Sex workers wait for end to shame

By CLAIRE TREVETT and REBECCA WALSH

Every night when Katrina leaves her 5-year-old son to go to work, she wears her "normal clothes".

In the car on the way to her spot, she changes into her prostitute's uniform - leather jacket, long boots, short mini-skirt and stockings.

She is one of many prostitutes working on Auckland's streets this week waiting to see which way the votes will go in Parliament today on proposed legislation that would mean she was no longer a criminal for doing her job, and could rely on the same health and employment rights as other workers.

Katrina said passing the Prostitution Reform Bill would not shoot the profession up the ladder of most-desirable career choices.

But it would make the job safer for those who had chosen it or fallen into it.

Tall and attractive, the 24-year-old does well enough from prostitution to have her own security guards, in an inconspicuous van parked down the street.

Other prostitutes could not afford the same safety measures and had to deal with stroppy clients alone.

"Some people pick us up for the fun of it because they know we can't go to the cops if something happens. If it was decriminalised, it would be safer."

It would also mean police weren't constantly monitoring the red-light districts - a presence that was bad for business.

As she talks, a police patrol car drives slowly past, and an arm waves out the window at her. Another officer, she says, regularly drops off a coffee for her at 4am.

"Some are pretty good. You can't hate them or like them."

She would like the minimum age for becoming a prostitute changed to 21 after seeing girls still in school uniform selling themselves.

"At 18 your judgment is still wrong. They don't trust their gut instinct, all they think about is money."

Although it's not a job she tells her son about, she is there by choice.

"I enjoy meeting the people, and it is a service we're giving. It's also good because there are no strings attached."

Fifty-year-old "Jenny" has been involved in the sex industry for half her life, and believes that if the bill is not passed the industry will be driven further underground.

"I strongly believe if this bill doesn't go through the police will run [amok] through the industry.

"There will be lots of arrests, lots of criminal records for people who shouldn't have them and don't need them ... we are adults consenting to this."

She predicts that if the bill is not passed, the result will be an increase in sexually transmitted diseases, pimping and police entrapment.

A grandmother and taxpayer - she describes herself as an independent contractor on her tax return - Jenny works from an Auckland apartment with three or four other women from 10.30am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

Clients make appointments and she has been seeing some for at least 10 years.

Under present law she could be charged with brothel keeping and face a five-year jail term, which she described as "ridiculous".

She rejects arguments that a law change would increase child prostitution.

Strong laws already covered underage sex, and families and "the system" had to take some responsibility - "You can't blame the industry for everything that goes on.

Jenny will be in Wellington today to watch what she hopes will be the passing of legislation to make life safer and more equitable for sex workers.

"It will mean human rights ... they will have what everyone else takes for granted in a normal job.

"People may not see this as a normal job but it's there, it's not going to go away."

Street worker "Sally" has worked as a prostitute since the early 1980s, after her family rejected her for being transgender, and said discrimination had denied her any form of employment off the streets.

"[Sex] is meant to be a beautiful thing. It's not very cool to sell it, but when you're a person like me you don't have much choice.

"You go on the dole or do this. At least it makes me feel like I'm doing something for my money."

She hopes the bill will pass and bring stronger health regulations for prostitutes - she would like to see compulsory checks and a ban on prostitutes with HIV or Aids.

An Auckland representative of the Prostitutes Collective, who did not want to be named, said a major factor for the country's up to 8000 sex workers was fear of a soliciting conviction.

A conviction often stopped sex workers leaving the industry as it limited other job prospects.

If prostitution were decriminalised, sex workers could work without fear of police entrapment or "feeling like a dirty criminal".

"They don't believe what they're doing is criminal," she said. "It is a consensual act between two adults behind closed doors."

"But they are made to look and feel like criminals. It would be amazing if they were no longer thought of as law breakers."

Clients also backed a law change, saying it would make the industry cleaner and safer for the workers.

One man, a regular at a massage parlour in Auckland, said the laws would not affect him.

But he thought proper regulation of brothels was a positive move for a big business.

The man, who asked not to be named, said: "I will still come here either way.

"The benefits are, I suppose, that you know the place is being run by business people rather than the possibility that criminals are behind the place.

"It makes it safer for the girls."

Another client, who said he was a teacher but also declined to be named, said he did not believe changing the law would remove the stigma attached to prostitution.

He was also concerned that his privacy could be affected.

"I'd be worried if it was too well regulated - there may be ways of keeping records on who visits the places," he said.

For safety reasons, they said, neither of the men went to prostitutes who worked on the street.

- additional reporting, Stuart Dye and Katherine Hoby