Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Jeanette Westbrook says being sexually abused as a child will haunt her for the rest of her life.
The perpetrators used eight-millimetre film, she said, but over time, abusers can transfer footage to the latest technology and continue to disseminate it.
"It's the type of crime that you can never get away from," Westbrook said. "Even after you're dead, it can still be viewed."
Westbrook is one of the women from around the world who joined NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus on Tuesday to call on Canada to apply existing laws to hold tech giants like Pornhub to account and stop the exploitation of women and children.
The Canadian Press does not typically identify people who have experienced sexual violence, but Westbrook spoke at a news conference using her name.
Angus said the Liberals have failed to hold companies like MindGeek, the Montreal-based parent company of Pornhub, to their legal obligations regarding child abuse and non-consensual videos of sexual violence.
"We have some very robust legislation," Angus said. "We just don't seem to have any political willingness to use it."
In April, the Liberal government announced it would introduce legislation to create a new regulator that will ensure online platforms remove harmful content, including depictions of children and intimate images that are shared without consent.
Last week, while discussing Bill C-10 which will revise the Broadcasting Act to regulate platforms like YouTube and Facebook, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault told a House committee that the bill will steer clear of content moderation, including for porn. He said the new regulator will handle child pornography and non-consensual material.
"God help the women in the world if they're relying on Minister Guilbeault to protect them," Angus said. "It's not acceptable to come out and tell us, `Oh someday there will be a pornography regulator,' we have laws. Apply the laws, do the right thing. Don't give us this runaround."
In a statement, Guilbeault's spokeswoman Camille Gagne-Raynauld said her department is extremely concerned that the safety of Canadians may be compromised on online platforms, especially when exploitative content is posted online without being systematically flagged and removed.
"We are looking forward to presenting a new framework that will ensure more accountability and transparency from online platforms," she said. "We want to ensure that online platforms have a proactive duty to monitor and remove illegal content before it causes further harm."
MindGeek did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication, but has previously denied all accusations of wrongdoing. The company has said it is a global leader in preventing the distribution of exploitative videos and images and has zero tolerance for non-consensual content or child sexual abuse material.
Angus said if there are elements of non-consensual abuse in videos the law exists to report them and for police to take action, but the RCMP shows an "unwillingness" to do so.
The RCMP denied this accusation in an emailed statement.
"We are committed to investigating these crimes to the fullest extent possible, and prosecuting those responsible," said RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Caroline Duval. "Additionally, we support greater action to address online sexual crimes, such as online child sexual exploitation and non-consensual distribution of sexual images."
Duval said the RCMP sought to discuss a Canadian law that makes reporting child abuse mandatory with MindGeek in 2018. The company informed the RCMP that, based on legal advice, it would be reporting to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the United States, she said.
This is because MindGeek, Duval said, is "a global company that is registered abroad" and the "jurisdiction over MindGeek is difficult to determine, as content is hosted outside of Canada."
She said between June 14, 2020 and May 31 this year, the RCMP received 134 reports from Pornhub through the missing and exploited children's centre in the U.S.
Advocates at the NDP news conference also called on Canada to do more to stop the exploitation of women and children around the world.
Vaishnavi Sundar of the Women's Human Rights Campaign India says Pornhub perpetuates a message that abductions, assaults and torture of vulnerable women, especially in countries in the global south, can be considered a "fun sexual experience for men everywhere."
"Most of the Indian women used on Pornhub don't even know the videos of their rapes are being sold for profit worldwide," she said.
Angus said over 600 women's organizations and survivors of sexual abuse reached out following the Pornhub study done by the House of Commons ethics committee, which is expected to table its report this week.
Westbrook said like many others, she is fighting to pursue changes and to get justice for sexual assault survivors everywhere.
"We do have to begin somewhere," she said. "Let's begin with Canada."
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.