Unfinished Decriminalization: The Impact of Section 19 of the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 on Migrant Sex Workers’ Rights and Lives in Aotearoa New Zealand

Calum Bennachie, Annah Pickering, Jenny Lee, P. G. Macioti, Nicola Mai, Anne E. Fehrenbacher, Calogero Giametta, Heidi Hoefinger and Jennifer Musto
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Calum Bennachie: Department of Criminology and Sociology, Kingston University London, Kingston upon Thames KT1 2EE, UK
Annah Pickering: NZPC—Aotearoa New Zealand Sex Workers’ Collective (Auckland Branch), Auckland 1010, New Zealand
Jenny Lee: NZPC—Aotearoa New Zealand Sex Workers’ Collective (Auckland Branch), Auckland 1010, New Zealand
P. G. Macioti: Australian Research Centre in Health, Sex and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia
Nicola Mai: School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia
Anne E. Fehrenbacher: Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Calogero Giametta: Department of Sociology, LAMES, Aix-Marseille University, 3007 Marseille, France
Heidi Hoefinger: Faculty of Social Sciences, Division of General Education, Berkeley College, New York, NY 10017, USA
Jennifer Musto: Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 02481, USA

Social Sciences, 2021, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: In 2003, Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) passed the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 (PRA), which decriminalized sex work for NZ citizens and holders of permanent residency (PR) while excluding migrant sex workers (MSWs) from its protection. This is due to Section 19 (s19) of the PRA, added at the last minute against advice by the Aotearoa New Zealand Sex Workers’ Collective (NZPC) as an anti-trafficking clause. Because of s19, migrants on temporary visas found to be working as sex workers are liable to deportation by Immigration New Zealand (INZ). Drawing on original ethnographic and interview data gathered over 24 months of fieldwork, our study finds that migrant sex workers in New Zealand are vulnerable to violence and exploitation, and are too afraid to report these to the police for fear of deportation, corroborating earlier studies and studies completed while we were collecting data.

Keywords: sex work; migrant sex workers; sex workers; migrant sex work; New Zealand; New Zealand Model; sexual humanitarianism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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