploitation" 10-11 June 1996)
Recruitment of exotic dancers into Canada is legal, and may be linked to
the issues of trafficking and sexual exploitation. Women who enter Canada
to work as exotic dancers are vulnerable to sexual and economic exploitation,
deprivation of freedom, and can be coerced into criminal activities, whether
they have entered legally or illegally. ("Canada’s Paper for EU Conference
on Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation" 10-11 June 1996)
Male buyers in Canada are increasingly seeking Filipinas more so than Thai
women, because they believe Filipinas pose less of risk for AIDS. (Rob Lamberti,
"Sex Slaves: Fodder for Flesh Factories the Women Earn Nothing But TipsUntil
They Pay Off Their $40,000 Contracts," Toronto Sun, 10 May 1998)
Methods and Techniques of Traffickers
As many as 100 Honduran children have been smuggled overland into Canada
from Honduras, by a professional drug ring trafficking children to Vancouver.
The Honduran smugglers pay the childrens’ transportation costs and help them
across the Canadian border. Once in Vancouver, the traffickers put the children
in apartments, help them file refugee claims and sign up for welfare. In return,
the children are turned out on the street as indentured drug dealers. (Adrienne
Turner, "Drug ring lures kids as dealers: Hondurans as young as 11 deal crack
in Vancouver," Ottawa Citizen, 20 July 1998)
Many of the young girls that are trafficked and forced into prostitution
in Canada are ferried from city to city, from Seattle to San Francisco to
Oakland to Phoenix to Honolulu and Portland. The pimps move them every 3-4
weeks. (Portland Police Officer Doug Kosloske, The Province, 19 December
1997)
Motorcycle gangs and organized crime groups based in Eastern Europe and Asia,
have trafficked foreign women to Canada under lawful pretexts, then forced
the women into prostitution. ("Canada’s Paper for EU Conference on Trafficking
in Women for Sexual Exploitation" 10-11 June 1996)
There have been a number of cases identified wherein women from Asia have
been smuggled into the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and British Colombia for
the purpose of having women work as lounge dancers and strippers. ("Canada’s
Paper for EU Conference on Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation" 10-11
June 1996)
There have been reports of extortion, coercion, rape and prostitution involving
foreign exotic dancers, strip club managers and patrons. The women are vulnerable
to sexual exploitation and coercion into criminal activities. Foreign exotic
dancers tend to be recruited in their country of residence by "talent agencies".
The talent agency pays all up-front costs associated with travel and initial
accommodations. The loan becomes a form of debt-bondage. Many of these women
do not speak French or English and are unfamiliar with the legal protections
available to them under Canadian law. ("Canada’s Paper for EU Conference on
Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation" 10-11 June 1996)
Strip clubs located in Toronto and Montreal are suspected of sexually exploiting
young Asian women from Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and other
areas. The women were hired as foreign exotic dancers, but were put into prostitution.
The women were coerced into having abortions when pregnant, with threats of
being returned to their country of origin if they refused. The women had their
passports taken away, and were held in seclusion when they were not performing.
After an investigation, criminal charges were laid against the women. None
of their abusers were charged. ("Canada’s Paper for EU Conference on Trafficking
in Women for Sexual Exploitation" 10-11 June 1996)
Cases
A family run prostitution network in Canada made more than $1 million in
two years by prostituting foreign women. A man, his son, his wife, their daughter
and daughter-in-law all recruited females who participated in the overall
operation. Many of the 20 prostitutes -- aged 23 to 39 -- were related to
the operators by marriage or blood, Murarotto said. They worked out of apartments
and each turned over at least $15,000 a year to the operators (George Christopoulos,
"Family Ran Prostitution Ring," Toronto Sun, 16 May 1998)
Xuong Han Luong faces charges of owning a brothel in Toronto, Canada, and
living off the avails of prostitution. He held at least five Thai women in
the brothel, forcing them into prostitution. Although the brothel was raided
in 1996, police believe the same group reopened it. (Rob Lamberti, "Cops Raid
Den of Thai Sex ‘Salves’ 2 Men Arrested For Running Bawdy House," Toronto
Sun, 10 May 1998)
Adam Jermaine Ingram, 20, and Kevin Roy Woods, 18 are accused of paying $3,000
to buy a 13-year-old girl from a man in Vancouver, Canada, abducting her and
her friend and raping them while on route to San Diego. Their actions violate,
among other laws, the 1948 White Slave Traffic Act, prohibiting the transport
of minors across state lines with the intent of engaging in criminal activity.
