Five Minutes to Midnight

Table of Contents

Letter from the Editor

Canadian Prostitution Law Reform
International War Crimes Tribunals: Rays of Hope for Children of
                                                                        War?
For the Cause of Freedom: The IRA

Get Involved: Online Volunteering

Comment: Why Abortion is Wrong

Remember: send all comments, editorials, questions, and submissions to feedback@fiveminutestomidnight.org!

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Letter from the Editor

Welcome to the third issue of 2004 for Five Minutes to Midnight. This issue, coming out for March, is just in time to welcome the changing seasons in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an interesting time weather-wise, as Northerners look forward to agreeable weather, while Southerners get ready for cooler temperatures and the eventual ushering in of snow.

On a political and social scale, there is much change too, though this is nothing new. Late February saw a horrendous massacre in Uganda. The attack, aimed at a displaced persons’ camp, saw around 200 deaths, some of which came by as a result of rebels forcing locals into huts and burning them alive. To make the situation even worse, this atrocity was committed by many child soldiers and upon examination, one is left asking the simple, one word question: “Why?”

Answers to such questions are hard to come by, unfortunately, and if there is a lesson to be learned from this, as well as other massacres, acts of terrorism, and even disasters, it is that the people of the world are connected with each other on an unprecedented scale. When attending primary school, many students are taught about the food chain, where animals are interdependent on each other for survival and by removing one link in the chain, the entire system can collapse. The tragedy in Uganda, as well as others that happen around the world, shed light on a similar connection among the world’s people.

Though we have borders or are separated from each other by cultural differences, we still depend on each other. The Asian Economic Crisis near the end of the twentieth century emphasized the interconnectedness of the world’s financial and economic systems, from local businesses and banks to international institutions. The same applies to local social and political issues around the world. Whether we like it or not, earthquakes half a world away or bombings in other continents affect people around the world, whether it is through an emotional response to a news story, or having your taxes be funneled to your country’s military, which then may focus on some of the issues at hand.

If local events and issues around the world have the ability to affect everyone, it is important to work with organizations around the world to help alleviate some of the problems people face. It is important to work together to solve such issues through educating the world’s people or raising money. The importance lies in working together, and I hope that through communication, education, and organizations that bring people together, projects will arise that will focus on specific problems around the world.

            Thanks for reading,
                               Wojciech Gryc

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Canadian Prostitution Law Reform by Caitlin Hersey

The simplest definition of prostitution is “the provision of sexual services for financial reward.” As people who practice the oldest profession known to humankind, it is shameful to see where Canada has placed its prostitutes. Sex workers are forced to work underground in appalling conditions, often breaking the law while trying to work more safely. This is because although prostitution itself is not illegal, the current Canadian laws governing prostitution-related activities, according to the Special Committee on Pornography and Prostitution, “victimize and dehumanize the prostitute.” The two most important laws that govern prostitution in Canada contradict each other, and by violating the Charter of Human Rights and Freedom and not providing adequate protection, the legislation as a whole harms sex workers rather than protects them. It is time to regard Canada’s current prostitution laws critically, examining their hypocritical and onerous nature. The answer to these problems is not clear-cut, but if one examines all possibilities for reform, total decriminalization becomes a viable option.

The current laws surrounding prostitution are hypocritical and in violation of the Charter. To understand these two facets, one must first examine where the law stands on the issue of prostitution itself. Prostitution, as already defined, is completely legal, but the laws surrounding it make it almost impossible to practice safely and legally. Before 1985, the soliciting law was in effect, prohibiting the persistent offer of sexual services for money. In December 1985, this was replaced with the harsher “communicating law”. This law makes it illegal to communicate in a public place for the purpose of buying or selling sexual services. Meanwhile, the bawdyhouse law makes any place deemed a “common bawdyhouse”, any place used “for the purpose of prostitution or the practice of acts of indecency”, illegal. Any place employed more than once by the same customer or sex worker can be defined as a bawdyhouse, even if it is the home of the sex worker or customer. In terms of procuring, it is illegal to assist anyone in buying or selling sexual services. In an attempt to stop the often parasitic pimp-prostitute relationship, it is also illegal to “live off the avails” of prostitution, in part or entirely.

