Former Child Prostitute-Turned Law Student Vows To Change Canada’s Child Welfare Laws
Posted November 13, 2009 3:11 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
By all standards, Wendy Babcock has beat the odds.
The former child prostitute-turned-activist was accepted into one of the country’s most prestigious law schools this year and her friends plan to help her cover the $18,000 a year tuition.
“I’m currently just getting off of homelessness and I got into law school this year so my friends decided to throw me fundraiser to help me out,” she told CityNews.ca.
After suffering years of neglect, physical and sexual abuse she ended up in the care of the Children’s Aid Society, but “aged out” at 15 and was forced into sex work to make ends meet.
“It was horrible. I was too young to get into a shelter — you have to be 16 to get into a shelter — Children’s Aid didn’t have any housing for me at the time, so I pretty much had to get into sex work to get a roof over my head and to be able to feed myself,” she explained.
She spent nine years walking the streets, which led to her passionate pursuit of sex workers’ and street kids’ rights.
Her years of activism earned her entrance into Osgoode Hall Law School at York University.
Babcock helped to establish Toronto Police’s Special Victims Section of the force’s Sex Crimes Unit.
“It works to help sex workers report crimes without fear of being arrested for a prostitution-related offence,” she explained.
“That’s the main reason sex workers don’t report crimes and that’s why men feel free to be able to rape them and kill them because they know that, chances are, they won’t be caught.”
From 2003 to 2007 she was a member of the Sex Professionals of Canada, a group currently challenging Canada’s prostitution laws and she’s worked to create a number of programs, including the Safer Stroll Project, Regent Park Community Health Centre’s Sex Worker Drop-In and self-defence training for sex workers.
In 2008, she was the inaugural winner of the Toronto Board of Health’s Public Health Champion Award.
Babcock, who doesn’t hold a high school diploma, plans to augment her street level experience with her legal studies to fight for changes to Canada’s child welfare laws.
“These laws go against Section 7 of our constitutional rights based on safety and liberty,” she said.
She’s already had a couple of job offers from people interested in pursuing child welfare reform.
“Most children who get into sex work — over 50 per cent — have been involved in the Children’s Aid Society,” she said, referring to a 1989 study, “which I imagine is much higher now.”
She’s disturbed by the fact children can legally be discharged from the system at 16 – she says she was “aged out” a year early.
“Children aren’t learning the life skills that they need to learn. A lot of them have to drop out of school in order to work, to be able to afford rent.”
Welfare reform is also on her list of priorities following law school. She said kids who have to leave the care of the CAS need social assistance to stay in school, but current regulations require they maintain a certain grade point average and attendance record.
“It can be hard getting good grades based on the fact that a lot of them have post-traumatic stress disorder,” she said.
Babcock credits her friends for helping her surmount the incredible obstacles in her life.
“I think I’m a little bit luckier than a lot of people,” she said.
“I have a lot of good friends that support me.”
Those friends have organized a fundraiser at Goodhandy’s nightclub Sunday, Nov. 22 starting at 7pm. A website has also been created for anyone who’d like to make a donation toward her tuition.
