Anti-Prostitution Bill Approved By Senate, Could Be Law By December

OTTAWA - The Conservative government's controversial anti-prostitution bill passed third reading in the Senate on Tuesday and requires only royal assent to become law.

The government had wanted to get the bill through the legislative process by the middle of this month, so it could become law by December.

Bill C-36: No safety or security for sex workers

The Protection of Communities and Exploited persons act, Bill C-36, passed in the House of Commons last week. The vote was 156-124. The bill follows a Supreme Court decision in December, which ruled that several provisions in Canada's prostitution laws were unconstitutional.

Bill C-36 is based on a belief that sex workers are universally victimized, yet many of its provisions will contribute to sex workers' rights violations.

The idea that sex work is inherently exploitative is being used to justify criminal laws that deny or ignore sex workers' right to security of person.

Homeless sex trade worker's death still not considered a homicide by Toronto police

She was found in a plastic bag two months ago. Floating in the Toronto harbour.

Kasandra Bolduc had been missing since November.

“And hung out regularly on Queen Street both in the east and the west,” said Doug Johnson, a street pastor at Sanctuary Ministries in Toronto.

“We’ve tried to track what could have happened with her death a little bit. But what is most galling and outrageous to us is that Toronto police are not treating this as a homicide at this point.”

Angel's Story: Trapped in a Violent World

Angel Gates has been trying to exit prostitution ever since she was "turned out" at the age of 11 in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Money issues, addictions and lack of support services have held her back from escaping.

She's not alone. The harsh realities of what women like Gates go through have caused national aboriginal women's groups to take a stance against calls to legalize prostitution, saying what's needed instead is a commitment to creating alternatives for women facing brutal pressures to become, and remain, sex workers.