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 (1) , Jenny Lee (2, 3) , Annah Pickering (3) , P. Macioti (4) , Nicola Mai (5) , Anne Fehrenbacher (6) , Calogero Giametta (7) , Heidi Hoefinger (8) , Jennifer Musto (9)

1 Kingston University [London]
2 University of Denver
3 NZPC Aotearoa New Zealand Sex Workers Collect Auc, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
4 La Trobe Univ, Australian Res Ctr Hlth Sex & Soc, Melbourne, Vic 3086, Australia
5 Univ Newcastle, Sch Humanities & Social Sci, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia
6 Univ Calif Los Angeles, Dept Psychiat & Biobehav Sci, Semel Inst, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA
7 LAMES - Laboratoire méditerranéen de sociologie
8 ‎ Berkeley Coll, Div Gen Educ, Fac Social Sci, New York, NY 10017 USA
9 Wellesley Coll, Dept Womens & Gender Studies, Wellesley, MA 02481 USA

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.

Mots clés: sex work; migrant sex workers; sex workers; migrant sex work; New Zealand; New Zealand Model; sexual humanitarianism

Domaines: Sociologie; Etudes sur le genre; Science politique; Géographie

Calum Bennachie, Jenny Lee, Annah Pickering, P. Macioti, Nicola Mai, et al.. Unfinished Decriminalization: The Impact of Section 19 of the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 on Migrant Sex Workers’ Rights and Lives in Aotearoa New Zealand. Social Sciences, 2021, 10 (5), pp.179. ⟨10.3390/socsci10050179⟩. ⟨hal-03269569⟩