No criminal charges laid since conversion therapy ban imposed, Ottawa says

The Justice Department says it is not aware of any charges or prosecutions under the new criminal code offences prohibiting conversion therapy, which came into force last year.

Gemma Hickey says when they were in their teens, they went to a faith-based conversion therapy practitioner who had them pray and read literature to try to make them heterosexual.

“When I was vulnerable, I went to see someone, because I thought she could help me. And in the end, it almost resulted in me ending my life,” Hickey said in an interview.

Hickey, who is now in their forties, said that vulnerable young people are still undergoing such treatment, and it is going unreported despite the practice becoming a crime a year ago.

The Justice Department says it is not aware of any charges or prosecutions under the new criminal code offences prohibiting conversion therapy, which came into force on Jan. 7 last year.

Conversion therapy is the practice of attempting to change an individual’s sexual orientation to heterosexual or to change their gender identity to match the sex they were assigned at birth.

Michael Kwag, a director at the Community-Based Research Centre in Toronto, said there was “jubilation” when the law was passed, but more work needs to be done so that it can be actioned on by prosecutors and police.

“Enforcement was always going to be a major issue with a criminalization approach to ending conversion practices,” Kwag said.

He said that historically, LGBTQ communities have had a “fraught relationship” with police services, but the criminal justice system continues to require victims to come forward and make a complaint.