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Friday

Aug062010

"If you want to be an ethical consumer of porn...pay for it"

Friday, August 6, 2010 at 1:27PM

Wow. That line is the conclusion of an article in the Life section of today’s Globe and Mail, titled, How to Revel in Porn and Feel Good About It. I started reading, hoping – and I’ll admit, expecting – to find that the title was intended to be ironic. Instead, the piece is a matter-of-fact, (if not terribly thorough) quick exploration of a few ‘ethical issues’ the author has been struck by as he’s “surfed through videos on websites that aggregate porn.” Namely, “is there any way to become an ethical consumer of smut.”

Admittedly, some credit is due the author for beginning to ask important questions about the porn industry. What happens off camera? How are the actors and actresses treated? Are men and women coerced into sex acts, either through circumstances of economic disparity or even rape? What about condom use? Are they fairly compensated for their ‘labour’?

These are good questions, even important questions. But I’m certain that if he had really done his homework in seeking answers to them, he might have come up with a different conclusion than “if you want to be an ethical consumer of porn, pay for it”. He would have landed on a question that didn’t ask how to be an ethical consumer of porn, but rather whether that was even possible.

In her new book “Pornland: How Porn has Hijacked our Sexuality”, anti-pornography activist Gail Dines argues that society’s dominant discourse around sex and sexuality has been hijacked by the pornography industry.

“As a major industry, the porn business does not just construct and sell a product; it constructs a world in which the product can be sold: the technologies, the business models, the enthusiastic consumers, the compliant performers, the tolerant laws, even the ideologies that proclaim porn to be the very pinnacle of empowerment and liberation”

She calls porn sex ‘debased, dehumanized, formulaic and generic,’ sex that ‘encodes deep cultural scripts of male entitlement and female subservience.’ What she describes is a sex that is so deeply contrary to the dignity of each and every human, male and female, created in the image of God.

I’ll confess, when it comes to pornography – and to be very clear, I mean where the subject matter involves adults and doesn’t involve violence or overtly degrading acts – I used to wonder if I should exercise a live and let live attitude.

But as I have become more and more familiar with the issues of prostitution and human trafficking, I’ve become increasingly convinced there isn’t anything live and let live about pornography. To ignore the intricate connections between all these facets of the so-called ‘sex trade’ is both ignorant and irresponsible.

There is much more than a simple question of morality involved. It is a question of justice. And while I may waffle on what my role is and ought to be in speaking to questions of morality, I know for certain I am called to “do justice.”

It seems our society has been groomed (a term used to describe how child predators prepare their victims) to believe that as long as there is consent, and willing participation, it’s an informed choice, it’s okay, it’s ethical, and it shouldn’t be anyone else’s business.

But as it is with the issue of prostitution, in stark contrast to the few voices that argue freedom of choice and women’s liberation, there are more and more women who have ‘survived’ these industries who are speaking out about how unsafe, non-consensual, undignified and unliberated these so-called professions are in reality.

In an address at the June 2010 Stop Porn Culture Conference, Gail Dines said that for all the successful, apparently glamorous porn stars we see on the television programs like Oprah or Howard Stern, there are “thousands of women that go to the San Fernando Valley with stars in their eyes and come away with scars on their bodies. Some go back to their low paid jobs while others end up on the streets under the control of pimps, in the brothels of Nevada, or doing the type of porn that is considered to be beyond the mainstream, even by the porn industry…These are the women the pro-porn people never want to talk about because they bring into stark focus just how the industry really treats women. Their lives illustrate the contempt and utter disregard that the industry has for women and the reality of their lives is hidden behind the mantra of ‘well, they consented.’ What does consent mean in a world where women are the poorest, hungriest and most overworked group? What does consent mean in a world where according to economist Amartya Sen, 100 million women are missing? And we don’t even notice their absence.”

These words firmly put to rest any notions of a ‘live and let live’ mindset when it comes to pornography. The porn industry uses, abuses and exploits vulnerable people. And, it has so infiltrated our society that the common understanding is that it’s all okay, that boys will be boys, and that boys want porn… increasingly graphic and hardcore porn.

What struck me most as I read the article was that porn was presented as just so… normal. This unquestionably unhealthy and unnatural representation of sexuality was, for an author writing in a major national newspaper, simply... normal. And his suggestion to any ethical dilemma that porn might present? We should try at least to make sure our sources of porn are reputable, compensate the actors fairly, and oh, make sure you pay for it.

