The Auckland Council's Community Safety Forum has endorsed a bill which could see street prostitution banned in specific areas across Auckland, as concern swirls about the likely impact on transgender street workers. The Manukau City (Regulation of Prostitution in Specified Places) Bill passed its first reading at Parliament in September. It was introduced by the former Manukau City Council after continuous complaints from residents and some local businesses with the intention of cracking down on street workers in Hunters Corner and the Manurewa Town Centre to deal with noise, anti-social behaviour, human waste and "aggressive solicitation". Newly-elected Auckland Mayor Len Brown told GayNZ.com Daily News in October that the Bill is a local solution to a local problem in Manukau. "We are not asking for it to be localised. But the behaviour is just atrocious. It's just reasonable normal families who have to deal with some really bad stuff. We just could not think of any other way to deal with it," he said. Because the Manukau City Council has been swallowed up by Auckland Council, it will allow the Auckland Council to make bylaws "denoting certain public places as specified places within council boundaries" if the Bill is enacted. This means the Auckland Council could ban street work not only at Hunters Corner and Manurewa Town Centre, but in any other specific parts of Auckland, including Karangahape Rd and its backstreets. The Bill would allow police to stop cars and make arrests without a warrant, purely on suspicion of street prostitution - and fines of up to $2,000 could be issued. All the members of the Auckland Council's Community Safety Forum have endorsed a draft submission in favour of the Bill, except Cathy Casey. For the bill Among those who support the law change are a number of Hunters Corner and Manurewa businesses and many local residents. A major worry in the community is the reports of teenagers and children as young as 11 working the streets, some who have purportedly been put out to work by their parents. Residents say they are tired of the noise that street workers make at night, sex acts in public and the mess left behind with "used condoms being left on footpaths and in car parks" a common complaint. "Most recently there have been instances where street prostitutes and their clients have been noted fornicating on the grounds of the Nathan Park Homestead, our community arts and culture centre and a precious Manurewa landmark," says one local resident. Another local says: "I feel families should be protected from the sex industry in that they should be free to shop without being exposed to the noise, antisocial behaviour, litter, etc. that go along with this industry. People/families do not want the sorts of behaviours associated with the prostitution industry thrown up in their faces." One submitter expressed disgust at her 80-year-old husband being propositioned twice by a prostitute, saying that at his age it's "abhorrent". Many of those supporting the Bill, such as Family First, want it widened to cover all of New Zealand. The group says "prostitution is harmful to workers and communities and the association of prostitution with gang and criminal behaviour, alcohol and drug abuse, and sexual abuse and violence means that we are sentencing more and more vulnerable people to an unacceptable situation." Against the bill There are an estimated 230 street-based sex workers in Auckland who the Prostitutes Collective works with on a weekly basis. A significant number of them are transgender. The outreach group is fiercely against the Bill, saying it's archaic and would mean anyone who police believe 'looks like a prostitute' could be targeted. "This could mean that street based sex workers may not be allowed to work in any place other than inappropriate industrial areas, which are unsafe leaving them vulnerable to violence," says NZPC National Coordinator Catherine Healy. "Police may again use the presence of condoms and other safer sex materials, including health promotion information from NZPC, to gain convictions if this Bill is passed, and any bylaw passed under this Bill," she says. "It is vitally important that street based sex workers be encouraged to carry condoms and acknowledge their role as sex workers and not have health, as well as safety compromised." Healey says the Bill as a whole attacks the most vulnerable in society, and is in breach of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act because it breaches freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of association and freedom of movement. She says there is no "justifiable limitation" to support this Bill. Healey's submission on the Bill for NZPC finishes with a quote from a street worker: "This is my life. Please don't make it any harder on me. I'm only trying to get by." NZPC's Auckland Regional Manager Anna Pickering says the move is about pushing street workers from their existing work spaces and sending them underground. "It's about allowing the police to resume harassment of sex workers, aided and abetted by the capacity to fine them up to $2000," she says. "It's about criminalising sex workers and making them less likely to carry the safe sex materials that are part of the health and safety of the job, the condoms and lube that are part of making sure that they, their clients and their clients' other partners keep safe from sexually transmitted diseases." Pickering says many of the people who work Auckland's streets are from the transgender community, who often say they are there because of discrimination they face applying for "mainstream" jobs. The New Zealand AIDS Foundation is concerned about the impact on the health and safety of sex workers. "It is fundamental that street-based sex workers have access to support services and condom distribution programmes," says Executive Director Rachael Le Mesurier. "This access would be severely limited if street-based sex workers were forced to become less visible as a result of criminalisation." Family Planning Chief Executive Jackie Edmond says her group is particularly concerned about the impact on transgender sex workers, some of whom have been marginalised socially and economically, and may experience further exclusion as a result of being labelled 'criminal'. "Due to their social and economic situation many of these workers are not able to work from home or from a brothel setting, and criminalisation could lead to further economic hardship and abuse without continued police protection." The Human Rights Commission says by introducing a reverse onus of proof, the Bill undermines a fundamental tenet of our criminal justice system - the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty. Children's Commission Dr John Angus is also against the change. He says he strongly supports efforts to stop the commercial sexual exploitation of children, but the Bill is actually more likely to increase young people's vulnerability to harm and exploitation through prostitution. Dr Angus says it will criminalise under 18-year-olds, drive young people involved in sex work underground and make them more vulnerable to harm and exploitation and less visible to those who want to offer them assistance and support. The ECPAT Child Alert Trust agrees it could be counterproductive, saying there should instead be frontline help on the streets. What do police say? Police themselves are not in favour of the Bill, saying working with agencies like NZPC to address health and safety needs of street workers may be more effective in addressing problems associated with street prostitution. Acting General Manager of Development Kevin Kelly says the likely effect of prohibiting street prostitution in a particular area is likely to lead to a displacement of the problem, with street workers moving to another area. "This in turn may result in the Council enacting further bylaws prohibiting prostitution in those additional areas and ultimately could lead to the situation where a 'blanket ban' on street prostitution could be imposed by stealth." Mr Kelly says police are concerned that as more and more areas are designated a 'specified place' where street prostitution is prohibited, sex workers may be forced to relocate to inherently more dangerous areas, placing additional strain on police resources. "Many of the community concerns regarding street prostitution are focused on the associated antisocial and illegal behaviour of street workers and their associates. However, other legislation, including the Summary Offences Act 1981 and the Litter Act 1979 may be more appropriately used to address these problems." He says giving police the power to arrest anyone they suspect of street prostitution without a warrant, means the bylaw would be difficult to enforce without using undercover officers, as street workers are likely to be wary of uniformed police presence in a public area. Where to from here? Auckland City's local boards will now get a chance to have their say on the proposed law change before it goes back to the full council in January. Because it has passed its first reading the Bill will now go before a Government select committee, where the written and oral submissions of those quoted in this article will be taken into account by the sitting MPs. Jacqui Stanford - 5th December 2010