Things you can do to help make a difference:
- Look the men in your life in the eye and ask them if they buy sex. If they do, educate them on the role they are playing in women's oppression and marginalization and ask them to change their behaviours.
- Acknowledge the connection between any facet of the sex industry -- be indoors, outdoors, or through an escort agency -- it is all prostitution and contributes to women's oppression and subordination.
- Send your MP / MLA a letter expressing your support of the Nordic Model of Law.
- Challenge the notion that women's bodies are a commodity or are "for sale".
- Acknowledge the connection between the pornography industry and prostitution. Pornography is nothing but recorded prostitution. Stop watching pornography.
- Challenge the normalization of sex as "work".
- Write letters to the editor supporting the abolition of prostitution and educated the public on the success of the Nordic Model of Prostitution law when you come across articles about prostitution in newspapers, magazines, online, etc.
- Challenge misogyny in the media (print, film, video games, etc.) and in the form of joking. Acknowledge that this is a breeding ground for how men are taught to view women.
- Volunteer the most important thing -- your time -- to groups and agencies who work with women and their families in the process of transitioning them into a new life. Financial contributions are also highly valued and put to good use when given to abolitionist agencies.
- Ask your MP and MLA to support a guaranteed liveable income for all women.
- Look for, promote, and attend events in your community that provide a forum of discussion around the issue of prostitution.
- Support opportunities for marginalized women to find meaningful employment and challenge your workplace to become involved in providing employment.
- Openly challenge gender power imbalances in your workplace.
Tools for further education:
Here are some tools you can use to educate yourself further on the systemic issues that women & children face, the things that make them vulnerable to prostitution, and ways to support women and influence change:
- Acknowledge and fight against the stigmatization and marginalization of Aboriginal women. To learn more, see Aboriginal Women's Action Network (AWAN) and Native Woman's Association of Canada (NWAC)
- Call for a higher standard of living for children and youth in government care -- as being in care makes youth more vulnerable. Often being put in care is the first abandonment by the state that kids suffer and it makes them particularly vulnerable to the predatory behaviour of pimps as well as sexual predators. These sites have some great resources: Representative of Child and Youth in BC, Youth in Care Canada, and Federation of BC Youth in Care Network
- Have a look at the actual, unliveable social assistance rates the marginalized and vulnerable are supposed to survive on: BC Employment and Assistance Rate Tables
- Look into the guaranteed liveable income proposal -- support it and find ways to call on your MP and MLA to support it.
- Learn more about what exactly human trafficking is and the direct tie it has to prostitution: REED
- Learn more about the violence women live daily with and the fight against it: Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter (Please explore this site thoroughly as there are MANY great aspects to this site.)