Heritage Committee Report: Harms Caused by Illegal, Sexually Explicit Material Online

In 2022, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage (CHPC) adopted a motion for the committee undertake a study on the harms caused by the ease of access to, and online viewing of, sexually explicit material and the connection it has to violence against women and girls and sex trafficking in Canada.

During this period of study the Committee opened an invitation for the submission of briefs. Defend Dignity submitted a brief to the Committee in April 2024 on these issues, providing our insights and expertise as a national organization focused on ending sexual exploitation since 2010.

In the Committee’s report published in October 2024, Defend Dignity’s brief was referenced on the point of the trauma experienced by survivors of online exploitation:

“Similarly, in a brief submitted to the Committee, Defend Dignity, a national organization working to end sexual exploitation in Canada, described the trauma for survivors of ‘losing control over non-consensual intimate images of themselves’:

‘The platforms hosting the abuse are profiting from their pain, while users of the service view, comment, and sometimes further share the abusive content for their own pleasure. It’s an impossible fight to get the content permanently removed from the Internet, and they never know when or where it will resurface. There is also the dread of not knowing who will view the abusive content—will they be recognized by a stranger? Will their children see it? … This abuse can severely harm overall well-being, including long-term impacts on mental, social, physical, and relational health.'” [64]

The report also made mention of Defend Dignity’s recommendations to adopt Bill S-210 (Age Verification) and Bill C-270 (Stopping Internet Sexual Exploitation Act) in order to prevent further sexual exploitation:

According to a brief submitted by the organization Defend Dignity, “there are a wide range of age assurance methods available” that do not “identify the user.” The organization recommends adopting Bill S-210 with criteria “to ensure the age assurance technology used is effective and privacy-preserving.”[103] Defend Dignity also recommends the adoption of Bill C‑270 “as soon as possible.”[104]

Finally, our recommendations on Bill C-63 (Online Harms Bill) were shared:

In a brief submitted to the Committee, the organization Defending Dignity observed that while the provisions in the bill regarding “more complex issues such as hate” would “require additional consideration,” those “addressing CSAM and [NCDII] could be dealt with expeditiously” and said that the two harms should be “[separated] … into their own legislation that could be addressed urgently.”[135]

Defend Dignity thanks the Committee for their work and remains hopeful that robust legislation will be adopted in Canada to better protect Canadians from online sexual exploitation.