A suspected prostitute puts on clothes at a hotel room during a police raid, as part of plans to crackdown on prostitution, in Dongguan, Guangdong province, February 9, 2014. Chinese authorities have carried out a rare crackdown on the sex trade in the &q
A suspected prostitute puts on clothes at a hotel room during a police raid, as part of plans to crackdown on prostitution, in Dongguan, Guangdong province, February 9, 2014. Reuters/Stringer

Sex trade workers in New Zealand are the envy of prostitutes in Australia. The reason why working conditions in the flesh trade in New Zealand is better compared to its bigger neighbour Down Under is the Prostitution Reform Act passed by the Parliament in 2003.

That legislation decriminalised sex work and made it legal for prostitutes to work in managed brothels, at home, on the street or get clients through the Internet. Because of the Act, sex trade workers have work contracts, receive salaries weekly, have employers who have the best interest of the workers at heart and enjoy a good relationship with cops, reports the New York Post.

Not only are New Zealand sex trade workers the envy of their sisters and brothers in Australia, New Zealand “is the best place in the world to work in the sex industry,” said Catherine Healy. She is the national coordinator for the New Zealand Prostitutes’ Collective.

Healy explains that because the legislation is the most effective globally when it comes to the sex trade, prostitutes have greater control on their choices. Having various options avoids a monopoly and prevents exploitation, she said.

As a result, sex trade workers in Wellington, Auckland or other New Zealand cities no longer run upon seeing a police. Instead, they could even approach the cops to report abusive, threatening and non-paying clients. In one instance, a police officer even accompanied a client, who didn’t pay for sexual services, to an ATM to ensure the prostitute got paid.

Forbes reports that the Auckland District Court sentenced Viktor Mykhailov, a Ukrainian man who attacked and raped a 34-year-old prostitute at a cemetery in the city, to nine years jail term on two counts of sexual violation and one count of injuring with intent to facilitate sexual violation.

He initially walked Karanghape Road three times and then approached the sex trade worker. She then followed him to the Symond Street cemetery but lost sight of Mykhailov who attacked her from behind. He then dragged her by the hair 40 metres, hit her on the head, kicked her body and raped her.

The incident shows that despite the protection of the law and getting justice when victimised, sex trade workers in New Zealand are nevertheless still exposed to hazards of the sex trade.

To contact the writer, email: vittoriohernandez@yahoo.com

RELATED STORIES