- 23 sex worker rights groups of the Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform respond to the R v Kloubakov decision released by the Supreme Court of Canada on July 24, 2025We are deeply disappointed, but not surprised, with the recent decision of the Supreme Court in R v Kloubakov rejecting the Kloubakov appeal after considering the constitutionality of two sex work offences – material benefit (s. 286.2(1)) and procuring (s.286.3(1)). Both the courts and Parliament have been divorced from the nuanced realities of sex workers’ …
- Press Release: Sex Workers Denied Day in Court: The Injustice of Litigating Sex Work Law Without Sex WorkersMay 28, 2024 – For immediate release – The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected sex workers’ request to intervene and participate in Kloubakov v Canada, a case concerning the constitutionality of sex work laws based on sex workers’ Charter rights. The Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform (CASWLR) is a coalition of 23 …
- Media Release: Sex workers are deeply disappointed with the Ontario Superior Court decision dismissing systemic harms experiencedMonday, September 18, 2023 — Today, the Ontario Superior Court released its decision in CASWLR v Attorney General (Canada), a case that sought to strike down harmful provisions of the Protection of Communities and Exploited People Act (PCEPA) on the grounds that they violate sex workers’ Charter rights. Sex workers across Canada are devastated to …
- Petition: Stop Bill S-224 : Stop harmful amendments to the human trafficking offenceWe are individuals, academics, and organizations coming together to express our opposition to Bill S-224. Its proposed amendments to the human trafficking offence will intensify the criminalization of sex workers, racialized people, and migrants under the guise of fighting human trafficking. It also has damaging, wide-reaching implications that extend to workers beyond the sex industry. You can still sign on here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfpZen_ggdhzmpe5yiUL37n1Llba3Sm8AOZjzuc5UM5kEIo7A/viewform In the last few decades, …
- Media Statement: Amendments to the Expungement Act: Liberals Once Again Pay Lip Service to EqualityMedia Statement: Amendments to the Expungement Act: Liberals Once Again Pay Lip Service to Equality March 8, 2023 – On the day before International Women’s Day, this government yet again failed to recognize this country’s most marginalized women working in the sex industry. Yesterday, Public Safety Canada announced that it was making amendments to the Expungement …
- Response to Minister Lametti’s response to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights report entitled, Preventing Harm in the Canadian Sex Industry: A Review of the Protection of Communities and Exploited ActNovember 24, 2022 RE: Response to government response to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights report entitled, Preventing Harm in the Canadian Sex Industry: A Review of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Act Dear Minister Lametti: We read, with surprise and deep disappointment, your response to the Standing Committee on Justice and …
- Media Release: GOVERNMENT FAILURE TO RESPECT SEX WORKERS’ HUMAN RIGHTS FORCES SEX WORKERS BACK TO COURTSex Worker Legal Media Briefing: Monday, October 3, 2022, 1pm, 330 University Avenue (Ontario Superior Court) For interviews or a recording of the press conference, please contact Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform, contact@sexworklawreform.com, 514.916.2598 September 29, 2022 – The Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform — an alliance of 25 sex worker …
- Media Release: Failure to Act: National Sex Workers’ Rights Groups Respond to Parliamentary Report on Sex Work LawsJune 27, 2022 – Last week, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights tabled its report Preventing Harm in the Sex Industry: A Review of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA). The Committee was mandated by Parliament to conduct a review of PCEPA five years after its implementation …
- PARLIAMENT SET TO HEAR THE HUMAN RIGHS VIOLATIONS CAUSED BY CANADA’S SEX WORK LAWSPARLIAMENT SET TO HEAR THE HUMAN RIGHS VIOLATIONS CAUSED BY CANADA’S SEX WORK LAWS Parliamentary review getting underway was meant to be completed by 2019 PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 7, 2022 – Ottawa, ON – The Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform — an alliance of 25 sex worker rights groups …
- NEWS!!! SEX WORKER HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS LAUNCH CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGEMarch 30, 2021 – The Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform — an alliance of 25 sex worker rights groups across the country led predominantly by and for sex workers — along with several individual applicants, have filed a Notice of Application seeking to strike down the sex work prohibitions against impeding traffic (s. …
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- Sex Workers in Canada Need the Support of our Allies and other Sex Workers!!Sex Workers in Canada Need Your Support! Our online work and livelihoods are at risk! The Canadian Parliamentary Committee, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, is currently holding a series of hearings on the “Protection and Privacy of Reputation on Platforms such as Pornhub”. https://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/ETHI?parl=43&session=2) This process threatens to introduce more …
