What do you see? Do you see a glass half empty, a cookie half eaten, and half a mess still to clean? Or…do you see a glass half full, half a cookie to enjoy, and half the job done with progress being made! There are two ways of looking at most things in life, aren’t there? Recently I read …
The Ripples We Can’t See
Recently I shared with you a quote from Mother Teresa: “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” Of course, sometimes when we try to “cast a stone” in life it can be discouraging. Maybe it doesn’t go as far as we’d hoped, or the ripples aren’t as big …
I Met With My MP — Here’s How It Went
You’ve often heard us encourage you to talk with your MP about the issues Defend Dignity is working on. Sound kind of intimidating? It really doesn’t have to be! Summer is often a great time to connect with your MP in a casual setting. You might see them flipping pancakes or frying hamburgers at various community events. They would love …
Casting Stones Across the Waters
Have you ever skipped a stone on a lake? Maybe you’re pretty good at this quintessential summertime activity. How many skips can you get? I learned recently that the world record for competitive stone skipping (yes, it’s a thing) is 88 skips. Now that’s a lot! Of course, we’ve all experienced the flip side of that world record — where …
The internet is useful, but how can we make it safer?
February 6th is Safer Internet Day, a day marked annually to raise awareness for a safer and better internet. These days most of us are “plugged in” to the internet each day for various tasks, whether it’s for work, school, productivity, or connection to others. The United Nations has long recognized the usefulness of the internet for education, community, and …
A Message from Director Wendy Lowe
I’m Wendy Lowe, the new director of Defend Dignity. I’d love to have a coffee and get to know you, but…a blog will have to suffice for the moment! It is a privilege to have been entrusted with the leadership of an organization that profoundly influences all forms of sexual exploitation in Canada. I began my work with Defend Dignity …
Sex Buyers Attitudes: A Study of Toronto’s “Escort Review Board”
“Sex Buyers Attitudes” is a Defend Dignity-commissioned research paper that set out to gather data on Canadian sex buyers and how they view those they are purchasing for sex. This data set provides important insights into how buyers think and communicate, and further underscores the role demand plays in driving prostitution. Below is a summary of the research paper which …
Ontario Superior Court Grapples with Question: How May Parliament Protect Women and Girls from Sexual Exploitation?
This blog post was written by Gerald Chipeur, KC, and Tory Hibbitt. Ontario Superior Court Grapples with Question: How May Parliament Protect Women and Girls from Sexual Exploitation? In 2013, in its landmark decision Canada (Attorney General) v Bedford, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously declared the country’s anti-prostitution law to be unconstitutional because the law violated the rights of …
The Dangers of Full Decriminalization
This guest blog post was written by Trisha Baptie, founder of EVE (formerly Exploited Voices now Educating). Canada is at a very important crossroads right now. The topic? One you might think you know a lot about, informed by mainstream media, yet one you might also feel you have no connection to. Prostitution. One of women’s oldest known oppressions. Lately, …
Victory! Visa and Mastercard cut ties with TrafficJunky/MindGeek
Written by Arlene Stinson As at Aug. 4, 2022, both Visa and Mastercard have suspended service to the advertising arm of Pornhub, TrafficJunky. This is a major victory for our Choose Change campaign. Advertising is a major source of revenue for porn sites. Defend Dignity has repeatedly asked Mastercard and Visa to cut off this pipeline of profit to sites …