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Comments
on the Bill
The
Association has a long history of supporting human rights principles
in New Zealand. This Bill seeks to afford rights and protections
to sex workers that all other people in society have access to;
those rights and protections being in the areas of employment, safety
and health. There are clearly a range 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. The Association strongly
supports this Bill on human rights grounds.
The
Association welcomes this Bill as a necessary first step to improving
the living and working conditions of sex workers. Our submission
outlines the reasons why we endorse the Bill's decriminalisation
model. We also briefly discuss why we would not support an alternative
model of legalisation.
Occupational
Safety and Conditions of Work
Citizens
Advice Bureaux receive a lot of enquiries in the area of employment
conditions and occupational safety and health. Indeed, it is one
of our 'Top 5', with over 30,000 enquiries in this area in the past
2 years. It is not surprising, however, to note that Citizens Advice
Bureaux receive very few enquiries in this area from sex workers
in relation in their work. This is primarily because sex workers
know they have no rights, or that authorities will not enforce these
rights and protections. We refer to things such as basic protections
from violence and unsafe work environments.
The
Association supports the provisions in this Bill that ensure sex
workers are given rights in the areas of occupational safety and
health, and that these are enforced. We are aware of no other industry
where the tenets of occupational safety and health are dismissed
because the workforce is considered able to appreciate all the risks
inherent to their work and to accept them as part of their job.
The Association endorses clauses 7 (protection against coercion)
and 8 (right to refuse to provide commercial sexual service).
While
the passing of this Bill will enshrine these protections in law
it will still be necessary to ensure these are enforced. This will
be dependent on society's attitudes about sex workers' rights, more
specifically the attitudes of the Police and the Courts. That is,
Police and the Courts must understand that a rape, for example,
that occurs against a sex worker when they "refuse to provide a
commercial sexual service" (Clause 8) is no different from a rape
against any other individual.
Evidence
suggests that Police will need to put effort into educating officers
to ensure they become sensitive and aware of the issues faced by
sex workers. A recent study of sex work in Christchurch revealed
that 20 per cent of workers did not believe the police would help
them following an "adverse event", for example, being robbed, threatened,
assaulted or raped. A further 66% of workers thought that 'some'
police cared about the safety of sex workers, and 15% did not believe
that 'any' police cared about their safety.
[Plumridge, L and Abel, G (2000), "Services and
information utilised by female sex workers for sexual and physical
safety," New Zealand Medical Journal, September 2000; 113: 370-372]
The
Association also strongly supports clause 9, which protects children,
under the age of 18 years, against exploitation in relation to prostitution.
Sexual
health
Another
key area of the Bill relates specifically to sexual health. The
Association endorses clause 6, which ensures brothels and businesses
of prostitution promote safer sex practices. This clause, which
places the onus on operators of brothels to provide good information
about safe sex and condoms, is a good first step towards improving
New Zealand's sexual health culture.
Further,
research has shown that while many sex workers get safe sex information
and sexual health services from their general practitioner or other
health service, informal peer relationships and networks play a
valuable role in educating and informing workers.
[Plumridge, L and Abel, G (2000), cited above]
The
Association recommends that more consideration be given to ensuring
good information, education and promotion about sexual health and
safe sex be provided through informal peer networks and community
organisations.
Legalisation
model
The
Association supports the decriminalisation model inherent in this
Bill. It provides greater protection for sex workers than an alternative
legalisation model would. The experience with similar legislation
in Australia shows that legalisation and licensing of prostitution
creates an unequal regime of "illegal" and "legal" sex work that
excludes many workers from necessary health and safety protections.
[Banach, L, "Sex work and the official neglect of
occupational health and safety: The Queensland experience." Harcourt,
C, "Whose morality? Brothel planning policy in South Sydney." Pinwill,
S, "Occupational health and safety in the Australian sex industry:
The ACT experience." Sullivan, B, "Prostitution law reform in Australia:
A preliminary evaluation." These references: Social Alternatives,
July 1999, 18(3)]
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