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)
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)