Anglicans protest sex-trade bill

[Nicole]

The Rev. Bruce Bryant-Scott, on why he's opposed to Bill C-36: "Even if I don’t approve of the commodification of sex, that does not mean that I would set up the Criminal Code to condemn workers to a life of violence and potential death.”

A group of Anglican clergy and laity have taken a stand against Bill C-36, the Conservative government’s proposed legislation whose Scandinavian model shifts the main criminal burden in prostitution from vendors to buyers. Bill C-36 proposes to decriminalize the selling of sexual services but not the buying of them. Fearing the bill will further marginalize and endanger workers by driving sex-for-hire transactions underground, some 35 Anglicans led by Victoria’s Rev. Bruce Bryant-Scott recently sent an open letter to the hearings held by the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights of the House of Commons. “We were too late for the panel discussions, but the letter has been noted as part of the public record,” said Bryant-Scott, rector of St. Matthias Anglican Church, diocese of British Columbia. In the lingering shadow of Robert Pickton’s mass murders of B.C. sex workers, the signatories believe the bill will do nothing to prevent the recurrence of such a large-scale tragedy. “As a Christian, my fundamental ethic is care and concern for other persons, who are all created in the image of God,” said Bryant-Scott. “So even if I don’t approve of the commodification of sex, that does not mean that I would set up the Criminal Code to condemn workers to a life of violence and potential death.” According to Bryant-Scott, “Creating a context that criminalizes the buyer only drives the transactions further underground. In the long run, it will create greater problems for those in the sex trade.” While he would prefer to see economic enhancement ease the financial pressures that turn many individuals toward the industry, “as a Christian, I cannot stand by indifferent to what happens to them now.” He proposes that rather than laying blame, Christians engage with sex workers, following the example of Jesus in Luke 7:36–50, where he accepts the hospitality and anointing of the sinful woman (prostitute).

link to article here: http://www.anglicanjournal.com/artic...sex-trade-bill




wow I am actually surprised by it, nicely surprised. what do you think?