Decriminalisation increases sex workers’ safety and well-being. New Zealand decriminalised sex work in 2003 with verifiable success. Over 90% of sex workers said they had additional employment, legal, health and safety rights. One important measure of this is that prior to decriminalisation 47% of brothel workers had refused to see a client in the previous 12 months, after decriminalisation 68% of brothel workers had done this. 70% said they were more likely to report incidents of violence to the police.
For more information see our briefing Why Decriminalisation? and report Decriminalisation of Prostitution: the Evidence.
NSW sex work laws an example to the worldSEX workers from around the world have called on the NSW government to persevere with the state’s pioneering decriminalisation of sex work.Experts from 11 countries have converged on Sydney this week to examine how the sex profession has benefited since it was decriminalised in NSW in 1995.However, […]
SEX workers from around the world have called on the NSW government to persevere with the state’s pioneering decriminalisation of sex work. Experts from 11 countries have converged on Sydney this week to examine how the sex profession has benefited since it was decriminalised in NSW in 1995. However, more than 50 delegates from Africa, […]
The New Zealand Prostitutes Collective (NZPC) turns 25 this year.NZPC is holding an event to launch this at their National Office based in Wellington on Tuesday 6 November.Speakers include Niki Adams from the English Collective of Prostitutes, and Rachel Wotton from Touching Base in New South Wales.As part of the event, the film ‘Scarlet Road’ […]
by Ruth Messinger, American Jewish World Service A few years ago, I traveled to Thailand where I met a sex worker for the very first time. A 37-year-old mother of three, she very succinctly told me about her life: “These were my options: I could be apart from my children for 10 hours each day while […]
by Carolina TalaveraHaving read the article “Legal or not, prostitution remains a harmful institution” by Melissa Farley in DREGS magazine, I write to comment and correct. In her piece, Farley makes a number of claims such as that prostitution is uniquely dangerous and damaging, and supports these claims with statistics and other evidence. On closer scrutiny […]
Denis Hof, Nevada Bunny Ranch owner, proposes a temporary licence to run a brothel during the Olympics.Niki Adams, English Collective of Prostitutes, comments:“Sex workers don’t need or want licensed or legalised brothels so that bosses have more opportunities to exploit us. We want decriminalisation, like in New Zealand, so we can work together collectively and […]
By M G RadhaakrishanFor the group of sex workers on its usual rounds near the Thampanoor Railway Station in Thiruvananthapuram, the night of February 25 appeared no different at first: an altercation with the local autorickshaw drivers opposed to their hanging around in the stand invariably ending in some of the women being bashed up. And […]
The tragic murders of five young women in Ipswich caused an unprecedented outcry. Each of us deserves to be safe regardless of gender, occupation, sexual preference, race, age, nationality, immigration status or lifestyle. Prostitution is a survival strategy to deal with poverty, debt, rape, low wages, homelessness, unemployment… Most sex workers are mothers or young […]
GMB Congress 2006 declared its support for the full and complete decriminalisation of prostitution. The sexual behavior of consenting adults requires no regulation by the state. A better solution: The debate around sex work customarily excludes those who sell sexual services, and the GMB has long worked to combat this through its support for and […]
The Council of Europe recommends that member states: “ . . . refrain from criminalising and penalising prostitutes . . . respect the right of prostitutes who freely choose to work as prostitutes to have a say in any policies at national, regional and local level . . . ensure . . . access to safe […]