Media Releases

The myths of “ending demand” for prostitution: panel discussion

October 19, 2011

TORONTO, ON — Con­ser­v­a­tive MP Joy Smith’s pub­lic cam­paign to crim­i­nal­ize the pur­chase of sex­u­al ser­vices reflects a trou­bling glob­al cam­paign to “end demand” for pros­ti­tu­tion.  “End demand” cam­paigns are premised on an abso­lutist view of pros­ti­tu­tion as exploita­tion, where­in all sex work­ers are cast as vic­tims, and all clients as per­pe­tra­tors.  Media are invit­ed to attend this pan­el, which will address the harm­ful con­se­quences of “end demand” strate­gies, with a view to advanc­ing alter­na­tive social and legal poli­cies that can make a dif­fer­ence for social­ly mar­gin­al­ized work­ers in and beyond the sex indus­try.

The inter­dis­ci­pli­nary pan­el includes:

Susan Davis
Cur­rent sex work­er of 25 years; Devel­op­ment coor­di­na­tor,
West Coast coop­er­a­tive of Sex Indus­try Pro­fes­sion­als, Van­cou­ver

Kara Gillies
Rep­re­sen­ta­tive, Maggie’s: Toron­to Sex Work­ers Action Project

Umm­ni Khan
Assis­tant Pro­fes­sor, Depart­ment of Law, Car­leton Uni­ver­si­ty

Emi­lie Lal­ib­erte
Direc­tor-Gen­er­al, Chez Stel­la, l’aime de Maimie, Mon­tréal

Emi­ly van der Meulen
Assis­tant Pro­fes­sor, Dept. of Crim­i­nal Jus­tice & Crim­i­nol­o­gy, Ryer­son Uni­ver­si­ty

Mod­er­at­ed by Lisa Kel­ly, S.J.D. Can­di­date, Har­vard Law School

Intro­duc­tion by Rebec­ca Cook, Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to, Fac­ul­ty of Law

WHEN:        Thurs­day, Oct. 20, 2011

TIME:          4:30–6:00pm

WHERE:     Moot Court Room, Flavelle House
Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to, Fac­ul­ty of Law
78 Queen’s Park, Toron­to, Ontario


Spon­sored by: The Inter­na­tion­al Repro­duc­tive and Sex­u­al Health Law Pro­gramme, Fac­ul­ty of Law, Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to (reprohealth.law@utoronto.ca).