Prostitution Reform Act 2003

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Prostitution Reform Act
Coat of arms of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand Parliament
Royal assent 27 June 2003
Commenced28 June 2003
Administered by Ministry of Justice
Legislative history
Introduced by Tim Barnett
Introduced21 September 2000
First reading 8 November 2000
Second reading 19 February 2003
Third reading 25 June 2003
Related legislation
Status: Current legislation

The Prostitution Reform Act 2003 is an Act of Parliament that decriminalised prostitution in New Zealand. [1] [2] The Act also gave new rights to sex workers. [3] It has attracted international attention, although its reception has been mixed. [3] [4] The Act repealed the Massage Parlours Act 1978 and the associated regulations. [5]

Contents

The Act was introduced as a member's bill by Tim Barnett after being drawn from a ballot. Members were allowed a conscience vote, and on 25 June 2003, the bill passed its third reading by a margin of one vote (60–59), after the country's only Muslim MP, Ashraf Choudhary, voted to abstain, thereby allowing the bill to narrowly pass.

Legislative features

The Prostitution Reform Act decriminalises prostitution and gives new rights to sex workers. The Act also repealed the Massage Parlours Act, effectively eliminating voluntary adult (age 18 and up) prostitution from criminal law and replacing it with civil law at both the national and local levels. The Summary Offences Act remains in force in relation to soliciting, which may be classed as offensive behaviour. [6]

Purpose of the Act

Section 3 of the Act defines its purpose:

The purpose of this Act is to decriminalise prostitution (while not endorsing or morally sanctioning prostitution or its use) and to create a framework that—

(a) safeguards the human rights of sex workers and protects them from exploitation:
(b) promotes the welfare and occupational health and safety of sex workers:
(c) is conducive to public health:
(d) prohibits the use in prostitution of persons under 18 years of age:
(e) implements certain other related reforms.
— Prostitution Reform Act 2003 s3 [7]

Commercial sexual services

Section 11 prohibits advertising commercial sexual services on radio, television, in a cinema, and outside the classifieds section of a newspaper or periodical. Offenders may be fined up to $10,000 for an individual and $50,000 for a corporation.

Section 16 prohibits inducing or compelling a person to provide commercial sexual services, including providing payment or reward derived from such services. Convicted offenders may be imprisoned for up to 14 years.

Section 17 recognises sex workers have the right to refuse to provide commercial sexual services, and entering into a contract to provide services does not imply sexual consent. However, the refusal to provide services does not limit contract law; for example, a client may invoke the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and ask for a refund for services paid for but not rendered. [8]

Section 18 provides that working, or refusing to work, as a sex worker does not affect entitlements to social security or to ACC.

Section 19 prohibits granting any visa and the right to refuse entry to a person who has provided or invested in, or intends to provide or invest in, commercial sexual services. It also adds a condition to all temporary visas that the holder may not provide or invest in commercial sexual services while in New Zealand. Offenders breaching this section are liable to deportation.

Sections 20 to 23 prohibit assisting people under 18 to provide commercial sexual services, receive earnings from commercial sexual services provided by person under 18 years, or contract for commercial sexual services from, or be client of, a person under 18 years. Convicted offenders may be imprisoned for up to 7 years.

History

Existing law

Prostitution-related statute law passed in the second half of the 20th century included the Crimes Act 1961, the Massage Parlours Act 1978, and the Summary Offences Act 1981. Section 26 of the Summary Offences Act prohibited soliciting; Section 147 of the Crimes Act prohibited brothel-keeping; Section 148 lived on the earnings of prostitution; and Section 149 procured. In 2000, the Crimes Act was amended to criminalise both clients and operators where workers were under 18 (the age of consent for sexual activity is 16). Young people under 18 were still classified as offenders after this came into force, until the passage of the Prostitution Reform Act 2003.

Indoor prostitution in New Zealand was governed by the Massage Parlours Act 1978 prior to the Prostitution Reform Act 2003, which enabled brothels to operate under the guise of massage parlours. However, because the act designated massage parlours as public venues, laws prohibiting soliciting in a public place extended to parlour workers, and they were occasionally searched by police acting as clients. [9] Workers in the parlours were also required to inform the police with their names and addresses. It was prohibited to advertise the selling of sex ("soliciting"), establish a brothel, or live off the proceeds of prostitution.

Background

When Labour gained power in 1999, Labour MP Tim Barnett (Christchurch Central) was in charge of introducing a Private Member's Bill to decriminalise prostitution. This was based on the New South Wales harm reduction model (1996). The bill was introduced on 21 September 2000, and was drawn as number 3 in the ballot box.

