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This article discusses the (re)integration of women who engage in sex work from the perspective of the women themselves as well as that of community, health, and social service practitioners. Using the theories of intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991) and possible selves (Markus and Nurius, 1986), we contrast the relationships between different aspects of women's identity in terms of the meaning given their aspirations and fears, the ways to achieve their goals, and the resources available for the social (re)insertion of women. The aim of the study is to provide an understanding of the needs of sex workers by comparing their perceptions with those of practitioners. Using data from 36 semi-directed interviews conducted in New Brunswick with francophone sex workers and practitioners from various settings, we identified three dimensions of social (re)insertion : material, systemic, and social worth and recognition. Our results show that the sex workers expressed more abstract needs while practitioners concentrated on more concrete needs. Practical and conceptual considerations in the social (re)integration of francophone female sex workers are discussed.

Keywords: Travail du sexe, (ré)insertion sociale, sois possibles, recherche qualitative, Nouveau-Brunswick, Sex work, social reinsertion, possible selves, qualitative research, New-Brunswick, Trabajo sexual, (re)inserción social, yoes posibles, investigación cualitativa, Nuevo Brunswick

Keywords: Lévy, Laporte, El Feki, tourisme sexuel, dragueurs, VIH/sida, Tunisie, Lévy, Laporte, El Feki, sexual tourism, girl chaser, AIDS, Tunisia

The political actions of Stephen Harper's conservative government led, directly or indirectly, to several cases before the Supreme Court of Canada. The Court, unanimously or by a large majority, rejected the reforms introduced by the Conservatives along with several key items in their political program. Never before had Canada seen such a clear polarization between the executive and judicial functions. The result was an appearance of tension or “conflict” in institutional and political terms. Although a purely legal conclusion can be drawn in various fields of constitutional law, the explanation for this episode cannot be sought solely in a first-degree reading based on positive law. The broader perspective reveals a clear divergence between the Court and the Conservatives in terms of constitutionalism. In addition to its role as a founding element of constitutional law, constitutionalism relies on political theory, clearly demonstrating the extent of the divergence that marked this period.

Although Canada is perceived internationally as an ardent defender of human rights and promoter of democratic values, this article reveals that Canada has yet to ratify 31 treaties relating to human rights. The author critically examines the motives underlying the Canadian government's refusal to ratify each of these international human rights instruments by dividing the treaties into three main categories: instruments for which motives are unknown or equivocal, instruments for which ratification no longer seems relevant and instruments for which ratification remains under consideration. While the author recognizes that the refusal to ratify certain treaties is appropriate, she nevertheless emphasizes that in the majority of cases, the Canadian government has either not provided a comprehensive justification for refusing to ratify a convention, or is unable to move beyond unending negotiations with provincial and territorial governments. Accordingly, the author suggests that changes must be made to ratification policies and processes to allow for a transparent, accountable and effective examination and approval of human rights treaties. For instance, the author's analysis reveals that the government's refusal to attach reservations or interpretative declarations to the ratification of human rights treaties guarantees that some important international instruments will never be ratified.

The purpose of this study, prepared for the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) and funded by Health Canada First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, is to provide an exploratory investigation into the linkages and to begin a journey into making the connection between FASD, sexual exploitation, gangs, and extreme violence in the lives of young Aboriginal women. Emerging data from Aboriginal gang intervention and exit projects in Canada suggest that many women experience sexual slavery and extreme violence in gangs, and that a disproportionate number also suffer from Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Although much more research is required, preliminary data point to the importance of developing prevention strategies targeted at addressing family violence, drug and alcohol abuse, poverty, the social determinants of health and the history of colonization of Aboriginal Peoples. This work should focus on the strength and resiliency of Aboriginal peoples.

Keywords: Aboriginal women, Sexual exploitation, Violence, FASD, Gangs, Prevention strategies

This article presents the results of a descriptive and comparative study of 37 adolescents guilty of sexual agression. These youths had been admitted to a medium security psychiatric hospital for an evaluation of their sexual problem by specialists. None of them received a psychiatric diagnosis. The results are presented for the entire group but the latter was divided into two, based on the criterion of the age of the victim (agressors against children, agressors against adults). There were numerous significant differences observed between the two groups whereas many similarities were noted with groups of adult agressors (agressors against children and agressors against women).

AbstractWhen Tom Cassidy and Catherine Rose were purged from the One Big Union (OBU) in October 1923 for their illicit sexual relationship, it unleashed an intense and at times dramatic series of confrontations lasting more than six months in which members said to advocate the ideals of “free love” became the greatest threat to the union's existence. Remarkably, these debates at dozens of union meetings occurred without any public reference to sex. Instead, OBU executive members contained the sexual content of Cassidy's and Rose's affair by posing the question of their relationship in terms of a value judgement about what would hinder the progress of the union. To talk of sex, they argued, would enable a sexual Red Scare at the hands of the bourgeois press. The OBU would be destroyed in the ensuing panic over charges of “free love” and the working-class movement for liberation would be undermined. But underneath their concern to protect the union's reputation lay patriarchal assumptions about heterosexuality, both as sexual practice and family structure, to explain the union's existence, its organizational tactics, and their dream of a better future. Thus, it was not so much that the OBU Executive refused to challenge conservative sexual values to protect the union, but that they promoted these values.

The article deals with the mail-order bride practice and the inequalities that characterize the relationship between the men and the women who participate in it. Through mail-order bride agencies, operating primarily on the Internet, consumer-husbands meet women who will become their fiancées and eventually their wives. These meetings result in marital relationships often characterized by subordination and dependence, which keep the brides under the yoke of their consumer-husbands and sometimes lead to spousal violence. Moreover, the multiple forms of inequality interact to place the brides in an inferior position within the economic, sexual, ethnic and cultural hierarchical dichotomies. Finally, the very great age difference that typically exists between brides and their consumer-husbands only serves to increase the control the consumer-husbands exercise over them.

Many studies assume that dance develops as a bearer of tradition through iconic continuity (Downey 2005; Hahn 2007; Meduri 1996, 2004; Srinivasan 2007, 2011, Zarrilli 2000). In some such studies, lapses in Iconic continuity are highlighted to demonstrate how “tradition” is “constructed”, lacking substantive historical character or continuity (Meduri 1996; Srinivasan 2007, 2012). In the case of Mohiniyattam – a classical dance of Kerala, India – understanding the form's tradition as built on Iconic transfers of semiotic content does not account for the overarching trajectory of the forms' history. Iconic replication of the form as it passed from teacher to student was largely absent in its recreation in the early 20th century. Simply, there were very few dancers available to teach the older practice to new dancers in the 1960s. And yet, Mohiniyattam dance is certainly considered to be a “traditional” style to its practitioners. Throughout this paper I argue that the use of Peircean categories to understand the semiotic processes of Mohiniyattam's reinvention in the 20th century allows us to reconsider tradition as a matter of Iconic continuity. In particular, an examination of transfers of repertoire in the early 20th century demonstrates that the “traditional” and “authentic” character of this dance style resides in semeiotic processes beyond Iconic reiteration; specifically, the “traditional” character of Mohiniyattam is Indexical and Symbolic in nature.