Tag Archive - gender

Criminalization of Indigenous People Part II - Decriminalizing Sex Work, Saving Lives

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Published on Tuesday, 16 October 2012 14:43

by Maurganne Mooney

Toronto's Indigenous Sovereignty and Solidarity Network organized a series of events during Indigenous Sovereignty Weeklast November, including a panel on The Criminalization of Indigenous People. We're bringing you a series of three contributions adapted from presentations by Jules Koostachin, Maurganne Mooney, and Christa Big Canoe. This is the second article in the series. The article by Jules Koostachin can be found here.

Many people don't really understand the current state of law with regards to sex work. I use the term sex work, not prostitution, because I view it as work. It's a type of labour, and people engaged in that labour deserve as safe working conditions as anybody else.

Currently in Ontario it is legal to work in prostitution or in sex work. But until recently, the practices for staying safe were criminalized. It was a violation of basic human rights here in Canada.

Criminalization of Indigenous People Part I - A Foreign System: Incarceration of Indigenous Women

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Published on Tuesday, 11 September 2012 13:31

by Jules Koostachin

Toronto's Indigenous Sovereignty and Solidarity Network organized a series of events during Indigenous Sovereignty Week last November, including a panel on The Criminalization of Indigenous People. We're bringing you a series of three contributions adapted from presentations by Jules Koostachin, Maurganne Mooney, and Christa Big Canoe. The article by Maurganne Mooney can be found here.

In my work with the Elizabeth Fry Toronto, I oversee the volunteer program court service at the College Park provincial court. This program has volunteer court workers that assist clients through the court experience. We provide information and referrals to community resources. We provide clarification of the court process, and we also give referrals to lawyers, assistance with applying for legal aid.

It's a preventative program using a restorative justice approach to ensure that clients do not get a criminal record for minor offences while making amends for their criminal behavior. This will most likely change with Bill C-10, which will effectively lead to more criminalization of women.

Girls, Sex, Markets and Feminism

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Published on Wednesday, 27 June 2012 16:37

By Susan Ferguson

This article could begin pretty much anywhere, describing any number of contemporary fads that work to reproduce and reinforce our deeply (hetero)sexist Western norms and behaviours. Girls Gone Wild videos. Toddlers in Tiaras. Playboy bunny-stamped snowboards and cellphone covers. Sex bracelets that signal which sex acts the (inevitably female) wearer is willing to perform. Kiddie-thongs. Thongs.

Economic Crisis and Austerity: The Stranglehold on Canada's Families

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Published on Wednesday, 04 April 2012 09:59

By Adrie Naylor

The claim that economic crises and austerity have an uneven impact on the working class -- with the greatest effects being felt by women and children -- is one we hear often on the Left. However, with some important exceptions, this claim is all too often just an aside or a footnote.