| Formation | 1987 |
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| Purpose | Advocate for the rights, safety, health, and well-being of all sex workers. Provide information and services for people who are doing sex work or thinking about doing sex work. |
| Website | www |
The Aotearoa New Zealand Sex Workers' Collective (NZPC), formerly the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective, is a New Zealand-based organisation that supports sex workers' rights and educates sex workers about minimising the risks of the job.
The New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective was founded in 1987 by Catherine Healy and others. Funding was received from a contract in 1988 for HIV/AIDS prevention from the Department of Health. [1] Offices were established in Auckland, Wellington, and Dunedin, and a phone support service operated for Christchurch. These were all mostly run by approximately 40 volunteers, as the Collective had only 1.5 staff members. [1] [2] Advocacy was a big part of the work of the Collective, and they promoted legislative reform of the Crimes Bill which contained a legal double standard, which censured the prostitute, while condoning the client. The first submission they made to this bill was in 1989. [1] They continued to play an active role in the New Zealand Labour Party-led Helen Clark administration passing the Prostitution Reform Act 2003, which decriminalised most forms of adult prostitution in New Zealand. The Prostitution Law Review Committee published in their final report in 2008 that there was no increase in prostitution, and that sex workers were safer. [1]
During the early 1990s, the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective faced significant opposition due to the stigma of sex work and attention around the legislative reform. An example described by Jan Jordan is: "Even the supposedly simple task of having their phone number listed in the telephone directory had been a battle, with Telecom objecting to having the word 'prostitutes' printed in their phone book." [1]
In 1994, a television documentary directed by Clare O'Leary entitled "A Double Standard," was produced to demonstrate the then current problems that the criminalization of sex workers under The Massage Parlour Act 1978 could and were causing before the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 was passed and enacted on 25 June, 2003. Any person committing an offence under the Massage Parlour Act 1978, upon conviction could be issued with a fine not exceeding NZ$200. [3]
By 2018, the Collective employed more people, as well as using volunteers. Part of the success of NZPC is that it is staffed by sex workers; there are only two staff members who are not sex workers – a lawyer, and an accountant. There is a board of trustees, and they are all current or former sex workers. [4] In 2018, NZPC founder Catherine Healy received a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the rights of sex workers, which is a turn-around in the acknowledgement and acceptance of sex work and the part that NZPC played in that. [5]
NZPC receives funding from the Ministry of Health for sexual and reproductive health services. [6] There are branches in Auckland, Tauranga, Manawatu, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin, and a helpline for other regions. [7] A current advocacy focus is the discrimination faced by migrant sex workers in New Zealand because under the Prostitution Reform Act of 2003, migrant sex work is illegal. [4] Ongoing outreach programs are run to support sex workers to be safe. [7] In 2020, during New Zealand's strict level 4 lockdown, as a response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the collective's Auckland manager Annah Pickering said: "Covid-19 hit sex workers particularly hard because of the nature of the job, and also because a big bulk of their clientele comes from overseas — many who book months in advance." [8]
Prostitution in New Zealand, brothel-keeping, living off the proceeds of someone else's prostitution, and street solicitation are legal in New Zealand and have been since the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 came into effect. Coercion of sex workers is illegal. The 2003 decriminalisation of brothels, escort agencies and soliciting, and the substitution of a minimal regulatory model, created worldwide interest; New Zealand prostitution laws are now some of the most liberal in the world.
Prostitution in Thailand is not itself illegal, but public solicitation for prostitution is prohibited if it is carried out "openly and shamelessly" or "causes nuisance to the public". Due to police corruption and an economic reliance on prostitution dating back to the Vietnam War, it remains a significant presence in the country. It results from poverty, low levels of education and a lack of employment in rural areas. Prostitutes mostly come from the northeastern (Isan) region of Thailand, from ethnic minorities or from neighbouring countries, especially Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. In 2019, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimated the total population of sex workers in Thailand to be 43,000.
In Great Britain, the act of engaging in sex as part of an exchange of various sexual services for money is legal, but a number of related activities, including soliciting in a public place, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, pimping and pandering, are illegal. In Northern Ireland, which previously had similar laws, paying for sex became illegal from 1 June 2015.
