What’s Current: In Winnipeg, girls as young as 9 are being lured into the sex trade

Bridget Perrier at a talk in Winnipeg, June 6. (Image: Austin Grabish/For Metro News)
Bridget Perrier at a talk in Winnipeg, June 6. (Image: Austin Grabish/For Metro News)

A forum in Winnipeg on Monday night, featuring Bridget Perrier, Gunilla Ekberg, and Diane Redsky, reveals that girls as young as nine are being bought and sold on Winnipeg streets and in shopping malls for sex. Redsky says, “Sex-trafficking in Canada is not getting any better and in fact, it’s getting worse.”

Aaron Persky, the judge who sentenced Stanford rapist Brock Turner to six months in county jail, starts a new six-year term.

Right before giving Turner a minimal sentence, Persky presided over a domestic violence case where the abuser was given “like a weekend or two in jail.” The victim had been beaten so badly that she was unrecognizable, but Persky was worried that the perpetrator might not be able to make it to work on Monday.

On the bright side, Turner’s been banned from USA Swimming, the governing body for professional swimming in the United States, for life. Jezebel reports:

“The ban against Turner, who was slated to be a future Olympian for the U.S. national team, also disallows him from participating in future Olympic trials.”

A USA Swimming spokesperson told USA Today:

“USA Swimming strictly prohibits and has zero tolerance for sexual misconduct, with firm Code of Conduct policies in place, and severe penalties, including a permanent ban of membership, for those who violate our Code of Conduct.”

On Sunday, a 15-year-old in Wesley Chapel, Florida, committed suicide after her “friends” recorded a Snapchat video of her in the shower.

Meghan Murphy

Founder & Editor

Meghan Murphy is a freelance writer and journalist from Vancouver, BC. She has been podcasting and writing about feminism since 2010 and has published work in numerous national and international publications, including The Spectator, UnHerd, Quillette, the CBC, New Statesman, Vice, Al Jazeera, The Globe and Mail, and more. Meghan completed a Masters degree in the department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University in 2012 and is now exiled in Mexico with her very photogenic dog.