Honourable senators, today, October 5, is the International Day of No Prostitution, which is observed by people around the world who believe that, in most cases, sex workers are victims of sexual exploitation.

On September 18, the Ontario Superior Court tacitly supported this view by upholding the constitutionality of the federal law on prostitution, which criminalizes clients but not sex workers. In its ruling, the court stated that the federal law is, and I quote:

 . . . a carefully crafted legislative scheme that prohibits the most exploitive aspects of the sex trade while immunizing sex workers from prosecution.

The judge went on to say, and I quote:

Even where a sex worker has entered the sex trade by choice, there is a significant possibility that she has become subject to the control of an exploiter or a trafficker.

I know that this ruling won’t put an end to the debate between advocates of decriminalization, who believe that prostitution is a job like any other, and those who believe that, on the contrary, we can reduce demand and thus the exploitation of women by criminalizing clients.

Moving beyond this ideological dispute, the voices of survivors are those we hear the least. I want to pay tribute to one of them here, a woman named Tricia Murray, who shared her harrowing tale with MPs today at noon on the Hill at the invitation of the Coalition for Women’s Equality, which includes the Concertation des luttes contre l’exploitation sexuelle and the London Abused Women’s Centre. Ms. Murray describes the hell she endured as follows, and I quote:

I still remember, as if it were yesterday, that long night in February 2020 when I thought I was going to die at the hands of my abuser, after multiple assaults. At the time, dying would have been a relief. Still, the fear of dying alone in a condo leaves deep marks.

I averaged 10 clients a day for several months. That works out to hundreds of abusive customers who took advantage of a young woman’s vulnerability. Men with power, fathers, married men, some on vacation and some in town for work.

They were paying me, so these abusers did whatever they wanted with me. They felt they had the right.

My mind and my body remember them all. I’m scarred for life by all the violence I experienced during these long nights that went on for many long months.

I was exploited right here, not far away, in hotels and Airbnbs in Gatineau and Ottawa, just a few blocks away from this Parliament where I’m speaking today. We all have a role to play in ensuring that no one has to relive the atrocities I experienced.

Tricia Murray got out. Generous women supported her. She turned her life around. Her pimp was convicted. She even ran in an election. I truly admire you, Ms. Murray.

Thank you.