Sexual exploitation

CALACS L’Ancrage believes that women’s bodies should not be for sale. It is working toward a society where sexual exploitation does not exist, where selling your body is not an option. The solution? Decriminalizing teenage girls and women who are in prostitution so that they can have tools and services, while criminalizing clients, procurers and so on. The organization believes that a world without prostitution is possible.

CALACS L’Ancrage welcomes all women who are experiencing or have experienced sexual exploitation in all its forms, by offering listening and tools to help them work on the consequences this may bring about (emotional confusion, guilt, shame, fear, anxiety, disempowerment, mistrust, conflict, low self-esteem, sexual problems, and more).

What is sexual exploitation?

Sexual exploitation is a form of sexual violence. It is “a practice by which one or more people obtain sexual gratification, financial benefit or other advancement by abusing the sexuality of a person or group of people, thus infringing on their rights to dignity, equality, autonomy and physical and mental well-being.” [i]

Sexual exploitation presents itself in a range of forms, including prostitution, escorting services, strip clubs, pornography, erotic massage and more.

A job like any other? No! [1]

The vast majority of prostituted women consume drugs or alcohol to be able to do it.
Prostituted women have a level of post-traumatic stress as high as people in the military.
The majority of women in prostitution have experienced repeated physical violence, including sexual assault, being hit, and suffering serious injuries (fractures, hemorrhage, concussion). Some have even been killed.
The average age of death for women in prostitution is 34, and their mortality rate is 40 times higher than the Canadian average.
The average age for entry into prostitution is 14–15 in Canada.
Nearly 75% of teenage girls and women in prostitution are between ages 13 and 25.
The majority of teenage girls and women in prostitution experienced childhood sexual violence (85%).
Many of them (92%) would like to leave prostitution.

[1] Translation of an excerpt from: Conseil du statut de la femme. 2012. La prostitution : il est temps d’agir, Québec : Conseil du statut de la femme.

Prostitution: a real choice?

Prostitution is not a choice, regardless of the setting (dance, massage, street, escorting...). Some women are recruited into prostitution through strategies of manipulation, blackmail, violence and more. For others, certain social constraints, such as poverty, have led them into prostitution.

Consider also that the majority enter prostitution as minors, and that Indigenous and racialized women are overrepresented in prostitution.

It’s important to question whether true consent is possible in prostitution. Is it always informed, without drugs or alcohol? Does a teenage girl or woman know what to expect in the area of prostitution in the short and long term? Can they easily exit prostitution? Are they experiencing violence, blackmail or threats? Can they easily withdraw their consent when a financial agreement has been established? These are multiple questions that can call into doubt their consent.

Prostitution: a continuum of violence against women and a patriarchal system

Prostitution is part of the continuum of violence against women, and the sex industry is fed by the patriarchal system. Many women in prostitution experienced sexual violence as children and are living out the consequences during prostitution and after exiting. This is one of the reasons that leads the CALACS to demand healthcare and socio-legal services free of discrimination and prejudice against these teen girls and women.

Money and power are mostly held by men in the sex industry. This milieu also influences unequal relationships between men and women, and feeds other forms of oppression, such as racism and colonialism.

Abolishing prostitution

CALACS L’Ancrage believes that decriminalizing prostitution is not a solution for women’s safety in the sex trade.

In countries where prostitution has been legalized, client demand has increased, along with human trafficking and the exploitation of minors. As well, many women have been killed, whether in legal brothels, in their homes or in their pimps’ homes. The ability to “work” indoors, the decriminalization of organized prostitution and the legalization of sex work have not removed the risk of women being beaten, mistreated or forced. [2]

In 2014, Canada decided to adopt the Nordic model, in which women are partially decriminalized and clients and pimps are criminalized.

For more information about Canadian law and the Nordic model, visit:

Canadian law: https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/c36faq/
Nordic model: https://nordicmodelnow.org/

[2] Johnston, L. (2011). Les contre-vérités de l’affaire Bedford c. Canada : pourquoi décriminaliser la prostitution n’est pas une solution. http://sisyphe.org/spip.php?article3953

Sexual exploitation of teenage girls [3]

It’s important to shine a light on the sexual exploitation of teenage girls, since the average age of entry into prostitution is between 14 and 15 in Canada.

Many contexts can lead to prostitution among teenage girls. Here are a few examples:

Family instability;
Isolation;
Experience of sexual violence;
Desire to please;
Desire to have a lover;
Taste for adventure.

While there may be one or more reasons for entering prostitution, the influence of the pimp must not be minimized. This person uses various strategies to lead the teenage girl into prostitution. He may give her gifts, sell dreams (idealized life as a couple: travel, apartment, etc.), convince her he’s in love with her, pressure her, manipulate her, use violence, put her through an initiation rite (like a group sexual assault, convincing her that she consented), use other girls to recruit her (these girls will approach her and tell her about their own lives in the sex industry as though it were glamorous).

Here is an illustration (in French only) that explains the process of recruitment into prostitution:

For more information on the recruitment process, visit (in French only): https://calacslachrysalide.ca/index.php/exploitation-sexuelle/.

Parents or friends? You can get listening services and support by contacting CALACS. For more information, see our page on helpful attitudes.

[3] Excerpted from: Bergeron, M., Hébert, M., Fradette-Drouin, L., CALACS Entraid’Action, CALACS Agression Estrie, CALACS Laurentides, L’Élan-CALACS, La Pointe du jour *CALACS Sept-Îles, Regroupement québécois des CALACS. (2016). Programme Empreinte : Agir ensemble contre les agressions à caractère sexuel – Guide d’animation auprès des jeunes de niveau secondaire. Montréal, Québec : Université du Québec à Montréal.