(Teen Girls Abducted,"The Province, 21 December 1997)
11 women, aged 18-25, from the former Soviet Union, were forced to become
exotic dancers in a strip club. The women were recruited from the former Soviet
Union with the promise that they would become highly paid models in Canada.
They entered Canada illegally, and the traffickers took their passports and
other identification and held them in Toronto. The women went to the police
in April 1991. Two men were charged and fined $1000 and $2000. ("Canada’s
Paper for EU Conference on Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation" 10-11
June 1996)
One Asian woman who was trafficked into Canada 10 years ago at the age of
17, reports that agents traffic at least 30 Thai women into Canada per trip,
and that there are at least 3 Thai agents in Toronto alone. (Rob Lamberti,
"Sex Slaves: Fodder for Flesh Factories the Women Earn Nothing But Tips Until
They Pay Off Their $40,000 Contracts," Toronto Sun, 10 May 1998)
Policy and Law
There is no section specifically on trafficking in women in the Criminal
Code of Canada, and prostitution is not illegal in Canada, therefore Immigration
Officers cannot refuse entry or issue a removal order to individuals solely
on the grounds that they engage in prostitution. ("Canada’s Paper for EU Conference
on Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation" 10-11 June 1996)
Official Response and Action Women are regularly transported back and forth
across the Canadian-US border for the purpose of prostitution. Canadian law
enforcement has long been aware of this. ("Canada’s Paper for EU Conference
on Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation" 10-11 June 1996)
750 criminal charges were filed against traffickers in one case of bringing
women from Southeast Asia to Toronto for prostitution. (Bill Wallace & Benjamin
Pimental, "San Jose Women Held After Raid in Sex Slave Case," San Francisco
Chronicle, 13 September 1997)
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Prostituted women are 60-120 times more likely to be murdered than the general
public. (Research by Dr. John Lowman, Paul Dillon, "Life On The Streets in
Dangerous," Surrey Leader, 17 May 1998)
The murder of prostituted women in Canada continues to rise. From 1991-1995
63 prostituted women were murdered in Canada, 26 of which in British Columbia.
More than half of the cases remains unsolved. Six to eight others were murdered
in 1996 and 1997 in B.C. (Dr. John Lowman criminologist, Paul Dillon, "Life
On The Streets in Dangerous," Surrey Leader, 17 May 1998)
Three prostituted women in Toronto, Canada have been murdered. Police believe
the murders are the result of a serial killer after one woman escaped an attack
and reported it to the police. (Ian Timberlake, "Sex attacker hunted, Man
in sketch may be tied to killings," Toronto Sun, 23 June 1998)
Statistics on the murders of prostitutes in the Vancouver area: 1960-1977
1; 1978-1980 4; 1981-1985 12; and 1986-1995 60. (Jon Lowman, Greg Middleton,
"Law Blamed for Hooker Murders," The Province)
Within 5 days, two prostituted women were murdered in Vancouver. Many of
the murders against prostituted women go unsolved, such as 19 unsolved murders
between 1988 and 1994. (Peter Montague, RCMP media liasion statistics, Dawn
Brett, "Angry mourners demand action," Vancouver Sun, 14 June 1997)
Women and children in street prostitution comprise 1/3 of the 1,500 people
in the sex industry in Montreal. (Police estimates. "Prostitutes protest police
sweep" Montreal Gazette, 23 June 1998)
The Coalition for the Rights of Sex Workers, a lobby group representing about
5,000 prostituted persons, escorts, strippers and phone-sex operators in Montreal,
held a small demonstration at the riding office of Quebec Employment Minister
Louise Harel. They were demanding the same rights as other workers in the
province. Coalition spokeswoman Marie-Claude Charlebois said working conditions
in the sex trade are deplorable. "We're sick of having no say when it comes
to wages, working hours or working environment," she said. Women engaged in
prostitution on the streets often work in dangerous, isolated areas that offer
no protection against violence from clients, pimps and even police, Charlebois
said. ("Sex Workers seek rights", Ottawa Sun, 6 September 1998)
There are 10,000 prostitutes in the Greater Toronto Area, and more than 4,000
women are in the escort trade. One hour costs a minimum of $150, with half
usually going to the agency. Women escorts are "busiest" during corporate
conventions held in the area. A recent trend is for women to operate as "independents"
that book their own dates and run ads on the Internet. (Detective Mark Marple
of Peel Region Police Nick Pron, "Dating Services Bring Boom Times to Prostitution,"
Toronto Star, 1997)
Of 25 prostitutes known to be on the streets of Sudbury, Canada half are
under 15 years old and some are as young as 11. (Police, Wayne Chamberlain,
"Half of Sudbury Prostitutes Under 15 Years Old, Police Say: Streetwalkers
a growing problem in Nickel City," The Sudbury Star, 13 April 1998)
70 to 80% of those involved in the Canadian sex industry began as children.
