"A milestone for survivors": Canadian law language changed from child porn to child sexual abuse and exploitation material

After advocating for the change for nearly a decade, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) is celebrating a significant wording change now enshrined in Canadian law.

On Oct. 10, Bill C-291 was passed, changing the term “child pornography” to “child sexual abuse and exploitation material,” or “CSAEM” for short, said Lianna McDonald, the centre’s executive director.

“For over 30 years, federal legislation in Canada has used the term ‘child pornography’ to describe what are in reality horrific scenes of sexual violence and exploitation against children,” she wrote in a blog post. 

“This change was long overdue.”

The term child pornography is problematic, said McDonald, because the word “pornography” suggests a level of agency or consent, something no child can give.

“But these are not pornographic materials; they are evidence of a crime scene. They are also a permanent record of sexual abuse and potential lifelong trauma.”

The centre has used its preferred term whenever possible, but when advocating for victims in courtrooms or other legal contexts, it was forced to use the old terminology, said McDonald.

Preventing further trauma

In 2017, C3P surveyed survivors around the world, many of whom complained about the term child pornography unprompted, said Katelin Neufeld, C3P’s behavioural research scientist, earlier this year.

“[They] took the opportunity to tell us … that term did not represent what happened to them, and lots of groups around the world agree,” she said

“So when we use the language of child pornography, it really takes away from the public understanding of what that crime actually entails. It really demeans the experiences of the survivors themselves and just doesn’t do it justice at all.”

Being sexually exploited or abused is a “massive, massive trauma” that victims deal with, and the former terminology can unintentionally reinforce victim-blaming, said Neufeld. 

“In addition to not serving survivors, it doesn’t serve the broader public as well to better understand and respond to these crimes against children.”

As the centre started using the CSAEM terminology, it began to reach out to media about the new language when they spotted the old language in news stories, Neufeld added.

“A few months ago, we’d had a similar situation with language in a news article that talked about an inappropriate sexual relationship between an adult and a child. So same kind of thing, right? The reporter was very responsive, wrote back very quickly, saying, thanks so much … and changed those details throughout the story.”

McDonald said that now that the change is official, she hopes provincial governments will make the same changes to their laws’ language.

Changing words can change everything

The CEO of Fear is Not Love, based in Calgary, knows first-hand how powerful a language change can be.

Kim Ruse says her organization changed its name from the Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter to its new name as its programming expanded. 

“I was told when I came to the role 11 years ago, ‘Don’t ever change your name. It’s a beacon, people know what you do …’ When you hear that name, you think shelter, you think women, and certainly people will come to that name.”

However, the old name didn’t address the shelter’s programming or its outreach to men.

“Less than three per cent of our clients used (the actual) shelter,” said Ruse. 

“We learned very quickly that people were not coming to us until they were in the backseat of a police car because they thought they needed to be in an emergency situation to call us. They thought they needed to be in need of a shelter to call, and they didn’t want to bother us.

“And so very quickly we realized that our name was a block to people reaching out for help.”

While the name change was controversial at the time and cost her a few board members, in the first year, the organization saw a 17 per cent increase in calls for help, especially from men, said Ruse.

“And not just men who are victims, but men who were using violence actually started to call us. Last year alone, we had 4,000 men who were concerned about their behaviour call our helpline.”

The name change was a launchpad for other initiatives, including Fear is Not Love’s current campaign highlighting how domestic violence is a public safety issue, Ruse added.

“That name [started] that conversation and shifted how we think about the issue of domestic violence in our personal lives and in our families, in our communities, in our workplaces. 

“It’s been a great conversation starter and not always positive because I think not everyone loves it. But that’s okay, right? That’s okay. It’s been a great position to start from.”

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