As a mother of a six year old boy, I firmly believe that it is in fact true that ‘boys will be boys’. Little boys say and do things that sometimes make VERY little sense to me. And I love it. I wouldn’t dream for a second of trying to stifle any of his little boy-ness.

But I refuse to accept that being a boy means being complicit in either an industry or in societal attitudes that exploit and demean and dehumanize sex and those who engage in it. That say anyone is entitled to treat anyone else’s sexuality and personhood as something that can be bought or sold. I refuse to believe men are born with a propensity to be violent and misogynistic. And I will do my best to raise my little boy to become a man who respects and values women – and sex – and will never think that it’s okay to treat either as a commodity, whether on the internet, at the video store, on a street corner or in a strip club.

Julia Beazley |

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Tuesday

Jul272010

Is the census really an evangelical issue?

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 8:59AM

The census causes marginalized groups to be visible to governments who might otherwise ignore them because they aren’t powerful.

by Guest Blogger, Rick Hiemstra

Is the census really an evangelical issue? It depends on how the census question is framed. Right now the government is framing it as an issue of privacy. If you ask me “Are you for privacy?” I’ll say, “Yes, how can you be against privacy? It’s like being against motherhood.”

There is a lot of heated talk about the census asking how many bathrooms you have in your house. It doesn’t; it never did. Here are links to the census long forms for 2001 and 2006. These questions are very important so we should be on the same page about what is and isn’t being asked. This is a big form. Some of the questions could easily be construed as intrusive. So why might anyone advocate for the government to continue to collect this kind information, if not exactly the same information?

Before dealing with that let’s address the privacy issue head on. We have two federal privacy laws in Canada, the Privacy Act that governs how federal government departments and agencies use data, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) that governs how the private sector uses data. Statistics Canada and all other users of census data are bound by this legislation. Statistics Canada also posts extensive information about how it makes privacy decisions. There are strong privacy protections around Canadian census data.

Let’s reframe the question as “Who benefits from census data?” We all do, especially minority groups like Evangelicals.

Numbers talk, especially when a non-partisan, respected, independent agency like Statistics Canada is doing the talking. People trust Statscan to produce numbers; people trust the accuracy of their numbers. So in a society that is increasingly polarized we can still talk with each other using Statscan’s numbers.

The EFC intervenes in court cases about religious freedom. One of the things that is expected in our briefs is a statement about how large our constituency is. Size matters, and whether we’re quoting the census or independent research, each time we go to court our numbers need to be verifiable with the census numbers – the gold standard, as it were – so the court is satisfied that we aren’t claiming an influence for ourselves as Evangelicals that we don’t have. The courts don’t allow just anybody to intervene. Census numbers help the EFC be present to present biblical principles on issues that Evangelicals care about. Without that kind of data the EFC’s job of representing Evangelical’s concerns in the courts and on parliament hill will become more difficult.

There are other ways Evangelicals benefit. Denominations assess the trajectories of their growth. We can analyze trends in marriage and divorce in Canada – yes even among Evangelicals – and, we don’t get our perspective fogged by data floating up from the United States.

Using census data, we do a better job serving our communities because we can identify community service needs on a census tract by census tract basis. Census data has become crucial to both planning and planting churches as one way we learn about the people we’d like to share the gospel with, in deeds and words. Here is a link to census tract data your church can use now.

There are other ways we benefit. Questions about commuting are used to plan municipal and provincial infrastructure improvements (so maybe your commute gets shorter). Demographic information is used to decide where and when to build schools and hospitals. Immigration data is used to make sure that ESL and integration services are available to the people who need them. Federal and provincial governments use the data as a basis on which to calculate transfers and program funding.

The list goes on and on. The data itself is neutral. Without it, these decisions will tend to be politicized. When government spending decisions are made – at the municipal, provincial or federal level – they will almost certainly be more expensive without the reliability of census data because they will be less effectively targeted.

Why is this an evangelical issue? We all care about good government. The census is a tool that facilitates good government. It facilitates discussion between different groups. It helps open doors for Evangelicals to participate in the public square. But these aren’t the most important reasons the census is an evangelical issue.

The evangelical movement is an association of different minority groups. Some of our families came here as immigrants and our ethnic groups started churches. Today, new immigrant and ethnic evangelical churches are some of the fastest growing parts of our movement. Then, and now, we represent some of those who have been heavily marginalized in our society.

