The New South Wales Summary Offences Act 1988 is often advocated by New Zealand opponents of street sex work, but does this legislation actually work, or does it render vulnerable street sex workers more vulnerable? In 1988, Nick Greiner's Liberal National Coalition New South Wales state government rolled back some of the advances made through the Prostitution Law Reform Act 1979 and effectively recriminalised some sex work-related activities. Like our own Summary Offences Act 1981 here in New Zealand, the Summary Offences Act 1988 does criminalise some bona fide public nuisance activities- offensive conduct, offensive language, 'obscene' exposure, traffic obstruction, vandalism, violent disorder, public intoxication if it puts others at risk, misuse of motor vehicles, carriage of knives as weapons, misuse of laser pointers, pedophile loitering, the presence of minors in sex clubs, regulation of public assemblies, drug control, dog ownership regulations and prohibition of hunting on private land. However, none of those are the problem. As for sex work, the Summary Offences Act 1988 (NSW) recriminalises living off the earnings of sex work (Section 15), causing or inducing sex work (Section 15A), misuse of massage parlours as covers for sex work (Section 16), allowing premises to be used for sex work other than licensed brothels (Section 17), advertising premises to be used for sex work (Section 18), advertising for sex workers (Section 18A), street soliciting within sight of churches, schools, hospitals or domiciles (Section 19), client kerbcrawling (Section 19A) and public acts of sex work (Section 20). But have Sections 19 and 19A worked in practise? The New Zealand Prostitutes Collective opposes the Manukau antisoliciting bill because they argue that anti-soliciting laws are a particular threat to transgender (and cisgender) street sex workers, as well as transwomen not even involved in the sex industry. Australian research substantiates their concerns, as I discovered when I searched for online information about the risks that the Summary Offences Act 1988 has posed to street sex workers in New South Wales. In 2002, Stewart Smith wrote a report on the operation of the Summary Offences Act 1988 for the Office of the Parliamentary Library in New South Wales. Smith noted that Section 19 had not worked to deter street sex workers, who merely relocated to other geographical areas or paid the fine and were out working once more after doing so. New South Wales State MP Reba Meagher argued that if there were strung-out, high street sex workers, then the stress of possible apprehension and arrest wasn't going to assist them, and might even exacerbate any existing substance abuse problems. She praised the work of NSW's Sex Worker Outreach Project and Cabramatta Drug Intervention Service and argued for the greater involvement of social services in meeting the needs of street sex workers. I strongly agree with Ms. Meagher's statement and wish that either central or Auckland local government would follow her sage observations in our own context. As with the New Zealand Police, Superintendent James McCloskey and Sergeant Mike Lazarus (Kings Cross Police Station) are sceptical about the utility of the Summary Offences Act 1988's Sections 19 and 19A. As frontline police officers, they have observed that street sex workers become acquainted with the identities of Vice Unit police officers and become aware when they are active in a given area, relocating to somewhere else. To insure sex worker safety, McCloskey and Lazarus suggest that there be designated well-lit and accessible working areas for street sex work. In any case, most New South Wales sex work occurs indoors, within brothels, phone or online escort activity and from rental accommodation- which is impossible in the Auckland context, and suggests that if the Auckland City Council's anti-sexworker rental accommodation ban were struck down, some street sex workers might well move indoors. According to a recent report prepared for the Kirby Institute and New South Wales Ministry of Health, there is asymmetry in the enforcement of Sections 19 and 19A of the Summary Offences Act 1988, which means that more street sex workers get apprehended than kerbcrawling clients. Most tellingly, and most decisively, the Summary Offences Act 1988 has increased the risk to street sex workers in Sydney and elsewhere in New South Wales, according to recent research from Phil Hubbard at the University of Kent. Hubbard's study discloses that street sex workers are more likely to be attacked than their counterparts, and that there is greater risk of rape or physical assault in client vehicles, accommodation or public domain areas. Clearly, driving vulnerable street sex workers underground means that they experience escalated risk due to this misguided legislation. Let's not make this mistake in New Zealand. The Manukau antisoliciting bill must be rejected. Recommended: Summary Offences Act 1988 (NSW): http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/soa1988189/ Basil Donovan, Christine Harcourt, Samantha Harcourt, Sandra Egger, Lucy Watchirs Smith, Karen Schneider, John Kaldor, Marcus Chen, Chris Farley and Sepher Tabrizi: The Sex Industry in New South Wales: A Report to the New South Wales Ministry of Health: http://maggiemacneill.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/nsw-sex-industry-report-2012.pdf Phil Hubbard: "Sex Worker Victimization, Modes of Working and Location in New South Wales, Australia: A Geography of Victimization" Journal of Sex Research (2012): 1-13. Madeleine Bridgett and Julie Robinson: Sex Workers and Sexual Assault: The Hidden Crime: Australian Institute of Criminology Conference Paper: 1999. http://www.aic.gov.au/events/aic%20upcoming%20/1999/~/media/conferences/rvc/bridgett.pdf Superintendent James McCloskey and Sgt. Mike Lazarus: "Community Policing and Street Prostitution in the Kings Cross": http://www.aic.gov.au/en/publications/previous%20series/proceedings/1-27/~/media/publications/proceedings/14/mcloskey.pdf Dr Antonia Quadara: "Sex Workers and Sexual Assault: Prevalence, Risk and Safety" Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault Issues Paper 2008: http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/issue/accsa_issues8.pdf Stewart Smith: Control of Prostitution: An Update: New South Wales Parliamentary Library Research Service: Briefing Paper 14/03: http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/publications.nsf/0/50999AE77F9B243ACA256ECF00094172?$File/14-03.pdf Politics and religion commentator Craig Young - 9th May 2013
Credit: Politics and religion commentator Craig Young
First published: Thursday, 9th May 2013 - 10:47am