From a declaration at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry to His actions throughout that ministry, Jesus showed that defending vulnerable people is the heartbeat of the gospel. He came to give freedom to people who are oppressed and in captivity (Luke 4:18–19), and issued a call among predators with the word repent (Matthew 4:17).
It’s a double-edged message that needs to be heard in Canada today as our federal laws intended to protect vulnerable women and girls are being challenged. Once again, we need to respond.
Prostitution is an exploitative system that preys on vulnerable women and children for sex and financial profiteering. It is de-humanizing and degrading, reducing people created in the image of God to property, commodifying intimacy and treating people as commercial objects to be used for the broken pleasure of another.
Thankfully our current laws are based on this premise that prostitution is inherently exploitative. The vast majority of victims in sex trade-related offences are women, many young. More than four in ten victims of violent offences involving at least one sex trade-related offence are between 12 to 17 years old.
As a department of justice technical paper states, “Prostitution is an extremely dangerous activity that poses a risk of violence and psychological harm to those subjected to it, regardless of the venue or legal framework in which it takes place, both from purchasers of sexual services and from third parties.”
We do so out of our belief everyone is created in the image of God, loved by God, and that we all have inestimable worth.
But now two men are challenging the constitutionality of the law. Both worked for an escort agency and were convicted of financially benefiting from prostitution and procuring women. We contend these two provisions of the law are consistent with the overall purpose of reducing and eliminating the exploitation of vulnerable women and children.
Our current laws are a response to the striking down of the previous laws by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2014. At that time prostitution itself was not illegal, but a number of the activities associated with it were. The Court found it unconstitutional to criminalize activities associated with an act which was not itself criminal.
In the wake of this decision, the EFC advocated for an approach taken by countries in northern Europe which has proven to be successful in reducing prostitution. The federal government embraced this approach and in 2015 the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA) recognized prostitution as a system of commercial exploitation.
The Act contains a number of provisions intended to reduce and eliminate the demand in order to reduce the harm of prostitution. As the EFC states on its website, “PCEPA treats prostitution as a form of sexual exploitation that disproportionately and negatively impacts women and girls. It is designed to address the factors that make women and children vulnerable to it, and who suffer from abuse and violence inherent in the system.”
Then and now the EFC is engaged in the fight to abolish prostitution. We do so out of our belief everyone is created in the image of God, loved by God, and that we all have inestimable worth. As His servants we are to protect and care for all He loves, emulating Jesus in how honourably He treated women and children. We are to ensure protection and justice. Our man date is clear. Likewise, the government and courts have their roles
Proverbs 3:27 tells us, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.” The evangelical community has the ability to respond in the defence of vulnerable persons. The EFC has produced resources to empower churches to respond to the evil of human trafficking, and has hosted seminars and made numerous submissions to parliamentary commit tees as advocates for those being victimized and abused.
The EFC is an experienced intervener, having appeared before the Supreme Court 32 times over the past three decades. Interveners are granted status to bring arguments before the Court because the Court believes we have something useful to contribute to their deliberations.
We have the ability to act to protect vulnerable persons, and we must. It is a vital witness to the teachings of Scripture that we stand against the oppression and exploitation of women and children.
Bruce J. Clemenger is senior ambassador and president emeritus of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and author of The New Orthodoxy: Canada’s Emerging Civil Religion (Castle Quay, 2022).
Author:
Bruce J. Clemenger