Decriminalisation as Partnership: An overview of Australia's sex industry law reform model

Submitted by: Scarlet Alliance, Sydney, Australia

Input for: Expert Group Meeting: "Violence Against Women: A statistical overview, challenges and gaps in data collection and methodology and approaches for overcoming them," 11-14 April 2005, Geneva, Switzerland

Topic: Violence against women in the sex industry

Introduction

"Decriminalisation — All laws criminalising the sex industry be removed and the industry be regulated through standard business, planning and industrial codes/laws."

— Metzenrath S & Banach L. (2000) Principles for Model Sex Industry Legislation. Sydney: Scarlet Alliance and AFAO.

Sex workers, sex worker organisations and their support services in Australia know that legal frameworks have a significant impact on the health and safety of sex worker communities. The state of New South Wales (Australia is divided into six States and two Territories) has decriminalised the sex industry. Decriminalisation has played a strong role in supporting the Australian health strategies such as the Australian National HIV Strategy and Australian health promotion strategies. Decriminalisation supports Australian national health strategies by allowing wide participation by sex worker communities. Sex workers, in accordance with these national health strategies, continue to call for the decriminalisation of the sex industry on a national level in Australia. 'The prevalence of HIV and STIs amongst Australian sex workers has been one of the lowest in the world, proving that decriminalisation and health promotion strategies have succeeded.'

However, the successes of decriminalisation and the resulting benefits of the community partnerships with sex workers has been largely ignored and receive only sporadic credit and support from lawmakers and governments. Decriminalisation has come to a stand still in Australia. The diversity in laws, heavy regulations in some states and the fact that decriminalisation is not being implemented at a national level is damaging Australia's good record on HIV and sex workers' rights. States that address sex industry law reform inevitably begin to revisit arguments for licensing and regulatory interventions. Sex workers, their community organisations and supporters continually return to familiar arguments to maintain their successes.

Punitive and regulatory approaches

Prohibitionist policies and punitive measures that attempt to regulate the sex industry drive sex work activities underground. Decriminalisation allows sex workers to voluntarily access health services and other services. Where sex work activities are criminalized, sex workers are exposed to harassment and exploitation. Sex workers are less likely to report crimes and their rights are often not recognised. Prohibition of sex work means that police, legal, and health services can discriminate against sex workers, creating an environment where sex workers are compromised by institutionalised prejudices. Prohibition promotes negative stereotypes of sex workers and stigma, which can severely affect the professional and personal lives of sex workers.

Current Australian situation

New South Wales (NSW) is widely regarded as the most collaborative and deregulated state of Australia with regard to the sex industry. Other Australian states and territories fluctuate between criminal and public health models. Decriminalisation was originally introduced to reduce police corruption in NSW. Decriminalisation has also removed significant barriers and has enabled sex worker communities to mobilise.

Australia does not implement decriminalisation of the sex industry on a national level. Each state and territory develops its own legislation for the sex industry. States and territories administer regulations and legalisations with police and local councils. This lack of national cohesion has created a situation in which brothel-based businesses, massage parlours, private workers, escort agencies and street based sex workers are often dealt with in very different ways in each state or territory.

Local councils increasingly localise and discriminate against the sex industry. Such discrimination is inconsistent with the current Australian National HIV and Health Promotion Strategies. Local councils are federally directed to allow sex work businesses to operate legitimately, but ban the sex industry with zoning bylaws. Driven by stereotypes, community fears and biases, councils have become staunch regulators of the sex industry. Street-based sex work in NSW remains heavily regulated by local councils. Sex worker organisations and projects receive reports from sex workers that local councils have colluded with police to gain entry to their workplaces and enforce specific zoning regulations.

Enabling sex worker communities

The occurrence of HIV in Australia and internationally was a crucial moment in how governments approached the politics of health care. Community development is based on the fundamental understanding that successful interventions come from the knowledge and ideas inside the community rather than from outside the community . Where Australia has followed this model, sex worker communities have mobilised as community-based organisations (CBOs) and work in partnership with the government to achieve public health goals. Sex worker communities working in partnership with the government are able to participate and collaborate with governments to achieve public health goals and have developed their own services and programs. Decriminalisation, and the funding of community-based responses including sex worker peer-based strategies, has been a resounding success in Australian public health.

Sex worker communities in Australia have developed and delivered diverse forms of services for their own members. Sex worker projects employ past and present sex workers as 'peer educators', who provide services, support and information to those in the sex industry. Sex workers in Australia have great knowledge about safe sex practices, and this knowledge can in part be attributed to decriminalisation and community-based responses to HIV. Decriminalisation of the sex industry gave sex workers the opportunity to develop expertise and specific negotiating skills for safe sex with clients. Sex workers in Australia educate others by example at work, thus educating the wider community who access their services. This is a key element to Australia's successful response to HIV. Sex industry community-based development helps sex workers better negotiate with and educate their clients.

Conclusion

Scarlet Alliance recognises decriminalisation as the best model of sex industry legislation because it supports the occupational health and safety, working conditions and human rights of sex workers. Evidence shows that there are great public health 'wins' with decriminalisation. As Australia slows in using this model, anti-sex work reformists and lawmakers undermine the positive public health outcomes of decriminalisation. This is counterproductive to public health and denies the vital role of sex workers in quality public health outcomes.

To learn more about decriminalisation see the Scarlet Alliance website: www.scarletalliance.org.au/pub/model_principles00/document_view

Submitted by:

• Scarlet Alliance
  GPO Box 2072
  Canberra ACT 2601
  Australia
  Tel: +61 0 411 985 135
  Email: communications@scarletalliance.org.au
  Web: www.scarletalliance.org.au