Although these are not all of the laws related to prostitution, these are the fundamental provisions that have created the hypocrisy and political doublespeak surrounding prostitution legislation. In its essence, prostitution is not illegal, but the communicating law and the bawdyhouse law combined make legal sex work practically impossible. The two laws seem to contradict each other. Prostitution is legal, yet the communicating law’s purpose is to keep it off the street, while the bawdyhouse laws make it extremely difficult to legally practice it anywhere else. Where does this leave prostitution? Where are prostitutes to meet potential customers in what is a legal transaction? Herein lays this political doublespeak of prostitution law. The government has refused to accept the implications of the status that they have already given to prostitution. Even the government-assembled Fraser Committee (also known as the Special Committee on Pornography and Prostitution) concluded that “it was not so much jurisprudence relating to the soliciting law that was the problem, as it was the contradictory and often self-defeating nature of the various criminal code sections relating to prostitution.”

Many of the prostitution laws are in violation of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Both the communicating law and part of the bawdyhouse laws violate the Charter on the basis of freedom of expression and freedom of association. But do these laws pass the proportionality test? A Supreme Court decision ruled that “because of the pressing nature of the public nuisance it is designed to curb [the communicating law is] said to be a ‘reasonable limit’ on the right of free speech.” But to pass the proportionality test, the law must reach an important governmental objective. After its enactment, a three year review of the communicating law was performed in 1990 by the Standing Committee on Justice and the Solicitor General. It was found that in some areas, street prostitution appeared to have been reduced. This was not conclusive, however. The methods used did not look at how these new reduced levels may have lasted, in addition to being hampered by “inadequate baseline data”. In Toronto and Vancouver, street prostitution did not appear to have been reduced at all. Seeing this, it cannot be said that the government’s goals were achieved, begging the question: was it compromising the right to free expression in the context of the communicating law? In the government’s eyes, prostitution laws are to protect society from “nuisance”, and to protect prostitutes from scrounging relationships with pimps. But who is the law protecting when sex workers are prohibited from setting up group homes which provide protection and security? Who is the law protecting when the communicating law makes street prostitution more dangerous than ever before? The current laws are not achieving any plausible governmental objective, and in addition, are severely outdated. Considering that the living off the avails, procuring, and bawdyhouse laws date back to Canada’s first criminal code, one should question how it is that the government can say the present laws reflect the changed and still changing society of today.

Current prostitution law undermines the basic human rights of self-determination and equality. Self-determination is the most important of all human rights, with prostitution being a key example of making that choice to determine one’s own choices independently. Consensual prostitution is about providing a sexual service, and nothing else. Sex workers have the right to self-determine their occupation of choice, just as every other human being in our country has the right to. They do not, however, currently have the right to the same services as victims of sex offenders, those cases being seen by the government as “just being part of the job”. According to Graham and Annette Scambler, this is a serious case of differential treatment towards sex workers in respect to “rights, liberties, [and] freedoms around housing, education, healthcare, [and] issues around custody and access to children”. In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is stated that “all men are born free and equal in dignity and rights”; this concept of equality and self-determination is what underlies the prostitution debate, and in a country that prides itself on upholding human rights, it is shocking to see that the government is still choosing to remain blind to the realities it has placed its own sex workers in.

