441-02979 (Health)

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED RESIDENTS OF CANADA, draw the attention of the House to the following:

WHEREAS:

Sexually explicit material - including demeaning material and material depicting sexual violence can be easily accessed on the Internet by young persons;

A significant proportion of the sexually explicit material accessed online is made available on the Internet for commercial purposes and is not protected by any effective age-verification method;

The consumption of sexually explicit material by young persons is associated with a range of serious harms, including the development of pornography addiction, the reinforcement of gender stereotypes and the development of attitudes favourable to harassment and violence including sexual harassment and sexual violence - particularly against women;

Parliament recognizes that the harmful effect of the increasing accessibility of sexually explicit material online for young persons is an important public health and public safety concern;

Online age-verification technology is increasingly sophisticated and can now effectively ascertain the age of users without breaching their privacy rights;

Anyone making sexually explicit material available on the Internet for commercial purposes has a responsibility to ensure that it is not accessed by young persons; and

Online age-verification was the primary recommendation made by stakeholders during a 2017 study by the Standing Committee on Health.

THEREFORE, your petitioners call upon the House of Commons to adopt Bill S-210, Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography Act.