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The
New Zealand Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux has joined the
YWCA and the National Council of Women in supporting the Prostitution
Reform Bill. The Association today presented its submission on the
Bill to Parliament's Justice and Electoral Select Committee. Association
CEO Nick Toonen said the Bill seeks to afford sex workers and their
employers the same rights, protections, and responsibilities in
employment and occupational safety and health that all other people
in society have.
"The Association has come out in support of this Bill as a
necessary step in recognising the human rights of sex workers and
improving their safety and conditions of work.The
illegal nature of sex workers' activities is a barrier to their
using our impartial information and advice services, and means that
workers in the sex industry generally do not have the same rights
and access to services as others."
Mr Toonen said that the country's 89 Citizens Advice Bureaux receive
a lot of general enquiries in the area of employment conditions
and occupational safety and health.
"Employment related issues is one of our top five categories
of enquiry. Over the past two years we have handled over 30,000
enquiries in this area. It is not surprising, however, that Citizens
Advice Bureaux receive few known enquiries from sex workers in relation
to their work. This is because sex workers know they have few rights,
and may be fearful of disclosing their occupation. We are aware
of no other industry where employment rights and the tenets of occupational
safety and health are ignored, and believe it is in everyone's interests
to address this situation, as the Bill does. Clearly there are a
number of points of view on the Bill, some focussed on the morality
of sex work. The Association believes that legislation should protect
individuals and the community, rather than enforce any particular
view of morality, and supports this Bill on human rights grounds."
Mr
Toonen welcomed the provisions in the Bill designed to protect children
under the age of 18 from exploitation and involvement in the sex
industry.
"We are concerned that only adults be able to work in the sex
industry, and that these adults be protected by the law in the same
way as any other person."
[Click
here for a copy of the submission]
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