Katarina MacLeod

Katarina MacLeod (born 1973) is a former sex worker who provides aid to victims of human trafficking,^[1] working with police and helping girls and women exit prostitution.^[2] She became a prostitute when she was 21^[3] because she was a single parent who lacked education and needed to make money in order to support her children.^[4] She remained in the sex industry for 17 years.^[3] During this time, she lived in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.^[5] While she was in the sex industry, some of her fellow prostitutes were only 12 years old.^[6] MacLeod's name at birth was not Katarina; she chose the name once she had left the sex industry because she associated her old given name with the abuse and violence she experienced as a prostitute.^[7] In relation to Bedford v. Canada, in which brothels were legalized in Ontario, MacLeod said, "I feel that the majority of prostituted women who support legalization feel trapped by their choices, because it is easier to continue the lie rather than admit to yourself that something is wrong."^[8] In 2013, MacLeod joined Jaclyn Miles in speaking at The Freedom Tour, a conference about human trafficking.^[9] In May 2013, MacLeod spoke at a screening of Nefarious: Merchant of Souls in Peterborough hosted by Canadian Baptist Women of Ontario and Quebec.^[10]

References