There's something about justice that catches us all.

It was raining the day I went to church to hear Trisha Baptie's story about prostitution; her story of exiting it.  That was fitting.

Maybe it would be sunny by the time we all left.

It's weird now that I've travelled to the other side of the world to hear about sexual exploitation in Thailand and Cambodia, I feel this responsibility to hear more, to know more.

As I reflect on words- oh my- words have such incredible power.  So does the lack of them.

And yet I sometimes feel defeated like all the struggling around me needs so much love and all I've got is words and these feeble hands- this small voice.

Use what you have.

...

Canada.

Are you ready?

Trisha Baptie was born into an abusive household in Vancouver.  She speaks with passion.  She speaks with a shake in her voice like she knows all she has to say has weight.  Depth.

At the age of 12 she is taken into the care of the government by social workers and is housed in a mixed-gender group home.

When she tells the social worker that she is being sexually harassed in her group home at the age of 13 she is laughed at and told, "Boy's will be boys."

She states that she was involved in prostitution for 15 years since that time.  As a person heading into social work, the weight of what she has said sits with me.  The responsibility I have to speak out for the downtrodden, the used, and abused is mind boggling.

Baptize turns her conversation to Canadian law.

In 2014 Bill C- 36 was implemented and the prostitution laws were changed in Canada to reflect the stance that purchasers of sex where the guilty.  Seller's of sex were the victims (more on Bill C-36 here).

Currently the young liberals are trying to change this.  A justice subcommittee has heard women say that they "want to do this" and the idea of changing the laws and decriminalizing sex-work is in play. (Read more about that here and here)

Baptie challenges us, her listeners, that prostitution laws affect us all because it affects how society views women.

Is this the change we want to see?

...

The floor is given to Chris, a man who considers himself a "purchaser of sex" through viewing pornography.

I shift in my seat from where I sit in the audience because this is the first time I've heard a male perspective on this issue and I'm eager for it.

It takes a lot of guts as a man to stand up in a room full of predominantly women and tell your story.  I don't think that's something we should downplay.  How we need good men in the world.  Men like him.

At the age of seven, Chris is sexually abused.  This thrusts him into pornography at the young age of 7 years old.

"I thought women were good for one thing and one thing only- and that was for enjoyment," he says to the room.

It was a conference he attended where he began to see women and his wife for who they truly were.  It was God, he credits, who changed his perspective.  Slowly he began to see women as valuable and important.

Here I pause because the issue is so large and can be so misconstrued.  Often prostitution, trafficking, and pornography can be viewed through the lens of the oppressor verses the oppressed.  Because of the statistics on gender in trafficking (here) and partly because of feminist movements, gender sides can be taken.  The complexity of this is intense.

My friend remarks to me afterwards that he felt that there, "was no grace offered to anyone, both genders are saints, sinners, and sufferers."

I thought this was so excellently worded and true. Grace and mercy cannot be forgotten in the pursuit of justice- not at any point.

So, it is with a careful heart that I remind people that on each side of this issue of prostitution, sex trafficking, and pornography there is a person with worth.  Additionally, prostitution, trafficking, and pornography are not merely a gender-issue.  It is a human issue.

...

Baptie speaks again.

She talks about her friends who prostituted and the way they were dehumanized on the street.

She remembers a day when the police came around with a polaroid camera asking her friends and her to show them any tattoo's, scars, and birthmarks.  The implication was that these pictures could later identify them when they were dead.

This was, Baptie says, "the best society had to give us."

Baptie's friends were often there one day and gone the next.  The police's attitude was that of, "you're just hookers- We're not putting our resources into that."

When Robert Pickton, the Canadian serial killer and pig farmer, was arrested on February 6, 2002, Baptie knew where her friends were.  Many of her missing friends DNA was found at the farm.

She concludes that the we need to offer vulnerable women and girls more than a polaroid picture to identify them when they are found dead.

...

Baptie's life changed when her life intersected with Union Gospel Mission (UGM).  She avoided faith based organizations because of what they stood for, but was drawn in by a woman with the organization who approached to give her a warm drink with a bright smile and a kind demeanour.

When the woman stated she would come back every Friday Baptie doubted it at first, but was surprised when the lady followed through on her promise.  

They began a friendship which was awkward, uncomfortable, and grace- filled.

She had something Baptie wanted.  She just didn't know what.

Baptie advocates that change happens through relationship.

Though her new friendship with this lady wasn't without hurdles of overcoming the feelings of shame and judgement, their friendship sparked the change Baptie needed in her life.  She connected with more ladies in the organization and their lives showed Baptie a new paradigm by which to live her life.

Now with children, Baptie wants a life that is different for her children.

And she is giving them that through sharing her story and living free.

...

I am honoured to share these stories of struggle and heartbreak culminating in grace.

Sexual Exploitation continues to occur in Canada- it is often hidden and/or not talked about.  This blog post is meant to highlight something that continues to occur in our backyard.  Hopefully it provokes thought and reminds people of the vulnerability of people around us.

I would encourage people reading this that there is always hope in these situations, no matter how bleak they may sound.  The trauma Baptie experienced won't go away, but a changed trajectory offers her a better life.  Organizations designed to educate and inform such as Defend Dignity and SEWG provide us with the knowledge base to help.  Outreach organizations aid people in the transition process of exiting sex work.