Stella was interviewed on CBC for a very long interview with at least three of the members including the director and the woman who coordinated the XXX Forum. This was the response from the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter.

Date : Tue, 07 Jun 2005 15 :01 :27 -0700 From : Suzanne Jay

Subject : interview with Stella To : soundslikecanada@cbc.ca

Dear Producer of Sounds Like Canada,

I found the interview with the Stella group shockingly sloppy. The host failed to interfere with the insulting and defamatory comments of the Stella guests when she invited them to speak about feminists who disagree with their promotion of sex work. I note that the Stella guests also avoided addressing the considered and carefully developed positions that feminists have taken about the promotion of prostitution. Not one of my co-workers in any centre in Canada would demean a woman by calling her or considering her "a vegetable" or imply that a prostituted woman is "less than human" or "incapable of thought" no matter how much we disagree with her ideas, actions or political positions. An apology to feminists is in order from the host who allowed this kind of comment to pass unchallenged.

I expect that the producers of Sounds Like Canada will be far more diligent in the future when looking at the issue of prostitution. Another step in correcting the mistake is to interview representatives from La Concertation des luttes contre l’exploitation sexuelle (CLES) in Quebec.

How to understand and deal with the phenomenon of prostitution is a debate that is going on across Canada and around the world. Your team on the show must have known that a federal justice subcommittee is preparing to make recommendations about the current laws on solicitation after months of travelling across Canada and hearing submissions about the matter. Whatever conclusions we draw and whatever actions we as a society decide to take will have an impact on all women in Canada and around the globe. How a national radio show approaches such an important issue when people are looking for information and careful opinion will matter. The audience of Sounds Like Canada deserve a much more intelligent level of discussion and consideration than they got today with the Stella speakers.

La Concertation des luttes contre l’exploitation sexuelle (CLES) est un regroupement d’organismes et de personnes qui propose une alternative au discours de banalisation et de légitimation de la prostitution que tient l’industrie du sexe.

E-mail for La Concertation des luttes contre l’exploitation sexuelle (CLES)

Sincerely,
Suzanne Jay
Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter

On Sisyphe, June 19, 2005.

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