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- Media Release from Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights: 150 Canadian Social Justice Organizations Demand Sex Work Decriminalization this Election150 Canadian Social Justice Organizations Demand Sex Work Decriminalization this Election Monday, September 30, 2019 – Over 150 organizations across Canada are asking the next government of Canada to support sex workers’ rights, including the full decriminalization of sex work as a first step. In 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that criminalizing sex …
- Stay informed this Federal Election with our Sex Work on the Hill Advocacy GuideTHE FEDERAL ELECTIONS PERIOD IS OFFICIAL and the elections are coming up on October 21, 2019. The elections can be very disempowering for sex workers, as we come into contact with the systems of power that repress us in so many ways. Some of us vote, some of us can’t vote, and some of won’t …
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- Media Release: Sex worker rights groups mark Canada’s Human Trafficking Awareness Day with scathing response to Justice Committee Report: Warns of harms to sex workersMedia Release Sex worker rights groups mark Canada’s Human Trafficking Awareness Day with scathing response to Justice Committee Report: Warns of harms to sex workers February 22, 2019 – To mark February 22nd, Canada’s Human Trafficking Awareness Day, sex worker rights groups across the country are highlighting the harms of anti-human trafficking efforts in response …
- CEDAW, February 2019“On the occasion of its 72nd session, to be held in Geneva from 18 February to 8 March 2019, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will hold a half-day of general discussion on trafficking in women and girls in the context of global migration in the framework of the provisions of the …
- Media Release: Current Anti-Human Trafficking Initiatives Harm Sex WorkersMedia Release Current Anti-Human Trafficking Initiatives Harm Sex Workers January 11, 2019 – To mark January 11th, National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, sex worker rights groups across the country are highlighting the harms of anti-trafficking efforts. Sex workers, clients and third parties are the best positioned to identify and stop human trafficking in the sex …
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- Brief to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights on Human Trafficking, Submitted June 15, 2018 by the Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform*In September – November 2018, the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights held a national consultation on human trafficking. The 28 sex worker rights and allied groups in our Alliance made the following submission and recommendations (scroll to the end to see recommendations). All briefs submitted to the consultation can be found here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/JUST/StudyActivity?studyActivityId=9749514 …
- Press Release: Operation Northern Spotlight, October 2018Press Release: Operation Northern Spotlight, October 2018 Download PDF
- Public Statement to the Liberal Party on the adopted resolution on the Decriminalization of Sex WorkApril 23, 2018– Member groups of the Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform are pleased to see the adoption of the resolution on decriminalizing sex work at the Liberal National Convention in Halifax this past weekend. Reforming Canada’s sex work laws requires immediate action to counter the human rights violations and violence that have …
- Universal Periodic Review, 30th Session, April/May 2018Universal Periodic Review, 30th Session, April/May 2018 Download PDF
- Sécurité, dignité, égalité: Recommandations pour la réforme des lois sur le travail du sexeUne sommaire de nos recommendations pour la réforme des lois est disponible pour télécharger en français aussi! C’est avec beaucoup de fierté et un sentiment d’accomplissement que nous présentons nos principales recommandations pour une réforme des lois fédérales et provinciales/territoriales sur le travail du sexe. Ces recommandations sont le résultat d’une consultation nationale auprès des …
- Sécurité, dignité, égalité: Recommandations pour la réforme des lois sur le travail du sexeUne sommaire de nos recommendations pour la réforme des lois est disponible pour télécharger en français aussi! C’est avec beaucoup de fierté et un sentiment d’accomplissement que nous présentons nos principales recommandations pour une réforme des lois fédérales et provinciales/territoriales sur le travail du sexe. Ces recommandations sont le résultat d’une consultation nationale auprès des …
- Launch of our new site and recommendations for law reformIt is with great pride and a sense of achievement that we present our key recommendations for federal and provincial/territorial sex work law reform. These recommendations are a result of our national consultation with sex workers in each of our member groups in 15 cities across Canada, including the input of expert lawyers and government …
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Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform
Fighting to uphold sex workers' human rights