Federal Sex Trafficking Advocacy

Our Founder and Executive Director, Casandra Diamond, is regularly engaged in anti-trafficking advocacy at the federal level, resulting in changes across Canada. Our team works with Members of Parliament to help create laws that will protect victims and survivors of human trafficking. Some of the successful federal advocacy initiatives in which we have participated include:

• Supporting Bill C-36, which has since been passed as a federal law as the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA). This revolutionary legislation, based on what is known as the Nordic model, protects those being exploited by removing the criminal burden from victims who are being sexually exploited and, instead, holds the users and perpetrators of these crimes criminally responsible. Criminalizing the purchase of sex will help to reduce the demand for a sex industry in Canada, meaning that fewer individuals will be trapped in it. 
• Contributing to, reviewing, and helping to enact the first, formal National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking (National Strategy), 2019-2024. We serve as a partner and hold federal leaders accountable for taking the necessary action steps to deliver on this National Strategy. The National Strategy helps protect individuals from all forms of human trafficking and introduces a more balanced, holistic, and victim-centered approach.
• Advocating for changes to Canada’s Criminal Code to criminalize human trafficking and sexual exploitation which helps hold more perpetrators accountable for the crime of human trafficking and helps result in longer sentences for perpetrators.
• Calling on Canadian leaders to invoke a national Human Trafficking Awareness Day, which resulted in the House of Commons’ February 2021 announcement declaring February 22 as Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Canada. This annual day helps bring awareness to the magnitude of human trafficking in Canada and encourages Canadians to take steps in combatting human trafficking.