Brief on Bill S-203, An Act to restrict young persons' online access to sexually explicit material Loi limitant l'accès en ligne des jeunes au ...
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Brief on Bill S-203, An Act to restrict young persons’ online access to sexually explicit material Loi limitant l’accès en ligne des jeunes au matériel sexuellement explicite Concertation des luttes contre l’exploitation sexuelle www.lacles.org May 26, 2021
About the CLES
For 16 years, the Concertation des luttes contre l’exploitation sexuelle (CLES) has offered
support and guidance to women caught up in prostitution and the consequences that
follow. We meet with approximately 200 women annually. Over the years, we have helped
thousands of women with their transition out of prostitution. We also work on prevention,
training and research.
We work with and for women to create a future without prostitution. In 2014, we conducted
a study that showed that women who experience sexual exploitation are often survivors of
other forms of violence before, during or after their time in the prostitution industry (CLES,
2014). This violence damages their physical and psychological wellbeing and violates their
human rights. The CLES advocates for this violence to be recognized as a barrier to gender
equality and social progress.
The sex industry, pornography and sexual cyber exploitation
As many studies have shown, the sex industry is the most violent industry for women and
children (Potterat et al. 2003; Standing Committee on Justice, 2006; Conseil du statut de la
femme, 2012; SPVM, 2014; Lanctôt et al. 2018). The expansion of this industry is fueled by
greater demand for paid sexual acts and pimps’ increased efforts to recruit women and girls.
Pornography—or filmed prostitution—is one of the most profitable forms of commercial
sexual exploitation.
Today, the Internet and social media are the preferred means by which pornographers,
pimps, human traffickers and cyber predators recruit younger, more marginalized and more
vulnerable people (Gagnon, 2017; Paquette et al., 2020). Now more than ever, the powerful
sex industry is adopting new technologies to defy borders, jurisdictions and legal
frameworks (Fondation scelles, 2019). This is only doing greater harm to the general public,
to youth in particular and especially to girls from all backgrounds.
2Parliament’s adoption of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act in 2014
recognized the need to fight sexual exploitation and its commercial expansion. The Act
states that “it is important to continue to denounce and prohibit the procurement of
persons for the purpose of prostitution and the development of economic interests in the
exploitation of the prostitution of others as well as the commercialization and
institutionalization of prostitution.”
In the above excerpt, the reference to the sex industry’s development of economic interests
in the exploitation of the prostitution of others should be understood in the current context,
where the Internet plays a major role in that development. We can link minors’ exposure to
pornographic images on the Internet, the development and persistence of sexist
behaviours, sexual exploitation and the increase in male violence against women
(McKinnon, 2005; Wright et al., 2015; Martellazo et al., 2016). The ease and frequency with
which youth can be reached online makes them vulnerable to cyber predators’ schemes.
According to a CEFRIO study, young people aged 12 to 25 spend more than one hour online
every weekday and the amount of time spent online increases by 75% on weekends
(CEFRIO, 2018). Boys’ exposure to pornography is linked to developing a tolerance for sexual
harassment and violence against women (Owens et al., 2012). Girls’ exposure to sexually
explicit content is linked to feelings of shame, anxiety about their appearance and bodies, eating
disorders, low self-esteem and depression (Owens et al, 2012). Since the beginning of the
COVID-19 pandemic, UNICEF has reported a staggering increase in cases of sexual cyber
exploitation and other forms of online sexual exploitation (UNICEF, April 15, 2020).
3Legislation to limit online access to sexually explicit content
If Canadian society as a whole wants to gradually reduce the commercial expansion of sexual
exploitation, it is imperative to hold people and organizations, such as Internet providers
and social media platforms, responsible. The issue of legislating to combat youth exposure
to sexually explicit content is currently being debated in places such as the United States,
the European Union, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. Bill S-203 is part of this
international trend.
Support and recommendations
The CLES supports Bill S-203 and the development of regulations to implement it effectively.
While approaches vary country by country, the legislative proposals have a common goal of
implementing age verification measures to limit access to sexually explicit online content.