Party support for the bill came from the Greens, particularly from Green MP Sue Bradford. It was opposed by New Zealand First, who preferred the Swedish approach to criminalising the purchase of sex. Other dissenting opinions were recorded by the National, ACT, and United Future members.

During the parliamentary debates and committees, support came from some women's rights groups, some human rights groups, and some public health groups. The police were neutral. Some feminists opposed the decriminalisation of brothels and pimping (see feminist views on prostitution); Christian groups were divided; and fundamentalist religious groups, including Right to Life, were opposed. [10]

First reading and select committee stage

The Prostitution Reform Act was debated for the first time in the House of Representatives on 8 November 2000 as Bill 66-1. The bill passed by a margin of 87 to 21. The bill was then referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee, which received 222 submissions and heard 66 submissions. On 29 November 2002, the committee delivered its report, and amendments in favour of the bill. Following the 2002 election, the bill was referred to as Bill 66-2.

Second and third reading

On 19 February 2003, the Prostitution Reform Act passed its second reading by a smaller margin of 62 to 56. On 25 June 2003, the Prostitution Reform Act passed its third reading narrowly by a margin of 60 to 59, while one politician, Labour's Ashraf Choudhary, the country's only Muslim MP, abstained. Georgina Beyer, the world's first openly transgender woman MP, delivered an impassioned speech during the debate, identifying herself as a former sex worker and mentioning that she was assaulted while on sex work and was unable to report it to the police. [11] This speech is thought to have swayed the votes of three MPs, including Ashraf Choudhary. [12]

Prostitution Reform Bill – Third Reading [13]
PartyVoted forVoted againstAbstentions
Labour (52)
National (27)–
NZ First (13)––
ACT (9)–
Green (9)––
United Future (8)––
Progressive (2)––
Totals60591

See also

Related Research Articles

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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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in New Zealand</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massage parlor</span> Business offering the services of masseuses/masseurs

A massage parlor, or massage parlour, is a place where massage services are provided. Some massage parlors are front organizations for prostitution and the term "massage parlor" has also become a euphemism for a brothel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in Thailand</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in the United Kingdom</span>

In Great Britain, the act of engaging in sex or exchanging 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, and pimping, are illegal. In Northern Ireland, which previously had similar laws, paying for sex became illegal from 1 June 2015.

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.

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Prostitution in Rhode Island was outlawed in 2009. On November 3, 2009, Republican Governor Donald Carcieri signed into law a bill which makes the buying and selling of sexual services a crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in Australia</span>

Prostitution in Australia is governed by state and territory laws, which vary considerably, although none ban the selling of sex itself.

Prostitution in Singapore in itself is not illegal, but various prostitution-related activities are criminalized. This includes public solicitation, living on the earnings of a prostitute and maintaining a brothel. In practice, police unofficially tolerate and monitor a limited number of brothels. Prostitutes in such establishments are required to undergo periodic health checks and must carry a health card.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crimes Act 1961</span> Act of Parliament in New Zealand

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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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Healy (activist)</span> New Zealand activist

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References

  1. ↑ "Prostitution Law Reform in New Zealand". New Zealand Parliament. July 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  2. ↑ Healy, Catherine (20 June 2018). "Commentary: New Zealand's full decriminalisation means police and sex workers collaborate to try to reduce violence". The BMJ. 361: k2666. doi:10.1136/bmj.k2666. ISSN   0959-8138. PMID   29925627. S2CID   49335554 . Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  3. 1 2 Armstrong, Lynzi (29 May 2017). "Decriminalisation is the only way to protect sex workers – New Zealand has proved it". The Independent. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  4. ↑ Bindel, Julie (30 April 2018). "Prostitution is not a job. The inside of a woman's body is not a workplace". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  5. ↑ Prostitution Reform Act 2003, Part 4 Miscellaneous provisions
  6. ↑ Section 4, Summary Offences Act, 1981.
  7. ↑ "Prostitution Reform Act 2003 No 28 (as at 26 November 2018), Public Act 3 Purpose". legislation.govt.nz. New Zealand Legislation. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  8. ↑ "Prostitutes can be sued over services". www.stuff.co.nz. 26 March 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  9. ↑ Jordan, Jan (31 May 2018). "Sex work: 20th-century sex work". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  10. ↑ Dave Crampton (3 September 2001). "New Zealand: Christians Divide Over Sex-Worker Law". ChristianityToday.com. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  11. ↑ Jordan, Jan (31 May 2018). "Sex work – Legislation and decriminalisation". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  12. ↑ "Trailblazers: Georgina Beyer". The New Zealand Herald . 16 September 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  13. ↑ "Prostitution Reform Bill – Procedure, Third Reading". New Zealand Parliament. 25 June 2003. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
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