The Salvation Army Working with Sex Buyers to Reduce Human Trafficking

A transformative one-of-a-kind program by The Salvation Army’s Correctional and Justice Services is helping to address some of the harms of the sex trade and human trafficking.

The Sex Buyer Accountability (SBA) Program began in 2010 in London, Ontario. The Ontario Crown Attorney’s office refers male clients arrested for attempting to buy sex to this court diversion program. SBA focuses on education and accountability for clients by addressing the demand side of the issue of prostitution.

Also known as ‘John School,’ the SBA is a one-day eight-hour group session, which includes speakers from the community. Topics include violence in the sex industry, the law, health risks and myths and realities of the sex trade. Group discussions allow the participants to reflect on their behaviour, false justifications, and the many harms caused by prostitution.

“We talk about pornography, prostitution, and human trafficking – they are all forms of violence against women,” says Michele Hines, Program Counsellor with The Salvation Army Correctional and Justice Services.

SBA is a program paid for by participants, which helps to fund the Cornerstone program, a community-based education, life skills and support program for persons-at-risk or involved in the sex trade.

“The only way to address the harm that is being caused, to reduce and ultimately eradicate prostitution and human trafficking is to address the role of the ‘John,’ to ask why there is a demand for paid sex in the first place,” Michele explains.

Since starting in 2010, arrests for prostitution were at the street level, but these cases are now rare, having been replaced by men going online to buy sex, which is anonymous and more easily accessible.  This anonymity emboldens more men to seek out opportunities to pay for sex.

“It is the ‘John’ that creates the demand for the paid sex industry,” Michele says. “If there is no demand there is no need for supply, which then eliminates the trauma and long-lasting harm to women and children in the sex trade. When men stop buying women and girls, prostitution and human trafficking will cease to exist. It begins and ends with the ‘John.’”

Since 2010, over 300 men have completed the program, which runs several times a year in London, depending on need, which is consistently increasing due to easy accessibility of online ads for paid sex.

“The program addresses the socialization of men, the examination of gender stereotypes and the role of pornography in relation to the existence of prostitution and human trafficking,” Michele says.

“They are all connected and must all be addressed if we are ever going to achieve the abolition of the sexual exploitation of women and children.”

To learn more about this and other programs run by The Salvation Army in Correctional and Justice Services, please visit www.cjslondon.ca.