Telling Stories: Sex Workers’ Rights in Aotearoa New Zealand
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Date
2019
DOI
Open Access Location
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
School of Social and Cultural Studies Victoria University of Wellington
Rights
Abstract
The New Zealand Prostitutes’ Collective (NZPC) is an
organisation founded on the rights, welfare, health,
and safety of sex workers in Aotearoa New Zealand
and globally. The collective is committed to ensuring
the agency of sex workers in all aspects of life. After
years of lobbying by the NZPC to overturn an archaic
law founded on double standards, whereby sex workers
and third parties were prosecuted for acts such as
soliciting and brothel keeping, the Prostitution Reform
Act 2003 saw the decriminalisation of commercial
sex activities and allowed for third parties to operate
brothels. Aotearoa New Zealand remains the only
country to decriminalise most commercial sex work
and endorse the rights of sex workers. Dame Catherine
Healy has been with the NZPC since its inception in
1987. As the national coordinator she is a vocal lead
activist and advocate for sex workers’ rights. She also
publishes extensively on sex workers’ rights. In 2018,
Catherine was presented with a Dame Campion to
the New Zealand Order of Merit in acknowledgment
for working for the rights of sex workers. Dr Denise
Blake is an academic and the chair of the NZPC Board.
Denise has been involved in the sex industry in a variety
of roles for a number of years, and also advocates
strongly for the rights of sex workers. In this interview,
Catherine talks to Denise and Amanda Thomas about
her work and the history of the NZPC.
Description
Keywords
Aotearoa New Zealand, Decriminalisation, Sex work
Citation
Counterfutures: Left Thought and Practice Aotearoa, 2019, 2019, 8 pp. 141 - 162