And 80 to 95% are fleeing sexual abuse that usually began at home. (Kimberly
Daum, "Sexually Exploitated Children in Canada: The Law is Not on Their Side,"
Opinion/Essays, 17 October 1996)
In Canada, the escort service has become a booming underground economy, at
an estimated $1/2 billion annually. The number of agencies has increased from
just a few a decade ago to more than 125 in the Greater Toronto Area alone.
Men run most of the 25 larger agencies in the Greater Toronto Area, the biggest
of which employs about 100 women. Other small agencies have between 2 and
6 women. (Toronto Star investigation, Nick Pron, "Dating Services Bring Boom
Times to Prostitution," Toronto Star, 1997)
Setting records is part of the competition among escort agencies. 12 men
reportedly bought one woman in one night. One agency auctioned a woman as
a virgin. The "bidding war" resulted in a record hour fee of $800. (Police
files, Nick Pron "Dating Services Bring Boom Times to Prostitution" Toronto
Star (1997)
200-300 juveniles in prostitution in Vancouver are routinely arrested on
prostitution-related charges. (Youth workers, Kimberly Daum, "Sexually Exploitated
Children in Canada: The Law is Not on Their Side," Opinion/Essays, 17 October
1996)
Hundreds of children under 17 years old are being exploited in the sex industry
in Vancouver, Canada. Middle-aged male buyers are increasingly seeking girls
as young as 11. The police are not trusted by the children, who have targeted
them for arrests rather than the perpetrators. (Child advocates, Mark Clayton,
"To Curb Vancouver’s Big Trade in Child Sex, Police Nab ‘Johns’," Christian
Science Monitor, 1997)
Children in prostitution are charged 59 times more often than are the male
buyers in Vancouver. In six years, only 6 men were charged in Vancouver for
buying children in prostitution. Two were convicted. During the same time
period, 354 children were charged for involvement in prostitution. (Vancouver:
Predator and Pedophile Paradise, a study by John Turvey, executive director
of Downtown Eastside Youth Activities Society, Mark Clayton, "To Curb Vancouver’s
Big Trade in Child Sex, Police Nab ‘Johns’," Christian Science Monitor,
1997)
10% of the 100 to 200 women in street prostitution in Calgary, Canada, are
under the 18 years of age. (Helen Dolik "Help group for families is launched"
Calgary Herald, 11 August 1997)
Cases
Three men sexually assaulted, threatened to kill and prostituted a 13-year-old
girl in Toronto and Oshawa, Canada for 18 months. The men collected $100,000
from selling her as a prostitute. Robert Christian Chattaway, 20, of Scarboro,
was charged with kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, procuring, living
on the avails of a prostitute under 18 and having dangerous weapons. Warrants
are issued for the two other men. (Mike Beauparlant Detective of the Juvenile
Task Force, Tom Godfrey, "Child Forced to Hook Man Held After Girl, 13, Assaulted,"
Toronto Sun, 18 April 1998)
Jalil Ali-Akbar Bahrami, a violent pimp, convicted of 60 offenses of drug
trafficking, assault with a deadly weapon and living off the avails of prostitution
was freed from prison and sent to his native Iran after claiming he is not
using drugs and that he has found God. (Kelly Harris, "Violent Offender Finds
God, Is Freed," Sun Media, 27 May 1998)
Suspected serial killer Terry Driver, admitted he used prostitutes from the
time he was 15, when he gave food to homeless children in exchange for sex.