Existing Canadian prostitution laws do not provide protection for sex workers. They cannot rely on the protection of the police or courts against pimps, rapists and violence. Again, these attacks are dismissed as being “part of the job”. Present legislation forces sex workers to work underground, and while police are spending time focusing on “cracking down” on prostitution, they are spending less time stopping rape-related and violent crimes. Even police officers are getting off easy for crimes committed against prostitutes. For example, Peter Swindell, an English police officer accused of murdering sex worker Pat Malone, admitted to “dismembering her body” but was not found guilty even of manslaughter. In a letter from the English Collective of Prostitutes to the Attorney General endorsed by over eighty organizations, it was said: “…Were the situation reversed and a lesbian prostitute was accused of killing a policeman, she would have been convicted, not of manslaughter, but of murder, and sentenced to life.”

Seeing the contradictory and onerous laws laid out, it is important that a solution be formed. John Lowman says that in the long term, we must attempt to purge our system and society of the “stigmatization of sex sellers, systemic racism and sexism, labour market structures, sexual exploitation of children, drug prohibition, and so on.” In the short term, we need to make options available for those who see sex work as their only choice or chosen form of work, and implement programs reducing possible risks. The main options on hand for reform are further criminalization of prostitution, already ruled out by the necessary and gradual movement toward removing morality from law, regulation, abolitionism, and total decriminalization.

Regulation, or legalization, has a goal of limiting prostitution to specific regions of a city or town where other individuals will not be offended. This is usually done through having specific legalized areas for practice, or through licensing a certain, limited number of prostitutes to work in specified areas. This is liberal, but still a way of controlling the “problem” of prostitution. Even the Fraser Committee stated that tougher street laws alone would result merely in moving prostitution from one locale to another. In countries where regulation has been implemented, it has not proven to be particularly successful. The civil rights of prostitutes are undermined and underground prostitution continues to co-exist along with legal prostitution, thus defeating the goal of regulation, as well as creating a division between those working legally and those working illegally.

Abolitionism is the idea of partial decriminalization. It allows the Criminal Code to keep the laws intended to “protect” prostitutes, namely, the laws against pimping and procuring. However, although UN endorsed, it sees prostitutes as victims. Abolitionism doesn’t increase safety and continues to set prostitutes apart from the rest of society. The laws governing living off the avails of prostitution are much too broad; they target all people in contact with prostitutes rather than those harming them. This differentiates between financial protection versus general protection against physical or emotional harm, which can be argued as being more important. There is a general presumption by courts that anyone associating with a prostitute must be pimping, and so living off the avails charges are issued, no matter what the prostitute says. This is degrading to prostitutes and to their friends and family, portraying them as being incapable of healthy, functional relationships. Sylvia Davis, a researcher on prostitution in Canada, states that, “So long as laws specifically target prostitution, whether to hinder or ‘help’ them, prostitutes will be subject to separate but unequal treatment.” When one group is targeted, the whole of society suffers; “rights lose their meaning and effectiveness when they lose their objectivity. A society which protects only a select portion of its people is soon unable to protect anyone.”

The only other viable option for reform is total decriminalization. This would mean removing all prostitution-related laws from the Criminal Code, including living off the avails and procuring. It would seek to eliminate any difference between prostitutes and the rest of society, or at least attempt to expunge their legal division. According to Davis, “Specialized treatment merely reinforces the marginalized position of prostitutes and in fact reduces rather than increases either their quality of life or their chances to leave the profession should they wish to do so.” All “nuisances” associated with prostitution would be covered by pre-existing non-prostitution specific laws. With this prospect of total decriminalization, the government seems to have fears of appearing to endorse prostitution because of its removal from the Criminal Code. However, it is ludicrous to say this when the Criminal Code fails to address abortion, adultery and attempted suicide, and no one is accusing the government of endorsing those. Seeing all evidence, total decriminalization seems to be the most reasonable possibility for reform, upholding the idea that, Davis’ eyes, “laws which separate and segregate prostitutes are unhealthy for both the prostitute and the community.”

