Vancouver Escorts: Forced prostitution and sports a weak link
Now there’s nothing wrong with combating trafficking — and Canada hasn’t exactly been a leader in this area — but our anti-trafficking initiatives ought to be informed by solid evidence, not by half-truths and hearsay.
And the belief in a link between mega-sporting events and prostitution, is, unfortunately, based largely on rumour, rather than on reputable research. Indeed, if a link exists at all, it is not startling, but startlingly weak.
This is the conclusion of a number of reports, including a recent one commissioned by the provincial government with the support of the Vancouver police department. British Columbia-based Frontline Consulting conducted interviews and reviewed 200 websites, 90 media articles, 88 articles in academic journals and 35 government reports, and came to the conclusion that “the commonly held notion of a link between mega sports events, TIP (Trafficking in Persons) and sex work is an unsubstantiated assumption.”