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The Social Action Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada Discussion Paper
May 1996
Introduction
Prostitution, according to a comment made at the 4th United Nations Conference on Women, is one of the greatest human tragedies. It is also one of the oldest forms of oppression on earth. It is not surprising, then, that the selling of sexual services between consenting adults, has generated considerable discussion in Canada. Recent Canadian government commissions have studied prostitution and made recommendations on how to alleviate the harm that flows from this dehumanizing and exploitative practice. Prostitution not only harms its participants, but also is detrimental to Canadian society in general. It is no small problem. Statistics Canada reported 10,134 prostitution incidents in 1992. Since 1990, police have charted annually about 10,000 offences related to communicating for the purposes of prostitution.
A Christian response to prostitution should involve discouragement of the practice without further victimizing those already being exploited. As well, prevention measures should be encouraged and assistance in leaving the sex trade provided.