We believe this goal should be achieved holistically at the technological and social levels
through the best available measures and practices. In concrete terms, the government
should develop standards to determine whether online age verifications are accurate. More
specifically, the government should be allowed to audit the information that Internet
service providers and social media platforms provide about the use of their services by
minors. Finally, on a broader scale, the circumstances in which minors are exposed to
sexually explicit content should be further investigated through research that partners
universities with community organizations working to prevent sexual exploitation.
4References
CEFRIO (2018). À quoi ressemble une journée type sur Internet pour les jeunes de 12 à 25
ans? https://cefrio.qc.ca/fr/nouvelles/a-quoi-ressemble-une-journee-type-sur-internet-
pour-les-12- a-25-ans/ [French only].
CLES (2014). Connaître les besoins des femmes dans l’industrie du sexe pour mieux
baliser les services. http://www.lacles.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/FINAL-DE-FINAL-1.pdf
[French only].
Fondation Scelles (2019). Système prostitutionnel: nouveaux défis, nouvelles réponses.
https://www.rapportmondialprostitution.org/telecharger [French only].
Gagnon, Sylvie (2017). La femme marchandise. Revue Relations, 789.
http://www.cathii.org/sites/www.cathii.org/files/la_femme_marchandise_sg_cathii_2017.
pdf Relations no. 789.
Lanctôt, Nadine, et al. (2018), La face cachée de la prostitution: une étude des
conséquences de laprostitution sur le développement et le bien-être des filles et des
femmes. Quebec Secretariat of the Status of Women, FRSQ.
http://www.frqsc.gouv.qc.ca/documents/11326/448958/PF_2016_rapport_N.Lanctot.pdf
/7432 2c84-71d9-44a1-a217-9194e825fd08 [French only].
Lamb et al. (2019). The Sexualization of Girls: An Update. Culture Reframed.
https://www.culturereframed.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/CultureReframed-
SexualizationOfGirlsReport-2019.pdf.
MacKinnon (2005). Pornography as trafficking. Michigan Journal of International Law,
26(4).
https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://scholar.google.com/
&htt psredir=1&article=1241&context=mjil.
Martellozo et al. (2016). A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impact of
online pornography on the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children and young
people. https://www.mdx.ac.uk/ data/assets/pdf_file/0021/223266/MDX-NSPCC-OCC-
5pornography-report.pdf.
Owens et al (2012). The Impact of Internet Pornography on Adolescents: A Review of the
Research, Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity, 19:1–2, 99–122.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10720162.2012.660431.
Paquette, Bergeron and Fortin (2020). Matériel d'exploitation sexuelle d'enfants sur
Internet: Étendue du phénomène, auteurs d'infractions et enjeux légaux. In Cybercrimes et
enjeux technologiques. Presses internationales Polytechnique [French only].
Quebec Council on the Status of Women (2012). Avis: La prostitution, il est temps d’agir.
https://csf.gouv.qc.ca/wp-content/uploads/avis-la-prostitution-il-est-temps-dagir.pdf
[French only].
Potterat et al (2003). Mortality in a Long-term Open Cohort of Prostitute Women. American
Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 159, Issue 8, April 15, 2004, pp. 778–785,
https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwh110.
SPVM Recherche et planification, (2014). Exploitation sexuelle et sujets connexes.
https://spvm.qc.ca/upload/Informations/PDF/ROSA-
_CHADILLON_Exploitation_sexuelle_et_sujets_connexes.pdf [French only].
Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (2006). Report of the Subcommittee on
Solicitation Laws.
https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/391/JUST/Reports/RP2599932/justrp0
6/sslrrp06-e.pdf.
UNICEF, (April 15, 2020). Children at increased risk of harm online during global COVID-19
pandemic. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/children-increased-risk-harm-online-
during-global-covid-19-pandemic.
Wright et al. (2015). A Meta-Analysis of Pornography Consumption and Actual Acts of
Sexual Aggression in General Population Studies, Journal of Communication, 66(1).
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jcom.12201.
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