"The new laws purport to be for the protection of exploited persons," she said. "They are patronizing and wrong-headed, and they criminalize the purchase of sexual services."

She said the new laws also make it illegal for the owner of a newspaper or website to take money for the placement of sex trade ads. It is also illegal to be paid by a sex trade worker for a service such as being a bodyguard.

"When it's illegal for a person to pay for sex then it has to happen somewhere where no one can see," she said. "That's what happened for my sister. It wasn't illegal to buy sex or sell sex, but it was illegal to communicate for the purposes of buying or selling sex in a public place or a place that could easily be seen."

Prostitution was therefore pushed into obscure, dangerous places where no one can see what's happening, and where anything can happen to the sex worker.

"The laws against sex work stigmatize sex work," she said. "I don't really think there is any reason why sex work needs to be seen as such a bad thing. When it is happening between consenting adults it is a service like any other."

The search for Sarah and the realization that she was murdered was a long and hard journey, Maggie said. While she admits that she "abhorred" the life her adoptive sister lived on the streets, she loved her and wanted to help her.

When she began searching for her missing sister she became familiar with the world in which she lived, and found that it wasn't the "evil, terrible place" she had imagined, but rather it was a community.

"In a way, finding out what has happened to somebody shuts down the other million possibilities that are running in your head," she said. "It is better to know the truth, no matter how horrific."

Admission to the Aug. 19th talk is free. It begins at 6:15 p.m. in the program room of the main branch of the Guelph Public Library.