For starters, the decision is far from the moral victory so many will claim. The whole point in decriminalising prostitution was to provide sex workers with the same protections and rights as other employees. There was also the belief that by bringing the sex industry under the jurisdiction of the law, sex workers would be physically safer and have an improved lifestyle. It is public and police awareness that protect sex workers. Properly established brothels enforce safe-sex policies, provide their workers with regular sexual health checks and drug screening and ensure that workers are of legal age.
Sex workers who work on the street are more likely to engage in drug use, be underage, suffer from STIs, or not fit into a particular gender or sexuality box, all of which prevent them from finding work in legitimate brothels. They are also more exposed to risk of rape and assault. Small residential brothels with four or fewer workers are not required to have a brothel licence, giving them no one to answer to regarding how their workers are treated.
By establishing a large central brothel, smaller residential brothels could be forced to close, solving a number of concerns for Manukau Rd residents and their unwelcome midnight callers. Those on temporary visas are not permitted to work within the NZ sex industry. It simply means the sex industry will further spread into residential zones, causing further complaints. The sex industry is dominated by young women, eager to earn money fast, pay off debts and financially support themselves.
Some may enter the industry in an act of financial desperation because jobs these days are poorly paid and hard to come by. Others may feel a sense of sexual empowerment and value the financial opportunities sex work provides. Your access to our unique and original content is free, and always has been.
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