Canada is in vital need of addressing the issues it has brought on itself by creating a different class for its sex workers. Sex workers are purely making a living, as every other person in this country is free and expected to do, yet they are treated as a separate group, distinct from the rest of society. Their line of work is legal, yet deemed unfavourable, consequently forcing them to work underground. As it stands, the current laws are not doing the job they should, but are instead harming the people whom they are supposed to protect. With the possibilities for reform having been examined, total decriminalization seems as though it has the most hope of bringing light to an otherwise dark situation. Reforming prostitution law is a matter of recognizing some of the most fundamental values of our country - self-determination, human dignity, and equality. The people of Canada need to have the collective will to make changes effectively, but looking at what prostitution law is truly about, it should be hoped that those changes can and will be made.

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International War Crimes Tribunals: Rays of Hope for Children of War?
                                      by Chelsea Howard

A few months ago, I was chosen by War Child Canada to be a member of their Youth Advisory Board (YAB). War Child Canada is a human rights group that focuses solely on conducting various fundraisers, projects and awareness campaigns to aid children of war all over the world. By being a part of this group, I have enriched my understanding of the world in which I live. I hope that one day, by promoting this kind of awareness, War Child and other human rights groups can reach the goal of a universal understanding of the importance of aiding those who are less fortunate.

Children are vulnerable. Over 2000 children are killed or wounded in armed conflicts every day. This, War Child feels, is utterly unacceptable. It is absolutely appalling that children should be made an active part of war. One of the most grotesque ways in which children are made to participate in combat is through the use of child soldiers. These children have been documented to be between the ages of six and eighteen. They are exploited for a variety of horrifying uses, from sexual slavery to couriers, toting backbreaking loads of guns, equipment and food through miles of jungle and desert.

Of course, child soldiers are not the only minors involved in these conflicts. Many children are torn apart from their families, internally displaced in refugee camps, or are just a part of the mass carnage that is a hallmark of the hundreds of battles that take place every day in countries all over the world.

This kind of damage cannot continue. It is imperative that the society of the western world, take an active role in the protection of children of war. Any action, no matter how big or small, helps. These atrocities against the very core of humanity are an insult to everything the subconscious morality of the human being holds dear. The corruption of innocent children for the sake of political or territorial disputes cannot continue.

There is, however, justice and hope for children. There are recent developments that offer some hope that these grievous abuses of children’s rights to life and security may be redressed. International courts that deal specifically with war crimes have been recently established. The International Criminal Court (ICC), a judicial creation of the United Nations, is designed to charge offenders for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The aforementioned abominations committed against children should fall directly under several of the categories for which the ICC will prosecute. So, there may be some hope yet in the terms of bringing justice to the perpetrators of crimes against children of war.

Another international justice system that has been recently adopted are the International Criminal Tribunals put in place by the UN to respond to the crimes perpetrated during specific regional conflicts. The International Red Cross states that the basic aim of these tribunals is to do everything possible to prevent the most horrendous crimes committed during armed conflicts from going unpunished. There is currently an International Criminal Tribunal for the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, and more recently, a tribunal was organized to deal with the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda. Good news for those wishing to bring criminals who use children in war to justice - for crimes committed against children in war torn countries can, without a doubt be, deemed some of the most appalling crimes ever committed.

But the questions remain. Are these tribunals capable of reinforcing respect for the rule of the law, which, in wartime is the last bastion against barbarity? Will their judgments effectively contribute to the implementation of humanitarian law? And most importantly, can it prevent further crimes against children of war?

The first indictment made by the Rwandan Tribunal was the indictment of eight persons made on the 28^th of November 1995. To date, over seventy suspects are being held and over sixty of those have been arrested and transferred to the Tribunal’s custody. One of the most famous indictments made by the tribunal was that of Jean Kambanda, Prime Minister of Rwanda during the genocide. Kambanda was the first head of government to be indicted and convicted for the genocide. The Rwandan Tribunal was created in response to a request made by the Rwandan government, and its office is located in Arusha, Tanzania. Twenty-one people are currently being held in the detention unit, fourteen of whom are suspected to have been involved in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, in which over 800 000 Rwandan citizens, including many children, were brutally murdered.

