Out of Sight, Out of Mind: New Zealand’s Latest Attempt at Prostitution Reform
<p>The Prostitution Reform Act 2003 decriminalised all aspects of commercial sex work. It was believed this would reduce the presence of prostitutes on the streets and the associated harms, in particular neighbourhood nuisance, increased violence and greater presence of underage persons engaging in prostitution. However, street-based prostitution and harm reduction has not occurred. This has prompted attempts to confine the parameters of the decriminalised prostitution regime: The Manukau City Council (Control of Street Prostitution) Bill, which was ultimately unsuccessful and led to The Manukau City Council (Regulation of Prostitution in Specified Places) Bill, and the recent Prostitution Reform (Control of Street-based Prostitutes and Their Clients) Amendment Bill. This paper considers how these attempts have proposed to achieve amelioration of the harms around street-based prostitution. This paper argues legislation will only further frustrate the issues because criminalisation, both in the manner proposed by these attempts, and more generally, is inappropriate for addressing issues of street-based prostitution. This paper recommends targeted social initiatives should be implemented as the best model for addressing the harms of street-based prostitution.</p>