What’s Current: New poll shows majority of Ontarians see prostitution as harmful to women and girls

  • A new poll shows that 75 per cent of Ontarians consider prostitution to be harmful to women and girls. A majority also oppose the decriminalization of pimps, johns, and profiteers. The full results of the Ipsos poll, which was conducted by the London Abused Women’s Centre in partnership with Equality Now and the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, can be found here.
  • Recently, the Trump administration changed the mandate of the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime, defunding legal services that allow survivors of sex-trafficking to fight to have past criminal convictions expunged.
  • Pregnant women in ICE detention in the US are being denied medical care and shackled around the stomach while being transported between facilities.
  • Earlier this week, former RCMP officer Krista Carle — who fought to bring attention to widespread sexual harassment within the force — died by suicide.
  • Photographer Kate Ryan has created “Signed, X,” a collection of photographs and interviews with women survivors of sexual assault.
Lisa Steacy

Lisa Steacy is an Assistant Editor at Feminist Current. She has a B.A. in Women & Gender Studies from the University of Toronto. However, the women she met in her five years as a frontline worker and collective member with Vancouver Rape Relief & Women’s Shelter deserve almost all of the credit for her feminist education. She lives in Vancouver with her partner and their cats.