The two International Criminal Tribunals set up be the UN council in 1993 and 1994 are in the process of demonstrating that international repression of serious violations of international humanitarian law is no longer a mere wish, but an unfolding reality.

Future justice requires our support. It is the international community’s hope that such tribunals have the power to provide both compensation and protection for children of war. But, will these rulings be able to prevent further cases from happening?

These kinds of questions have yet to be answered. Because the international tribunals are fairly recent (about 10 years old), it is almost impossible to tell whether they will have an effect on the use of child soldiers or on the occurrence of some of the world’s worst crimes. All that is known right now is that the effects of war are mutilating thousands of children, both internally and externally. As stated previously, this must not continue. The international population must immediately address this issue. The youth of this planet are the future, and if we continue to stand by and watch while their minds and bodies are corrupted by the violent, harsh effects of war, our world is doomed to certain darkness.

It is time to take action. Support the ICTs and the ICC. Become active in awareness raising projects and campaigns. Make a difference in your school, community or city and you will help make a difference in the lives of war-affected children all over the globe.

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For the Cause of Freedom: The IRA by Kevin Whelan

The Irish Republican Army is a nationalist group that opposes British rule in Northern Ireland. Also known as the IRA, the Irish Republican Army began with a purpose not only to liberate all of Ireland from British rule, but also to protect the Catholics living in Northern Ireland. Since then, the country has gone through changes, and in response, the IRA has altered its tactics to try and gain success. Although their cause is the same, and they still fight for liberation and total autonomy, their means by which they go about doing so have changed quite dramatically over the years.

History of the IRA

The IRA was started on Easter in 1916, when a group of Irish militants refused to wait any longer for their independence from Britain. The small group launched a revolt against British rule, called the Easter Rising. Although the Easter Rising was quickly suppressed, the execution of 15 rebel leaders stirred wider support for their cause. When Britain again failed to grant Ireland’s independence in 1919, civil war erupted in Ireland. From this, England agreed to give back only 26 out of the 32 counties in Ireland to Irish control; an unacceptable amount for the IRA. Again, the IRA began to rebuild. The civil war continued with armed fighting. Those who were against the proposed treaty fought against those who believed England should still own part of Ireland. In the early period of the IRA’s existence, they were quite passive and took part in marches and other kinds of peaceful resistance. As the years went by, peaceful protests were no longer enough to make any changes. Members of the IRA carried on a guerrilla war against British forces and their supporters. Civilians were often caught in the crossfire. During this time period, and up until the 1960’s and 1970’s, nationalism was strong.

On 9 August 1971, the government of Northern Ireland introduced internment without trial in a desperate attempt to stop the escalating violence. The security forces attempted to arrest more than 400 republicans in a dawn raid. But the intelligence was so poor that more than 100 of those arrested had to be released within days. At first, those captured were given prisoner of war status, but that too was taken from them and they began to treat them as terrorists. This sparked further anger within Ireland.

In 1980, a hunger strike began. Although IRA leadership had reservations about the tactic, the strike went on. Bobby Sands became the first of 10 republicans to die from the strike. His death turned him into republicanism’s most important martyr since the leaders of the 1916 uprising and he remains a modern day hero for young republicans today. No less than 70 000 people attended his funeral and took part in a march of protest under his name.

Protestants vs. Catholics
Ireland was, and still is, separated into two groups: Protestants and Catholics. When England was dividing the country in 1919, they drew a border around the Northern part of Ireland where they believed there to be the most Protestants. This separation caused quite a bit of conflicts within the country. The IRA mainly represented Catholics as they were the ones who opposed British rule. The Protestants originated from the English settlers who came during the time of British rule. Generations later, the Protestants still hold ties with the British, and they do not want to forgo British rule in their counties.
Both the Protestants and the Catholics have a great deal of history behind them. It goes back to the 1920s when Ireland was partitioned, and Catholics in Northern Ireland believed they were on the wrong side of the border, as if they had been kicked out of their political heritage. They felt that it was their country to begin with and that they should rightfully have it back. On the contrary, Protestants felt that Northern Ireland was just as much theirs as the Catholics'; they have lived there for generations and they wanted to continue ties with the British.