He also admitted that he used three women who were later found dead. [Holly
Horwood, "Is Terry Driver a Serial Killer?" The Province, 17 October
1997)
Organized crime by motorcycle gangs, such as ‘Hell’s Angels,’ are involved
in drug trafficking and prostitution. More than 50 people have been killed
in Quebec over four years, in a turf war between the Hell's Angels and a rival
gang called the Rock Machine ("Canada plans to take on biker gangs," United
Press International, 23 April 1998)
A cocaine epidemic is closely linked with Yellowknife's prostitution and
pornography trade. A group of girls were selling sex for cocaine. A man faces
trial for trafficking cocaine as well as possessing about 1300 pornographic
videos, including some with local women. Alcohol and drug use was linked to
child sexual abuse and trauma. (Arlene Hache, Yellowknife Women's Centre,
"Coke epidemic in Northest Territories; Child sexual abuse called root of
drug abuse in North," Canadian Press, 26 October 1997)
Philip Grassi, 49, a Vancouver firefighter and North Vancouver minor hockey
coach was arrested and charged for soliciting a prostitute, who was really
an undercover police officer. He said his constitutional rights were violated
by the Vancouver police department’s policy of naming men arrested for prostitution
offences. (Gerry Bellett, "Being Identified As A John Violates My Rights,
Says Firefighter: Vancouver father of two takes police department to court,"
Vancouver Sun, 20 June 1997)
Two missing Calgary girls, aged 15 and 16, recruited into prostitution by
a sex trade ring on Vancouver's streets have been rescued and safely returned
home. A key factor in solving the case was the use of the Deter and Identify
Sex trade Consumers (DISC) computer system, developed by two Vancouver police
officers. (Peter Smith, "Girls Home Safe", Calgary Sun, 15 August 1998)
Policy and Law
A new law in Canada, the Protection of Children Involved in Prostitution
Act, increased the fines for both pimps and male buyers to $25,000 from $2,000.
Pimps and male buyers are warning their peers of the new law, via the Internet.
(Bart Johnson, "Creeps Scraed Off Internet Warns Pimps, Johns That Sex With
Underage Hookers In Alberta is Child Abuse," Edmonton Sun, 1 May 1998)
The Protection of Children Involved in Prostitution Act in Canada will provide
the legal means to remove children in prostitution from the streets and put
them back into their homes or into protective custody. It also calls for higher
fines on anyone encouraging children into prostitution. (Rob Flanagan, "Bartolucci
s bill passes second reading," Sudbury Star, 29 May 1998)
In April 1998, Sudbury Regional Police launched the DISC (deter, identify,
sex trade, consumers) program. The program targets the anonymity of the johns
who buy sex from women in prostitution. The operation has focused on Elgin
and Durham streets, and the Medina Lane area, after regular business hours.
People who speak to, stand with, or continually drive by the prostitutes can
be stopped, watched or be asked to provide identification by the police. In
the first five months, police charged 16 men and seven women with prostitution-related
offences through the DISC program. Two of the cases involved prostitutes younger
than 16 years of age. (Staff writer, "Prostitution on the rise in Sudbury,
group says", Sudbury Star, 14 August 1998)
Aggravated pimping, in cases involving violence and commercial exploitation
of youth, mandates a minimum sentence of five years imprisonment. ("Canada’s
Paper for EU Conference on Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation" 10-11
June 1996)
In Alberta the Child Welfare Act was amended to classify the hiring of prostitutes
under 18 as child abuse. Convicted buyers face fines up to $2,000 or six months
in jail. ("Alberta Justice Minister Wants Jail for Johns," Associated Press,
1997)
In 1997, new federal legislation made it an offense to seek the sexual services
of a person believed to less than 18. The new law also sets a minimum five-year
federal prison sentence - with a 14-year maximum - for pimps who coerce juveniles
into prostitution through violence or intimidation. ("Alberta Justice Minister
Wants Jail for Johns," Associated Press, 1997)
In Toronto, Canada, prostitution is not illegal, but communicating or discussing
sex for cash is one of four Criminal Code offenses governing the escort agency
trade. (Nick Pron, "Dating Services Bring Boom Times to Prostitution," Toronto
Star, 1997)
In The Greater Toronto Area, Now Magazine was charged in 1990 with 14 counts
of "communicating" for the purpose of prostitution because of its escort agency
ads in the classified section. The charges were dropped in what one crown
prosecutor called a "political decision" and the advertising floodgates were
opened. (Nick Pron "Dating Services Bring Boom Times to Prostitution" Toronto
Star (1997)
The Edmonton Police plan to form a prostitution committee to curb prostitution.