The English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) is a campaigning group which supports the decriminalisation of prostitution, sex workers' right to recognition and safety, and the provision of financial alternatives to prostitution so that no one is forced into prostitution by poverty. The group works against the social stigma that is associated with prostitution, and the poverty that is sometimes its cause. It provides information, help, and support to individual prostitute women and others who are concerned with sex workers' rights, civil, legal, and economic rights. The organisation was founded in 1975, and its first spokeswoman was Selma James.
Prostitution in Ireland is legal. However, since March 2017, it has been an offence to buy sex. All forms of third party involvement are illegal but are commonly practiced. Since the law that criminalises clients came into being, with the purpose of reducing the demand for prostitution, the number of prosecutions for the purchase of sex increased from 10 in 2018 to 92 in 2020. In a report from UCD's Sexual Exploitation Research Programme the development is called ”a promising start in interrupting the demand for prostitution.” Most prostitution in Ireland occurs indoors. Street prostitution has declined considerably in the 21st century, with the vast majority of prostitution now advertised on the internet.
Prostitution in Myanmar is illegal, but widespread. Prostitution is a major social issue that particularly affects women and children. UNAIDS estimate there to be 66,000 prostitutes in the country.
Prostitution in Australia is governed by state and territory laws, which vary considerably, although none ban the selling of sex itself.
Prostitution in Turkey is legal and regulated. The secularization of Turkish society allowed prostitution to achieve legal status during the early 20th century. Known as "general houses" (genelevler) in the country, brothels must receive permits from the government to operate. In turn, the regulatory agencies issue identity cards to sex workers that give them rights to some free medical care and other social services. However, many local governments now have a policy of not issuing new registrations, and in some cities, such as Ankara and Bursa, brothels have been demolished by court order.
Prostitution in South Africa is illegal for both buying and selling sex, as well as related activities such as brothel keeping and pimping. However, it remains widespread. Law enforcement is poor.
The Prostitution Reform Act 2003 is an Act of Parliament that decriminalised prostitution in New Zealand. The Act also gave new rights to sex workers. It has attracted international attention, although its reception has been mixed. The Act repealed the Massage Parlours Act 1978 and the associated regulations.
Prostitution in Zimbabwe and related acts, including solicitation, procuring, and keeping a brothel, are illegal but thriving. Zimbabwe's dire economic situation has forced many women into sex work.
Prostitution in Malaysia is restricted in all states despite it being widespread in the country. Related activities such as soliciting and brothels are illegal. In the two states of Terengganu and Kelantan, Muslims convicted of prostitution may be punishable with public caning.
Prostitution in Scotland has been similar to that in England under the State of Union, but since devolution, the new Scottish Parliament has pursued its own policies.
Dame Catherine Alice Healy is a New Zealand sex workers' rights activist, field researcher and former prostitute working for decriminalisation of prostitution and generally for the improvement of the sex work profession. She is the national coordinator and a founding member of the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective (NZPC).
Cheryl Overs is a founder and former first director of the Prostitutes Collective of Victoria, the Scarlet Alliance in Australia and the Global Network of Sex Work Projects. Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1957 and educated at University High School and La Trobe University. Overs set up organisations, oversaw events and authored texts that established the place of sex workers' rights within the global response to HIV/AIDS.
The decriminalization of sex work is the removal of criminal penalties for sex work. Sex work, the consensual provision of sexual services for money or goods, is criminalized in most countries. Decriminalization is distinct from legalization.
Sex Industry Network is a peer-based, not for profit organisation, funded by SA Health, a South Australia government organisation. Its aim is to maintain low rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), blood borne viruses (BBVs) and HIV among sex workers and their clients in South Australia.
Prostitution in Oceania varies greatly across the region. In American Samoa, for instance, prostitution is illegal, whereas in New Zealand most aspects of the trade are decriminalised.
Prostitution in Guam is illegal but is practised covertly, especially in massage parlours. Although massage parlours are sometimes raided, generally the authorities turn a blind eye.
Gillian Abel is a New Zealand public health researcher and as of 2021 head of the Department of Population Health at the University of Otago in Christchurch.
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