It's time for a 'follow-up' on Quebec's fight against child exploitation, says Opposition

Quebec's official opposition says it's time to check in on the province's fight against child sexual exploitation.

In 2020, a special commission published 58 recommendations in a report to help combat the issue in Quebec, considered one of the hubs of youth exploitation in Canada.

According to Liberal public security critic Jennifer Maccarone, the Coalition Avenir Québec government claims to have made progress in 37 of these recommendations -- but she wants a clearer picture of what this progress looks like and where the gaps are.

"There's a big difference between, 'I've put money in my budget aside' and 'I have accomplished what I've set out to do in terms of a recommendation to protect our youth,'" said Maccarone, the member for Westmount–Saint-Louis. "So we need to follow up with the government."

Figures from 2013 included in the report show that, of the sexual exploitation victims who came forward in Quebec, a whopping 39 per cent of them were minors.

It's difficult to say how that number has evolved in the decade since, as the data is sparse.

In fact, one recommendation made by the commission, called the CSESM, was to appoint and finance a research chair to better study the phenomenon.

"Nothing's happened with this," said Maccarone. "Why not? Where are we going? What help do you need?"

Maccarone is calling for the formation of a nonpartisan committee to help answer this question, among others.

THE COMPENSATION ISSUE

Another area that needs improvement concerns compensation for victims of sexual exploitation, Maccarone adds.

As recommended by the CSESM, the Legault government tabled several amendments to its Crime Victims Compensation Act in 2021.

Under Bill 84, victims of crimes previously exempt from the Act --including victims of sexual exploitation -- would be eligible to apply for financial assistance. This assistance goes toward expenses that result directly from a crime, such as psychological support.

Crime victims generally have three years to apply for compensation, but exceptions are made for certain offences, such as childhood sexual abuse and spousal violence.

But as Maccarone points out, childhood sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation are distinct in the eyes of the law, meaning compensation for exploitation victims is not guaranteed after that three-year deadline.

"That's one of the recommendations in the report that hasn't been adopted, which means that there's many, many victims that have been abandoned," she said. "And so we need to find out what the government's intentions are -- are they going to modify the law to take into consideration that very important aspect?"

"If we're not there supporting our victims of previous crimes, that says a lot about what we're going to be doing to support those going forward."  

'FALLING INTO THE TRAP'

Although she made the call during Quebec's second-ever Semaine nationale de la lutte contre l'exploitation sexuelle des mineurs (week against the sexual exploitation of minors), Maccarone said it's an issue Quebecers must consider year-round.

"We need to be constantly having that conversation, we need to be creating that awareness, education, we need to be talking about it regularly. Otherwise, more and more girls are going to be falling into the trap and becoming victims," she said.

It's a trap that is constantly evolving, she said, especially with the prevalence of social media, where victims are increasingly targeted.

"An example of what it could look like is a young girl who meets a boy on on the internet. And he's constantly showering her with compliments, and he says, 'Oh, send me a sexy photo of yourself.' And when he does, she gets all kinds of rewards afterwards," lists Maccarone.

From there, it escalates. The boy might ask the girl for a sexual favour, and then to perform that favour on someone else.

"This person, the pimp, ultimately will isolate the young girl. You'll take away all of her measures of communication."

"In many cases, they'll wake up, and then they'll realize that they're stuck."

The Semaine nationale de la lutte contre l'exploitation sexuelle des mineurs ends on March 7.