Chris Bruckert

Violence against women is conventionally framed as interpersonal violence perpetrated by men. While intimate partner violence and sexual assault are significant social problems, such a narrow framing obscures the diversity of women’s experiences, fails to illuminate the role social structures play, and excludes discussions of workplace, state, institutional, and symbolic violence. By drawing on a range of theoretical traditions emerging from feminism, criminology, and sociology, Women and Gendered Violence in Canada significantly broadens the conversation on violence against women. Social scientists Chris Bruckert and Tuulia Law begin by developing the conceptual and contextual framework underpinning gendered violence followed by an examination of its various manifestations: interpersonal, workplace, and structural. Each chapter puts historical context in conversation with current social issues, attends to the diversity of women’s experiences, and critically considers normative social and carceral "solutions," while highlighting women’s resistance. First person narratives are integrated throughout to personalize the material and issues being examined, and each chapter ends with a suggested activity to facilitate further engagement. This thoroughly updated second edition of Women and Gendered Violence in Canada considers recent shifts and changes in Canadian society, discourses, and laws.

Violence against women is usually framed as an issue of interpersonal violence perpetuated by men. While domestic violence and sexual assault are significant social problems, such a narrow framing obscures the diversity of women’s experience, fails to illuminate the role social structures play, and excludes discussions of workplace and state violence. By drawing on a range of theoretical traditions emerging from feminism, criminology, and sociology, Women and Gendered Violence in Canada significantly expands the conversation on violence against women. The first section of the book develops the conceptual and contextual framework that informs the remainder of the text, and the following three sections are organized around types of victimization: interpersonal, labour site, and state. Each chapter ends with lists of suggested activities, and first person narratives are integrated throughout to personalize the material and issues being examined.

The issue of third parties in the sex industry – individuals who are neither the client nor the service provider – has become especially urgent in our current socio-political context. Surprisingly, in spite of an emergence of critical scholarship on the sex industry, as well as recommendations by key governmental committees, little attention has been extended to examining the role of individuals labelled pimps, procurers, and traffickers. Addressing the function of third parties on the street and indoors, Getting Past 'the Pimp' incorporates solid empirical evidence including documentary analysis, 75 interviews with third parties, and 52 interviews with sex workers to unpack the roles and relationships of third parties in three sectors of the sex industry- incall/outcall, stripping, and street-based prostitution. Contrary to prevailing stereotypes that portray third parties as inherently abusive and controlling, these workers fulfill important roles and provide vital services as associates, fee-for-service hires, and agency owners or managers responsible for scheduling and arranging transportation and security. The sex industry, like mainstream businesses, rarely depend exclusively on client and worker to operate efficiently, and safely.

The issue of third parties in the sex industry – individuals who are neither the client nor the service provider – has become especially urgent in our current socio-political context. Surprisingly, in spite of an emergence of critical scholarship on the sex industry, as well as recommendations by key governmental committees, little attention has been extended to examining the role of individuals labelled pimps, procurers, and traffickers. Addressing the function of third parties on the street and indoors, Getting Past 'the Pimp' incorporates solid empirical evidence including documentary analysis, 75 interviews with third parties, and 52 interviews with sex workers to unpack the roles and relationships of third parties in three sectors of the sex industry- incall/outcall, stripping, and street-based prostitution. Contrary to prevailing stereotypes that portray third parties as inherently abusive and controlling, these workers fulfill important roles and provide vital services as associates, fee-for-service hires, and agency owners or managers responsible for scheduling and arranging transportation and security. The sex industry, like mainstream businesses, rarely depend exclusively on client and worker to operate efficiently, and safely.

In the early twentieth century, abolitionists sought to stamp out sex work by penalizing all involved. In the generation that followed, neo-abolitionists looked at the sex industry from a feminist perspective, claiming that workers were victims caught in a patriarchal matrix. Yet both agreed that sex work was a destructive and corrupting force that should be eliminated. In this lucid and fearless volume, five academics and activists convey their vision of prostitution as work, albeit stigmatized and marginalized labour. In chapters that consider the nature of sex work, the legal framework that seeks to control the sex industry, the historical debates over its existence, the spectre of human trafficking, and community-based activism from within the industry, the authors assert the central place of sex workers in discussions about their lives and work. This book opposes discourses that position sex workers as victims without agency.

From the passage of Bill C-10, with its punitive, tough-on-crime provisions, to sensationalist media accounts of dangerous ex-convicts, it is evident that Canada is a country that is taking an increasingly hard line on crime. In reality, however, the vast majority of prisoners who serve out their sentences do not re-offend but rather reintegrate into society and never see the inside of a prison cell again. The lack of discussion regarding those who "make good" perpetuates the illusion that most ex-prisoners pose a danger to the public and renders invisible the complex and sometimes treacherous path out of prison. On the Outside illuminates that journey, exploring the post-carceral lives of men who have successfully resettled into the community after serving at least a decade in Canada's penitentiaries. Discussing the transition from imprisonment, release, and re-entry through to the challenges of resettlement, this book will change the way you think about Canada's prisoners and open up the debate on the perils of tough-on-crime legislation.

In the early twentieth century, abolitionists sought to stamp out sex work by penalizing all involved. In the generation that followed, neo-abolitionists looked at the sex industry from a feminist perspective, claiming that workers were victims caught in a patriarchal matrix. Yet both agreed that sex work was a destructive and corrupting force that should be eliminated. In this lucid and fearless volume, five academics and activists convey their vision of prostitution as work, albeit stigmatized and marginalized labour. In chapters that consider the nature of sex work, the legal framework that seeks to control the sex industry, the historical debates over its existence, the spectre of human trafficking, and community-based activism from within the industry, the authors assert the central place of sex workers in discussions about their lives and work. This book opposes discourses that position sex workers as victims without agency.

From the passage of Bill C-10, with its punitive, tough-on-crime provisions, to sensationalist media accounts of dangerous ex-convicts, it is evident that Canada is a country that is taking an increasingly hard line on crime. In reality, however, the vast majority of prisoners who serve out their sentences do not re-offend but rather reintegrate into society and never see the inside of a prison cell again. The lack of discussion regarding those who "make good" perpetuates the illusion that most ex-prisoners pose a danger to the public and renders invisible the complex and sometimes treacherous path out of prison. On the Outside illuminates that journey, exploring the post-carceral lives of men who have successfully resettled into the community after serving at least a decade in Canada's penitentiaries. Discussing the transition from imprisonment, release, and re-entry through to the challenges of resettlement, this book will change the way you think about Canada's prisoners and open up the debate on the perils of tough-on-crime legislation.