Think of marginalization this way. As a boy, I spent summers on a relative’s turkey farm. They had 10,000 range birds that were fed from rows of feeders and waters in the centre of the field. The weaker birds were pecked and forced to exist along the fences of the field. There they lost weight, weakened and were vulnerable to skunks and foxes – not to mention the other turkeys – that might kill them. Coming into the field you might not see them because their feathers were grey, dirty and ragged instead of the bright white of the breed. A daily chore was to pick up the dead birds on the margins for burial.

Marginalization is what happens to the weak. It’s not that it’s intentional, planned, or malicious. The strong take care of themselves, protect their place at the feeders and waters, and the weak grow weaker.

As Evangelicals we’ve been there. Some, in many ways, still are. Our experiences of marginalization, and Christ’s call to love our neighbours, compels us to be concerned for those now at the margins. The census causes marginalized groups to be visible to governments who might otherwise ignore them because they aren’t powerful. It also allows us and others to advocate on their behalf. Perhaps, you think those groups should take the initiative to stand up for themselves. Remember, sometimes we all find ourselves in situations where we need others to help us bear our burdens. If you haven’t been there yet, just wait.

Could this information be put to evil use by governments and others? Yes, but Canada isn’t the Sudan or Iran. If we stay engaged through the efforts of groups like the EFC then census data are less likely to be used for improper purposes. A strong presence in the public square, demonstrating that we care about our neighbours and our nation, is the best way to preserve our freedoms.

The census is an evangelical issue because it touches a whole range of issues that we care about. This is why the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada is calling on the federal government to retain the long form of the 2011 census.

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Monday

Jul122010

It's good, it's just, it works...And we should follow suit

Monday, July 12, 2010 at 3:13PM

As part of my ongoing research, I subscribe to a number of ‘google alerts’. A handy tool for getting a quick look each day at what’s out there in cyberspace on issues of interest to you. At a glance, I can scour headlines from around the world on issues of poverty, homelessness, human trafficking. And prostitution.

And so each day, I scan headline after headline, the likes of “Police go undercover to arrest prostitutes”, or “Six women arrested in prostitution sting.” And more often than not, what I read makes my heart sink at just how backwards it all is. How can it be that in so many places around the world – including right here at home in Canada - it is still thought that the “solution” to the problem of prostitution is simply to clear the streets of the 'unwanted' prostitutes? Can’t we do better than that?

But the other day, I found a headline that brought some measure of hope. A measure of affirmation for a different way, an approach that is as just as it is logical.

In January, 1999, Sweden enacted a new law governing prostitution – at the time, the first of its kind - which criminalized the purchase of sexual services.

For a nation that believed prostitution to be harmful both to individuals and to society, the law was the latest leg in a journey that began in 1970 of seeking to address the country’s flourishing sex trade. Sweden takes pride in its strong belief in gender equity, and correspondingly takes the view that prostitution can only ever be considered a form of (often violent) exploitation against women. The original legislative proposal suggested it was shameful and unacceptable that, in a gender equal society, men obtain sexual relations with women in return for payment.

Prostitution was therefore not considered something to be managed or controlled, but rather eradicated, because it was fundamentally exploitive, demeaning and contrary to objectives of gender equality and freedom on the individual.

They also recognized that in order to eradicate prostitution, it was essential to hit the demand side - those who purchase sexual services. A simple equation of supply and demand: if there’s no demand, there will be no prostitution. The focus was necessarily punitive – but not towards the prostituted women, rather towards the pimps and johns.

Since the law was enacted, the approach has been subject to a great deal of criticism from ‘pro-prostitution’ advocates, and from those who argued it would never work, and would just drive the industry underground.

Well, more than ten years later, the results of an independent inquiry on the evaluation of the ban of the purchase of sexual services put many of those criticisms to rest. The independent inquiry was established to study how well the prohibition has worked and the effects it has had on rates of prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes in Sweden.

The evaluation shows that the ban has been a “success.” Shortly after its introduction, street prostitution in Sweden was reduced by half, and has not shown any bounce-back. Before the ban, rates of street prostitution in the capital cities of Norway, Denmark and Sweden had been comparable. But while rates in Sweden decreased by half, the other countries have shown dramatic increases over the ten year period. The assertion that the decrease is a direct result of the ban is further supported by the dramatic reduction in street prostitution seen in Norway since a similar legislative scheme was introduced in 2009.

Also significant is the noted impact on the establishment and operation of organized crime and human trafficking for sexual purposes in Sweden since the ban was implemented. Again, the same result has been observed in Norway since it adopted its own prohibitive legislation.