One strategy will be to seize the cars of male buyers. (Robert Noce, Jerry
Ward, "Skin Trade Committee Urged", Edmonton Sun, 23 July 1998) The city of
Vancouver collects approximately $6,500 from each of the 100 ‘body rub parlors’
and escort agencies. (Jon Lowman, Greg Middleton, "Law Blamed for Hooker Murders,"
The Province)
In the "Shame the johns" Campaign, Vancouver, British Columbia police plan
to release the names of men suspected of trying to buy women in prostitution.
("Police Unfazed By Suit," The Province, 2 September 1997)
A person convicted of living off the avails of child prostitution was judged
by a British Columbia government screening program as being "no risk," and
allowed to keep a job that involves contact with children. (Stewart Bell,
Vancouver Sun, October 1997)
Official Response and Action Police in Sudbury, Canada are launching a Deter,
Identify, Sex Trade, Consumers Program to combat the growing number of prostitutes,
particularly underage girls. The program targets the anonymity of the buyers
in order to deter them. Cst. Corinne Fewster, an officer with the Sudbury
Regional Police's Drug and Morality Squad said they hope to reduce the demand
by targeting buyers. (Wayne Chamberlain, "Half of Sudbury Prostitutes Under
15 Years Old, Police Say: Streetwalkers a growing problem in Nickel City,"
The Sudbury Star, 13 April 1998)
Calgary is one of just two cities in North America where the number of girls
in prostitution is declining. Until 1994 when the Street Teams operation began,
the number of girls under 18 in prostitution had been rising. There were 400
girls in prostitution or at risk of starting. That figure dropped to 276 in
1996, and 243 in 1997. Every night, Street Teams volunteers patrol the strolls,
LRT stations and malls, talking girls off the street and warning those who
might be recruited by pimps (Don Braid, "Street Teams Head Deserves Order
of Canada," Calgary Sun, 15 May 1998)
Under a new program in Vancouver, Canada, 30 percent of first time offenders
of solicitation for prostitution are eligible to attend the "john school"
instead of prosecution. This proposal seeks to curb male solicitation before
it becomes repeat behavior. Men will pay Canada $400 to attend the "school"
instead of a fine. (Shane McCune, "Police board Oks ‘john school’ idea," Vancouver
Province, 26 June 1998)
In the last 2 weeks of February 1997, as a result of the testimony of children,
10 male buyers were arrested and charged with soliciting for prostitution.
(Mark Clayton, "To Curb Vancouver’s Big Trade in Child Sex, Police Nab ‘Johns’,"
Christian Science Monitor, 1997)
The British Columbia government pledged $3 million to help street kids and
teen prostitutes by hiring more outreach workers and creating "safe houses"
in four communities for those who want to leave prostitution. (Ian Bailey,
"Pimps not easy to spot, sex-trade worker warns," CP, 12 March 1998)
Judge Judith Kay ruled that an eight-year-old girl must be allowed unsupervised
visits to her maternal grandmother who runs an escort agency in Victoria.
