Canada has repealed historic indecency and anti-abortion laws that targeted women and LGBTQ community, said the government on Tuesday, in a criminal justice system reform that will allow people convicted under such offences to clear their records, reported news agency Reuters.
The expunged laws had targeted women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) individuals' access to abortion as well as to bathhouses, nightclubs and swinger clubs, considered to be safe spaces for queer communities.
"Canadians deserve non-discriminatory policies that put their safety first," Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth said in the statement.
The government realises that past laws were unjust and compromised the freedoms of LGBTQ communities and women.
The indecency laws have been used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to raid gay nightclubs and bathhouses across Canada, charging customers, employees and performers. In 1981, some 286 men were charged under these outdated laws in Toronto for being at a bawdy house.
The anti-abortion laws in the country have been outdated since 1988 when the Supreme Court of Canada named the law unconstitutional.
As these laws have been abolished, people with previous convictions can now apply for an expungement order for free under the 2018 Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act, which allows for permanent destruction of "historically unjust records of conviction."
Applicants will need information regarding the conviction to meet certain criteria. If the person convicted has passed away, a family member or trustee may apply on their behalf, the report stated.