Unpacking the Power of Legal Definition: Changing the Legal Narrative Around Sex Trafficking and Sex Work in Canada

Human Trafficking is a growing crime worldwide, 71% of which is dominated by the crime of sex trafficking. With recent Canadian legal cases such as Canada (Attorney General) v Bedford, there is growing debate about sex trafficking and sex work. This paper will discuss legal and societal prejudice against sex trafficking and sex work in Canada using prior research and will discuss current statistics surrounding sex trafficking, human trafficking prosecutions, and police responses to sex trafficking and sex work. Using a sociolegal lens, this article will discuss how society’s wide-ranging perceptions of sex work have influenced the law in recent decades, and how the law has come to shape society’s current legal and moral prejudice against sex trafficking and sex work. Further, this paper will discuss how these perceptions have helped or hindered the work of law enforcement, crown attorneys and judges and will discuss how the law is not evolving at the same pace as the crime of human trafficking.