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, continuing marginalization and keeping harmful stereotypes alive. Changing their behaviours however can help counter all these conditions women live with.
- Acknowledge the connection between all facets of the sex industry — be indoors, outdoors, an escort agency, online — it is all prostitution and contributes to women’s oppression and demanded subordination.
- Challenge the notion that women’s bodies are a commodity and can be “for sale”.
- Acknowledge the connection between the pornography industry and prostitution. Pornography is recorded prostitution. Stop watching pornography.
- Challenge the normalization/acceptance that sex can be “work” if we want sex to stay between consenting partners, we must not commodify it. Buying sex does not buy consent, it buys compliance. By commodifying women and girls bodies we encourage parasitic, predatory behaviours from others that will prey on prostituted persons that guarantees an increase in human trafficking any form of full decriminalization provides human traffickers a safe place to sell their victims.
- Write letters to the editor supporting the abolition of prostitution and creating a safer Canada for girls and women. Where you can educate the public on the success of the Women’s Equality Model of Prostitution law when you come across articles about prostitution in online, newspapers, magazines, academia at lectures, presentations wherever the topic come up.
- Challenge misogyny in the media print, film, video games, advertising or the TV change the channel, take the game back, contact the parent companies of these mediums and how they are harming women by cementing this thinking Be sure to also address casual misogyny that usually happens when with others like jokes, clothing with sexist images/writing whatever it is some people honestly don’t realize how they are contributing to sexism/misogyny so having these conversations are important. However never put your safety at risk.
- Volunteering is a great thing groups and agencies who work with women and their families always need an extra pair of hands. Volunteering on rape crisis lines, or in a transition home, with organizations helping women exit prostitution, being willing to do a clothing drive for an agency that can use them, lots of different and great things to do to help support agencies that are working on this issue. Last but not least, women’s agencies always need more money, financial contributions are highly valued and put to good use when given to abolitionist agencies.
- Look for, promote, and attend events in your community that provide a forum of discussion around the issue of prostitution. Social media is a good place to find these events
- Forming your own group can be a great and fun way to maybe start a book club (there is a list of book suggestions on another tab) put on your own educational event, support each other in writing some of the suggestions mentioned, do a pay what you can dinner party and donate the funds to a group, help each other further your education in the Equality Model of Law and the systemic issues that go along with that impacts girls and women’s lives.
- While loving men, choose to push against patriarchy.