There has been an increase in selling of sexual services over internet – but proportionally, this increase has been much less than in neighbouring countries, and is likely more of a reflection of the increase in these activities over the internet everywhere than of the law’s effectiveness.

Importantly, there has also been a change in public attitude, with strong public support for the ban. Children in Sweden are growing up with the understanding that it is not okay to purchase sexual services from another person. That men and women are considered equals and each individual is worthy of respect and personal freedom, and that the very idea of one paying to be serviced by another sexually flies in the face of those fundamentals. And this maybe the greatest victory of the ban, one whose effects have not yet even been realized.

And amidst all of these positive results, there was no evidence found of negative impact on prostituted women. Prostitution and human trafficking rates have been dramatically reduced without criminalizing or further victimizing prostituted women, which leads me to believe that the model is both effective and just.

Sweden is to be commended for its longstanding commitment and determination to 'get it right.' The results of the inquiry show they are on the right track. And the inquiry itself demonstrates that they will continue to expand and improve upon the ban and its’ related support structures and services for women until they've got it as 'right' as possible.

And so today, we say (as we have already in our report, Selling Ourselves), with even greater conviction, that we believe the Canadian government should take a close look at the approach, perspective and commitment of Sweden and lead the way here in North America.

Julia Beazley |

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Friday

Jul022010

Out for the Count: Statistics Canada Drops the Religion Question from Census

Friday, July 2, 2010 at 1:49PM

Guest Blogger, Rick Heimstra, Director, Centre for Research on Canadian Evangelicalism

For over a century, Statistics Canada (StatsCan) and its predecessor have collected religious affiliation information once every decade through the Canadian census, but not anymore. Starting in 2011, religious affiliation and other demographic information will be collected by a new National Household Survey (NHS). The NHS will replace the long form of the Canadian census that to date was sent to 20% of Canadian households. The new NHS will be sent to a little over a third of Canadian households, but unlike the census, the NHS will be completely voluntary. StatsCan says they’re “ counting on Canadians who receive this survey to recognize the importance of this information and to respond to the survey.”

A voluntary multi-page form to be completed for the government of Canada ... would you complete it? I think StatsCan’s confidence may be misplaced.

Canadians may ignore the survey for a variety of reasons. Three reasons religious data may be seriously undercounted are:

Time. People are busy, and, increasingly, pollsters of all descriptions are seeing falling response rates.
Experience of persecution. Some religious groups, such as Mennonites, have experienced government persecution (yes, even in Canada, and most recently last year when a community religious school was ordered closed in Québec) and are not anxious to report their religious affiliation.
Theological reasons. Some groups have theological reasons for opting out of census gathering.

Can a national survey that substantially misses or undercounts religious groups really provide an accurate national religious portrait? Of course, good statisticians always estimate and compensate for error in their data, but there is good evidence that when it comes to religion generally, and Evangelicals in particular, StatsCan has not done their homework. There have been ongoing problems with how the Canadian census has counted and reported on Canadian evangelicals, and due to changes in the 2001 religion question there were serious historical comparability issues with the 2001 census data. With the voluntary NHS, we will have larger and uneven religious undercounting errors introduced, further impairing the historical comparability of the data.

Rather than moving the religious affiliation question out of the census it should have been kept where it was and strengthened with a companion religious participation question. Unlike in the past, religious affiliation is no longer a reliable correlate of religious participation. Just because I say “church x is my church,” doesn’t mean I go there. If there is one thing sociologists have told us time and again it is that religious participation, far more than religious affiliation, shapes who people are and how they behave. Canadian census takers have not kept pace with this societal change by strengthening their religious affiliation question with one on religious participation.

Historically census numbers have been viewed as an objective count of a religious group’s numerical strength. Census numbers are one potential measure of influence, and sometimes create influence. If a religious group doesn’t show up in StatsCan’s numbers, will they have influence in the public square? Or, will their influence potentially go unnoticed? Will they be afforded the same religious liberties as other groups? Distortions in StatsCan’s data will inevitably produce distortions in the Canadian socio-political landscape while potentially compromising the formation of good public policy. This is a sad day for Canada, and it is one that could dramatically affect religious liberties.

StatsCan made the results of the last two censuses available online. This has been enormously helpful to public policy makers and to ministry leaders who want to more intelligently serve their communities. Currently General Social Survey (GSS) data isn’t made so freely available. Will the new NHS - which appears to be a very large GSS - be as openly and widely distributed as the census was? Who loses and what community ministries and charitable works get hurt when this information gets withheld?