The girl's mother opposed the decision. ("Judge says girls must visit grandmother
who runs escort service," Vancouver Sun, 5 December 1997
The disappearance of Crystal Dawn Jack is not being investigated adequately
by Halifax police and friends and co-workers think it is because she was involved
in prostitution. Jack vanished sometime in early to mid-July 1997. Halifax
regional police spokes-man Constable Gary Martin said the police are doing
all they can considering the lack of physical evidence that would indicate
a violent crime has been committed. (Richard Dooley, "Look harder for woman,
friends say," The Daily News, 23 August 1998)
Police investigate allegations that police officers in Sudbury, Ontario,
had sex with prostituted children. A social worker at a youth correctional
center testified that police officers, supposed to protect teenagers involved
in prostitution, sometimes had sex with them. A local prostituted woman backed
up the allegation, saying she first had sex with a police officer for money
when she was 14 years old, and has since had sex with other officers. She
said officers supplied child prostitutes with narcotic drugs to keep them
quiet. The chief of police did not think the allegations were true, but ordered
an internal investigation. ("Police face probe for alleged child sex," United
Press International, 17 August 1998)
NGO Action
Teens involved in prostitution may be helped by a support network that a
group in Sudbury is working to create. The group consists of a number of public
service groups, community agencies and politicians. Teens enter prostitution
for various reasons, including as an escape from an abusive home life, a way
to support drug habits, and others are lured into it. Most have low self-esteem,
many have been abused in past relationships, and some are parents. A number
on Sudbury streets are under the age of 16. (Debbie Shipley, "Effort under
way to reach out to teen prostitutes," Star)
Official Corruption and Collaboration
"If what we're doing is so bad, then why are police officers and politicians
some of our better customers?" Among the range of buyers include schoolboys
to grandfathers, lawyers, top civil servants, businessmen, the laborer next
door. Most are married. Some are in their 70s. All of their names are on computerized
databases in escort agency offices. (One escort agency owner, Nick Pron, "Dating
Services Bring Boom Times to Prostitution," Toronto Star, 1997)
Rural Canadian Mounted Police officer Lyndon Dorrington, 31 was found guilty
of soliciting a prostitute after, the woman he approached revealed herself
as an undercover police officer. He claimed he was doing research for a course.
("Cops Research Argument Doesn’t Fly," Calgary Herald, 8 August 1997)
Assistant Crown Attorney Agnew Johnston in Thunder Bay, Ontario, was discovered
having been exploiting minors for prostitution. He has been appealing disbarment
since 1994.
Prostitution Tourism
Policy and Law
Canada discarded the principle of double jeopardy, so a person can be prosecuted
for extra-territorial crimes of sex exploitation both in the country where
the crime is commited and in Canada. ("Child sexploitation within law's reach,"
The Nation, 2 July 1997)
In 1997, Canada made it illegal for citizens to have sex with children in
foreign countries. Each year, thousands of western tourists travel to impoverished
Third World countries and Eastern Europe to buy children in prostitution.
(Ian Bailey, "Ex-prostitute offers reality check on tactic against sex tourism,"
CP, 12 March 1998)
According to Canadian law, men who buy a child in prostitution in a foreign
country face up to 10 years in prison, while in Canada, they face 5 years
in prison. (Police, Kimberly Daum, "Sexually Exploitated Children in Canada:
The Law is Not on Their Side," Opinion/Essays, 17 October 1996)
Canadian customs agents and police have special powers to prosecute child
pornography peddlers and child-sex tourists under Bill C-27, passed in 1997.
(Tom Godfrey, "Sex tourists targeted," Toronto Sun, 11 September 1998)
Official Response and Action
Canadian Yves Banville travelled throughout Africa (southern Africa, Zambia,
and Madagascar) as a sex tourist for months. He collected hundreds of pornographic
photos, and raped girls as young as 8. He has been arrested and charged with
one count of possession and one count importation of child pornography. (Larry
Pynn, "Child-porn importer fined $300," The Vancouver Sun, 23 March
1998)
Canadians returning home from child-sex tourism vacations in certain European
and Third World countries are being arrested at airports across the country.
Customs officials targeted pornography smugglers and child-sex tourists in
Project Offspray, conducted from Aug. 26, 1998 to Sept. 7, 1998. Custom officials
called the crackdown a success, as the project netted several child-sex peddlers.
The Customs department is working with international police agencies and G-8
(industrialized) countries to go after pornography dealers. There are currently
no child-sex tourism cases before Canadian courts. (Tom Godfrey, "Sex tourists
targeted," Toronto Sun, 11 September 1998)
Regulation of the sex industry is being debated by an Edmonton Police Commission
task force. The task force is working to keep the sex industry out of residential
areas. The establishments of red-light districts and tougher laws will be
considered, after information about prostitution has been collected. The Chief
of Police opposes the establishment of red-light districts saying this would
contribute to the victimization of women. (Ian McDougall, "Red-light districts
pondered," Edmonton Sun, 24 September 1998)
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