Julian Sher, From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Jan. 07, 2011 4:29PM EST
Published Friday, Jan. 07, 2011 4:29PM EST
As the courts get set to wrangle this spring over how to change Canada's prostitution laws, the public debate is expected to heat up, but often overlooked are the thousands of children exploited in the sex trade. Any changes to the system need to take into account these vulnerable young victims. Investigative reporter Julian Sher has done an in-depth exploration of child prostitution south of the border for his new book, Somebody's Daughter. From his book, here are five innovative approaches that Canadian legislators and law-enforcement officers could learn from
A SAFE HARBOUR
It's a glaring contradiction: Young girls are arrested on prostitution-related charges even though by law they are too young to consent to having sex in the first place.
Rachel Lloyd, who founded a New York shelter and rehabilitation program called GEMS: Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, was determined to change that. "We're talking about children who are bought and sold by adults to adults," she said. "We shouldn't be criminalizing young people for something that was done to them."
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