Bloody Sunday

Bloody Sunday was a major event in the Northern Ireland conflict. It was the last time there had been a major march where thousands of ordinary people came out onto the streets in protest. The march had been declared illegal by the authorities, but it went ahead. The authorities decided it was too large to try and control. When the march was coming to its destination, at what was known as Free Day Corner, a section of the crowd broke away and started to storm British army troops. The army, who had been engaged the previous weekend in a fray with the Catholic community in Derry, overreacted. They chased the stone throwers and shot live rounds into a weaponless crowd. They shot 13 dead and a 14th died later in hospital. That was the first large assault on the Catholic community, which only served to unite them.

The result was that British authority in Northern Ireland collapsed completely. World opinion was very disapproving of what had happened that day, as people’s civil rights were taken away. It moved the situation from politics to straightforward warfare between the IRA and the army and police.

Two months after Bloody Sunday, the British government took over direct responsibility for anything it had done in Northern Ireland. Bloody Sunday was one of the biggest events that led people to join the IRA. Following the event, hundreds tried to join and many had to be turned away.

Violence and the IRA

There is a misconception that the IRA and other paramilitaries have used mindless violence to achieve their goals. The violence has always been used for a purpose. Simply put, violence is used as a communicative dimension. It is saying to the state or to government that if they are not willing to negotiate, there will be casualties to pay until they are ready to talk. The type of violence has changed over time. Initially, it was used as armed propaganda: a means by which the IRA could get the attention of the British government. They would use methods such as car bombs to create the massive economic destruction. This economic loss was planned to make the British feel that its costs were too high to keep the region, and increase a demand to release Northern Ireland. However, this policy backfired and the loss of innocent lives greatly reduced the popularity of the IRA. It also resulted in Protestant retaliation and the cycle of sectarian violence in the form of “Tit-for-Tat” killing. This type of violence continued for many years. Ultimately, it resulted in the IRA reconsidering its methods and it began to involve itself in the political process via Sinn Fein, its political wing.

Peace Agreements and the Conflict Today

In early 1998, dialogue with the British Administration and loyalists began. After many years of fighting, the Good Friday agreement was recorded and a “power sharing” government was formed. The final agreement was posted to every household in Northern Ireland and put to a referendum on May 22. A referendum was also held in the Irish Republic. The result was overwhelmingly in favor of the Agreement: 71.2% of people in Northern Ireland and 94.39% in the Republic voted “Yes” to accepting the agreement. For the first time in years, the Catholics and the Protestants had near equal political power. When the IRA issued a ceasefire, the loyalists responded likewise. The ceasefire is still in effect.

Through the years, Ireland has had a great deal of problems with England. The IRA has tried a large variety of tactics to achieve liberation from Britain since its formation in 1916. They began by having peaceful, unarmed protests in the streets. When that didn’t work, they moved to an armed struggle against the British occupation. As violent assassinations and bombings began to lose popularity, sectarian violence began to take place; when one person killed a Catholic, a Protestant would be killed soon after, and vice-versa. It became a battle between religions as much as it was a battle against opposing countries. It has only been recently that the two sides have agreed to try a political approach and to be able to come to an agreement. So far, it has been peaceful and one can only hope that it stays this way.

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Get Involved: Online Volunteering by Wojciech Gryc

Around the world, there are thousands upon thousands of organizations working to foster the development of nations just beginning to stabilize or develop into industrialized or developed nations. It is within many of these countries that organizations accept volunteers from the local area and even from other countries to aid in the development of proper healthcare and better the use of information technology, among many other things.

