This year, our web developer Pascal was able to obtain a sponsorship with Google allowing us to run free advertisements. Therefore, a web surfer will now find the website for The Way Out more easily when performing an online search using keywords that represent the content of our website. For us, this sponsorship mainly signifies increased visibility on the internet, which is good news, as it makes it easier for victims of sexual exploitation to find us.

In a recent team meeting, Pascal highlited the keywords leading people to our site. Among other things, the words “j’ai besoin d’aide pour sortir de la prostitution” (I need help getting out of prostitution) were at the top of the list. Other search terms included “association aide prostituées” (association helping prostitutes), “comment se sortir de la prostitution” (how to get out of prostitution), and “aide au prostituée” (help for prostitutes), of which the spelling and grammar sometimes made the linguist in me cringe. But searches like “organisme pour sortie une fille de la prostitution” (organization to get a girl out of prostitution) and “Québec aide se sortir prostitution masculine” (Quebec help getting out of male prostitution) were not all that was discovered thanks to the Google tool.

During Pascal’s presentation, it’s the other search terms that left us feeling something completely different: an intense uneasiness.

If you can believe it, a good portion of the people who found our web resource typed the following words into the Google search engine (note the French spelling appears as is):

• comment trouver des prostituées sur internet (how to find prostitutes on the internet)
• prostituer beauce (Beauce prostitute)
• engager une prostituee (hiring a prostitute)
• prostituer beloeil (Beloeil prostitute)
• prostituer laval (Laval prostitute)
• numero dune prostituer (number of a prostitute)
• ou sont les prostituer a grnby (where are the prostitutes in Granby)
• prostitue a québec (prostitute in Quebec)
• prostituer à montréal (prostitute in Montreal)
• prostitution chibougameau (Chibougameau prostitution)
• prostitution monteal (Montreal prostitution)
• prostituée quebec site (prostitute Quebec website)
• prostituées bar (prostitutes bar)
• prostituées disponible Montpellier (available prostitutes Montpellier)
• site prostituer chicoutimi (prostitute Chicoutimi website)

What we clearly see here is that there are a lot of clients looking to book sexual services online. If in the past, one could find ads hidden in the back pages of newspapers, today, one finds a vast display of sexual services on the web.

The objective of this edition of our monthly blog is twofold: first, we want to make those who support us in our mission even more aware of the state of affairs regarding prostitution in Quebec. If some of the most prominent searches are those performed by people trying to recruit local prostitutes, it says a lot; particularly in times of pandemic.

The second objective of this article is to directly address these clients. To those of you who accidently happened upon our web site, to those of you seeking to buy a moment of intimacy with a woman or a man and are conducting online searches in order to find what you believe you desire: do not forget the facts pertaining to prostitution in Quebec and around the world. The facts speak for themselves: 90% of women in the sex industry want to get out. The average age of entry into prostitution is 14 years in Quebec.

I am not writing this to incriminate you for looking for underage prostitutes, because in the end, what is important to understand is that the women whom you believe to be rewarding monetarily for their intimacy, even if they are of legal age, have often entered into prostitution when they were children. They often come from shelters or youth centres, not to mention immigrant women without a work permit who are also in a vulnerable position.

Today, I am writing you from the bottom of my heart, urging you to take a little time to reflect compassionately.

The women you seek are not sex machines that feel nothing. They are human beings that have had a very difficult life. Even if you believe you are doing them good by leaving a generous tip, by being sober, polite, clean and acting like a true gentleman, do not forget that you are participating in a reality that is quite absent of gentlemen.

These women are not forever lost. At The Way Out, we help them in every step of social reintegration, meaning we are there for them to guide and support them in every step that leads them to financial independence and out of the sex industry. It is often necessary to have valid Canadian identification documents made or reissued. They also need to find housing that is their own and not that of a pimp, training or schooling in a field that interests them, a job in that field, a healthy social circle, good life habits… and that’s only naming a few.

For more information about The Way Out and our mission, I invite you to go to our “About” page on our website.