Moving the religious affiliation question off the census and into a voluntary survey is a disappointing proposal. It is one that will hamper Canadians’ ability to understand the impact of religion on our private lives and our public square. StatsCan, in one decision that ignores both history and the future, may have removed government data from its place on the social landscape of our country.

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No Small Accomplishment: Human Trafficking Bill Becomes Law

Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 3:31PM

On Tuesday, June 29, Bill C-268 was signed by Justice Rothstein and read by the Speaker of the Canadian Senate, receiving Royal Assent by written declaration, and thereby becoming law in Canada. This is good news!

C-268 is a private member’s bill that was introduced by MP Joy Smith (Kildonan—St. Paul), amending the Criminal Code to enact minimum sentences for persons involved in trafficking children under 18 years of age.

Successful passage of any private member’s bill is no small accomplishment, but for MP Smith it is the rarer occasion of an amendment to the Criminal Code that was not a government initiative. Bill C-268 is the only private member’s bill passed in the current session of Parliament. Last to pass was MP John McKay’s (Scarborough – Guildwood) Bill C-293, the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act, in May 2008. In the last ten years, just 34 private member’s bills have been passed by Parliament.

But C-268 is significant not simply because it toughens existing Criminal Code provisions relating to child trafficking, or because it is one of those rare private member’s bills that makes it to the finish line. This bill has already proven terribly important because it – or more accurately MP Smith’s seemingly tireless efforts in promoting it – has brought much-needed attention and profile to the issue of human trafficking across and within Canada’s borders.

Estimates from the RCMP suggest that approximately 600 women and children are trafficked into Canada for exploitation in the sex trade alone, and at least 800 are trafficked within our borders for exploitation in the drug trade, domestic work and forced labour. Perhaps even more shocking, the RCMP estimate that between 1,500 and 2,000 people are trafficked from Canada into the US each year, making Canada a net exporter of trafficked human beings.

These numbers may be just the tip of the iceberg. The trafficking of persons has become nearly as lucrative internationally as drug and weapons trafficking. Trafficking is, for the most part, well hidden and poorly understood. We hear mostly of women and children trafficked in and through Canada for exploitation in the sex trade, but many more are lured with the promise of work or education only to find themselves trapped in highly exploitive forms of labour – in previous times referred to as “slave” labour or “sweat shops.”

Trafficking does not require an international border to be crossed, or even necessarily movement across any border. It can take place within communities, within and across provinces as well as across international borders. Simply, the trafficking in humans is about the exploitation of one person for the financial gain of another.

Trafficking in persons first became a recognized offence in Canada during the fall of 2005, when then Justice Minister Irwin Cotler (Mount Royal) introduced amendments to the Criminal Code. The following year, Citizenship and Immigration Canada introduced measures to protect foreign victims of human trafficking by providing them with temporary residence permits and access to health care. And now, MP Smith’s bill introduces mandatory minimum sentencing for those who traffic children under the age of 18, unfortunately an age group for which traffickers have already been arrested in several Canadian cities.

But this is and can only be the beginning. There is much yet to be done. C-268 has opened the door for the government to begin to look seriously at the issue of human trafficking and the role that Canada must play in responding to this ‘modern day slavery’ that is taking place within and across our borders.

There are other private member’s bills to consider, such as the Hon. Marlene Jennings (Notre-Dame-de-Grace—Lachine) Bill C-269, which seeks to unhinge the issuing of a temporary resident permit to victims of human trafficking from their participation in an investigation or legal proceedings.

A coordinated, multi-level strategy is required to identify and prosecute perpetrators, identify, rescue and support victims, and to curb the demand for human servitude, sexual or otherwise. Curbing this demand will require a serious look at additional measures to combat human trafficking (see Human Trafficking: A Report on Modern Day Slavery in Canada) and Canada’s existing laws on prostitution, because the close linkages between human sex trafficking and prostitution are undeniable. This is a topic for another blog to come, but you can read more in Selling Ourselves: Prostitution in Canada – Where Are We Headed?.

Bill C-268 has provided a gathering place and focal point for a broad range of groups and agencies that are actively working to fight human trafficking or seeking to find ways of doing so. It has put this important issue on the parliamentary agenda, and provided Canadians a push to let Parliamentarians know we are concerned and want our government to take action and show leadership on this issue. This is perhaps the greatest victory of Bill C-268. Thanks Joy, for your persistence.

Julia Beazley |

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