It would be an understatement to say that volunteers are a great resource for the many organizations that use their skills and knowledge. Indeed, many organizations exist solely thanks to the volunteers that staff them. In most cases, however, volunteers in developed nations wanting to volunteer for aid organizations in developing nations usually had to volunteer internationally and travel to the area in question. Thanks to the widespread use of the internet, this has now changed: there are now many opportunities for volunteers to use their skills to aid non-profit organizations (NPOs) half a world away by working on their own computers and being online!

Simply put, the internet is a valuable tool for both organizations and individuals wanting to help out. Through its global use and the millions of people now being online, the internet allows NPOs to connect and collaborate with each other on projects of different magnitudes. Furthermore, this same tool allows individuals to connect with each other for the same reason; many projects have been started and became extremely successful with dedicated groups of volunteers working online. Finally, the internet allows individuals to also connect with NPOs, allowing those interested to share their skills and talents with those around the world. One example of a site that allows visitors to take advantage of this tool is called Idealist (www.idealist.org), which allows people to post and find specific volunteer opportunities and connect with other like-minded people.

It is through such tools that online volunteerism is possible. There are many tasks that must be done on computers, and many of them can be done without having volunteers ever step into the office of the organization that requires the job be done. Aside from the regular perks and benefits of volunteering, such as helping to bring about a positive change and knowing one is doing something good, online volunteering allows individuals an increased amount of freedom. Those with jobs or going to school and willing to donate some of their effort, for example, may not be able to do so on a regular basis due to work. However, online volunteering can be done at any time of day, with organizations giving one tasks that must be completed by a certain deadline, but that can be done at any time of day! Furthermore, volunteering online helps volunteers avoid transportation costs and allows them to help local organizations in developing nations without having to travel there. “Online volunteering offers people a really convenient way to make a difference,” states the UN Volunteers Online Volunteering website.

Organizations themselves benefit from such volunteers immensely. Organizations who require help with things like software development or translation can take advantage of skills offered from people thousands of miles away, which saves money when compared to hiring a professional to come in on a regular basis, thus lowering administrative costs and allowing the saved money to be funneled to projects that require the cash. Such a tool also prevents organizations from requiring extra office space or accommodation for volunteers - working online from home frees the organization from the task of providing food or a place to sleep for volunteers.

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Online Volunteering programme strives to take advantage of the internet and connect kind-hearted individuals with organizations in need of volunteers. The site, found at http://www.onlinevolunteering.org/, offers a range of information and tools for volunteers and organizations. Those interested in volunteering can easily submit a resume and then apply for the jobs posted. There is also an easy to use search engine that scans through the job database and finds specific calls for volunteers based on location, type of work required, amount of work, and so on.

Such a program is very useful, and is commendable, as it tries to lessen the digital divide that plagues many developing nations. However, many NPOs in developing nations have little experience organizing volunteers internationally and through the internet. In some cases, response time or volunteer management may be poor, though the risk is well worth taking, as UNV Online Volunteering and the organizations taking part therein allow volunteers to connect with each other and then make a difference on a level that would otherwise be impossible without extensive travel and sacrifice.

Overall, online volunteering is a very good way for people to get involved in international development and local organizations in other countries. It gives people flexible work times and allows them to make a difference around the world. Furthermore, organizations benefit through saving money and spending it on more pressing issues. It is definitely something that those interested in volunteering or in development should explore. Give it a try!

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Comment: Why Abortion is Wrong by Chris Marmion

Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the most important right Canadians have. “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.” Unfortunately, not all human beings have access to this right. In fact, this right is violated every day, at the expense of thousands of babies. Law has not always been morally correct, but it is our job as human beings to make sure that we are in a constant state of evolution concerning our laws, especially those concerning human rights. Abortion is legalized murder; it is currently allowed, which is morally wrong. To end the thousands of deaths, we must look towards a new, true and just definition of what a human being is. We must also look towards our past experiences and learn to benefit from them in order to stop this form of legalized murder.

