{"id":24008,"date":"2024-05-30T11:16:45","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T15:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/?post_type=news&p=24008"},"modified":"2024-08-13T16:44:28","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T20:44:28","slug":"leaf-to-intervene-at-the-supreme-court-to-affirm-the-dignity-and-equality-rights-of-sex-workers","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-to-intervene-at-the-supreme-court-to-affirm-the-dignity-and-equality-rights-of-sex-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"LEAF to intervene at the Supreme Court to affirm the dignity and equality rights of sex workers\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Toronto, May 30, 2024 \u2013 <\/strong>This week, the Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) was granted leave to intervene at the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Kloubakov<\/em>, a case challenging the constitutionality of several laws criminalizing sex work in Canada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, Parliament passed the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act<\/em> (PCEPA). PCEPA established Canada’s current sex work laws after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the previous sex work laws in Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford<\/em> for violating sex workers\u2019 Charter<\/em> rights. The implementation of PCEPA not only criminalized clients, but also criminalized the exchange of sex work for consideration (such as money) for the first time in Canada.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The appellants in Kloubakov <\/em>are non-sex worker third parties who are challenging only the provisions related to procuring and material benefitting from sexual services, alleging violations of the s.7 (life, liberty, and security of the person) rights of sex workers.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEAF will be intervening to highlight the importance of taking an intersectional, substantive equality-based analysis when assessing the impact of these provisions on the security of sex workers. Moreover, LEAF will be emphasizing the importance of considering the impact of these provisions in the context of the entire PCEPA <\/em>scheme and its discriminatory impact on sex workers.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe know that the laws criminalizing sex work harm sex workers,\u201d says Pam Hrick, Executive Director and General Counsel of LEAF. \u201cThese laws undermine sex workers\u2019 dignity and equality rights \u2013 and overwhelmingly impact already marginalized women, trans and non-binary people, including Black, Indigenous, racialized, disabled, and migrant sex workers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While LEAF is glad to have the opportunity to appear at the Supreme Court in this important case, it is deeply disappointed that The Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform (CASWLR)<\/a> was denied leave to intervene.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy denying leave to the Alliance, the Court will miss an essential opportunity to hear from sex workers themselves, who are the most directly affected by the harms of this legislation,\u201d says Hrick. \u201cDecisions about sex workers\u2019 rights should not be made without sex workers in the room.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were similarly disappointed that Pivot Legal Society, the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers \u2014 organizations planning to highlight the distinct harms facing Indigenous, racialized, and migrant sex workers \u2014 were also denied leave to intervene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEAF is grateful to be represented pro bono<\/em> <\/em>by Andrea Gonsalves, Olivia Eng, and Alexandra Heine (Stockwoods LLP) in this intervention. LEAF also thanks the expert members of the case committee that are helping to shape this intervention: Gillian Calder, Julie Kaye, Ummni Khan, and Kate Shannon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For media inquiries, please contact:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roxana Parsa<\/strong> 
Staff Lawyer, LEAF 
r.parsa@leaf.ca<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)  <\/strong> 
 
The Women\u2019s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) is a national not-for-profit and charity that works to advance the equality rights of women, girls, trans, and non-binary people in Canada through litigation,\u202flaw reform,\u202fand public legal education.\u202fSince 1985, LEAF has intervened in more than 130 cases that have helped shape the\u202fCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms<\/em>. To find out more, visit\u202fwww.leaf.ca. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24008","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLEAF to intervene at the Supreme Court to affirm the dignity and equality rights of sex workers\u00a0\u00a0 - LEAF<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-to-intervene-at-the-supreme-court-to-affirm-the-dignity-and-equality-rights-of-sex-workers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LEAF to intervene at the Supreme Court to affirm the dignity and equality rights of sex workers\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While LEAF is glad to have the opportunity to intervene in this case challenging the constitutionality of laws criminalizing sex work, it is also deeply disappointed that The Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform (CASWLR) was denied leave to intervene.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-to-intervene-at-the-supreme-court-to-affirm-the-dignity-and-equality-rights-of-sex-workers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LEAF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-13T20:44:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iStock-962180420-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1281\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"818\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"LEAF to intervene at the Supreme Court to affirm the dignity and equality rights of sex workers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"While LEAF is glad to have the opportunity to intervene in this case challenging the constitutionality of laws criminalizing sex work, it is also deeply disappointed that The Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform (CASWLR) was denied leave to intervene.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/iStock-962180420-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-to-intervene-at-the-supreme-court-to-affirm-the-dignity-and-equality-rights-of-sex-workers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/leaf-to-intervene-at-the-supreme-court-to-affirm-the-dignity-and-equality-rights-of-sex-workers\/\",\"name\":\"LEAF to intervene at the Supreme Court to affirm the dignity and equality rights of sex workers\u00a0\u00a0 - 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