Bill 158 explained in plain English
Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016 enacts new legislation related to human trafficking awareness and child sexual exploitation, and amends the sex offender registry law.
Bill 158, also known as the Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016, establishes a Human Trafficking Awareness Day, creates the Child Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Act, and amends Christopher's Law (Sex Offender Registry), 2000. The Act proclaims February 22 as Human Trafficking Awareness Day. The new Child Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Act allows for protection orders to be made by judges to prevent individuals from contacting or approaching victims of child sexual exploitation or human trafficking. It also creates a civil right for victims of human trafficking to sue their traffickers. Finally, it expands the definition of 'sex offence' in Christopher's Law to include certain offences related to the trafficking of persons under 18 years of age.
- Establishes February 22nd as Human Trafficking Awareness Day each year.
- Creates the Child Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Act, 2016.
- Allows courts to issue protection orders to prevent contact with victims of child sexual exploitation or human trafficking.
- Establishes a new civil claim for victims of human trafficking to sue their traffickers.
- Amends Christopher's Law (Sex Offender Registry), 2000, to include certain human trafficking offences related to minors in the definition of 'sex offence'.
- Victims of child sexual exploitation and human trafficking
- Individuals found to have engaged in child sexual exploitation or human trafficking
- Alleged perpetrators of human trafficking
- Individuals subject to sex offender registry requirements
- The general public (through awareness day and new legal avenues)
- Victims of human trafficking have the right to bring a civil action against their traffickers.
- Individuals found to have engaged in child sexual exploitation or human trafficking may be subject to protection orders.
- Individuals convicted of contravening a protection order face penalties.
- Individuals convicted of contravening publication bans face penalties.
- Individuals may be prohibited from publishing or broadcasting identifying information related to protection order proceedings.
- The Act received Royal Assent on an unspecified date, but is stated as having occurred.
- The Human Trafficking Awareness Day Act, 2016, came into force on the day the Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016, received Royal Assent.
- The Child Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Act, 2016, comes into force on the first anniversary of the day the Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016, received Royal Assent.
- Amendments to Christopher's Law (Sex Offender Registry), 2000, come into force on the first anniversary of the day the Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016, received Royal Assent.
- The Child Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Act, 2016, allows for the awarding of damages, including general, special, aggravated, and punitive damages, and requires defendants to account for profits accrued from human trafficking.
- Penalties for contravening a protection order can be up to $50,000 or two years imprisonment for individuals, or $50,000 for corporations.
- Penalties for contravening publication bans can be up to $5,000 or two years imprisonment for individuals, or $50,000 for corporations.
- Contravention of a protection order is an offence liable to a fine of not more than $50,000 or imprisonment for up to two years, or both.
- Contravention of provisions regarding publication bans or confidentiality is an offence liable to a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment for up to two years, or both, for individuals, and a fine of not more than $50,000 for corporations.
- The exact date the Saving the Girl Next Door Act, 2016, received Royal Assent is not specified in the provided text, which affects the precise commencement dates of the Schedules.
- The specific regulations that will govern procedures for protection orders, service of documents, and court details are not included in the bill text.
- The definition of 'child' in the Child Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Act, 2016, is a person under 19 years of age.
Establishes February 22nd as Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
Source: Schedule 1
Creates provisions for protection orders against perpetrators of child sexual exploitation and human trafficking, establishes a civil right for human trafficking victims to sue traffickers, and defines child sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
Source: Schedule 2
Expands the definition of 'sex offence' to include certain offences related to the trafficking of persons under 18 years of age.
Source: Schedule 3
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced