CLF urges Parliament to combat sexual exploitation
“A just society cannot tolerate sexual exploitation in any form. And yet, sexually exploitative content—including child pornography, “revenge porn”, and other forms of illegal or nonconsensual pornographic material—remain available in Canada today. While some freely choose to participate in the production of pornography, others are trafficked, coerced, manipulated, or deceived into producing such content. The resulting images memorialize and perpetuate their
victimization and exploitation, often to the continued financial benefit of the original perpetrators. The persistent presence of these materials online entails the ongoing victimization of those persons depicted in them and must be stopped. However, the flow of such content online and elsewhere is unlikely to cease as long as corporations can still profit from its publication. It is time to fill the gaps in legislation and enforcement that enable this state of affairs to continue.”
On May 5, CLF submitted a brief to Parliament's Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, pertaining to the Committee's work on the “Protection of Privacy and Reputation on Platforms such as Pornhub”.
CLF urged the Committee to ensure that current Criminal Code provisions are properly applied and enforced to offer meaningful protection to victims of sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
Additionally, CLF highlighted various legislative gaps that exist in Canada, making it harder for victims and survivors to access legal remedies and recourse. Other jurisdictions – including the United States and Australia – have adopted various ways of ensuring that victims can have illegal or non-consensual content removed in a timely manner, and CLF pointed to these for the Committee to consider as it reviews various legal options.