Canada and its laws are founded upon principles recognizing God’s supremacy. I would like to believe that this is not a simple statement, and that these words hold more that just a historical significance. Unfortunately, our Canadian laws do not reflect the supremacy of God. Before any law is the law of God, which is stated in the foundation of principles found in the Canadian laws. When looking at what a human being is, we must look at the definition of a human being in the religions perspective. Human beings are distinctive and one of a kind because of one thing we have: a soul. The spiritual soul elevates man above all other species of the animal creation and survives the body to live forever. At the time of conception, the embryo begins to live a distinct individual life, and this is where we become human through the receiving of a soul from God. The embryonic child has a human soul and therefore is a human being from the time of its conception. It has an equal right to its life with its mother; therefore neither the mother, nor medical practitioner, nor any human being can lawfully take that life away. Nobody has the power to put an innocent person to death. It is the undoing of God’s will and cannot be justified by any means. Although abortion is legal and is a right, it is a direct violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and more importantly, is a violation of the most important law: "Thou shalt not kill".

Such religious beliefs on abortion are not shared by all, but the murder of innocent lives is not only a religious issue; it is an issue of morality. Although Christianity has a concrete and true definition of a human being, for those who do not practice the same religion it is important to look at the biological definition of what a human being is. Biologically, life begins at conception, too, and therefore a child in the womb is indeed a human being. Some would say that because it is dependent upon the mother to survive, it is only an organ, and this could not be further from the truth. If I were to describe something with a heart, eyes, blood running through the veins, a skeleton, a brain that controls movement of the muscles and organs, could I not be describing every human being? These qualities also belong to a child upon its third trimester. After this point, nothing new develops or begins functioning and the child only grows and matures. Life is a constant growth and maturing which we all experience and are still experiencing and there is no possible argument to rationalise the murder of something that is, by definition, human.

As far as a child being dependent upon the mother, and therefore an organ of the parent, this is completely irrational. Mentally handicapped people are dependent on others; people in commas are not conscious; and people on respirators are dependent upon a machine; but all of these people are awarded the definition of being human. How can we deprive someone of being human when they have extremely similar or almost identical qualities with other people in our society? An unborn child is a human being and deserves the rights of a human being. We have established a definition in today’s society simply to serve the lifestyles of those not wanting to have a child. We cannot afford to let someone’s lifestyle take precedence over a baby’s life. Nobody has the right to a harmful lifestyle, but everybody has the right to life.

History repeats itself, and this is a valid statement that we must reflect upon while discussing abortion. It is a common mistake to say that in the situation of abortion, “It is my business, and you have no power over that which is mine”. In history, this argument has arisen many times, with the most well known historical event being slavery. During the time of slavery, slave owners said that because they owned the slaves, they could not be told how to treat them. At the time, just like the unborn, African Americans did not hold the title of being “human”. We must learn from this situation and award the characterization of a human being to those that are in desperate need of it in order to put an end to the murder of thousands upon thousands of innocent Canadians a year. Laws must change with the times, just as they did in the situation of slavery.

We must also look at the situation during World War Two. Jewish people were put in concentration camps and killed by the millions because they, too, were deemed not “human”. If you were to do this in Canada at that time, you would have been convicted of murder. Today, if you were to have an abortion in Germany you would be committing an act of murder. It is important that we do not overlook events which occurred in the past, and it is important that we consistently look towards the future and find ways to continually improve the way we treat human beings in Canada, and across the world.

The current definition of a human being is one of the past and we must look towards the future by redefining what a human being is. We must learn from our mistakes in the past so that those who rightfully deserve the benefits of the charter are able to receive them. Murder is murder, and we cannot justify that which is legal if it still contradicts our morals and ethics. Whether you are a Christian, Muslim or and atheist, a human being is a universal concept. This is not a struggle to impose the morals of one religion on a people, but to impose humane morals on the world and put an end to the social injustice which is abortion.

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