Taking the crime out of sex workNew Zealand sex workers' fight for decriminalisation

Abel, Gillian; Fitzgerald, Lisa; Healy, Catherine; Taylor, Aline

doi:10.1332/policypress/9781847423344.001.0001

Cited by 53 publications

(75 citation statements)

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“…9 The above example of the Rode Draad is one, and did indeed follow a period where the usual managerial and coalition politics in Rotterdam had failed to find a solution to the city's prostitution issues. Other successful cases can be found in Vancouver and New Zealand (Abel et al 2010;Johnson 2015). In fact, our research shows that the success of New Zealand's decriminalization policy should be attributed to the involvement of the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective in the design and implementation of policy making and in providing moral leadership on the issue of prostitution (Wagenaar et al 2017, p. 253).…”

Section: Towards An Effective and Decent Regulation Of Prostitutionmentioning

confidence: 69%

“…The instruments of choice are the prosecution of clients (in the expectation that this will ablate the "demand" for prostitution and send a signal to men that buying sex is morally unacceptable) and immigration law to guard national borders against traffickers and sex workers. Over and against this by now hegemonic position stands a loose coalition of progressive politicians, NGOs, academics and sex worker advocacy organizations that argue for the decriminalization of prostitution (Abel et al 2010;Sanders and Campbell 2014). They favor a nonpenal approach to prostitution.…”

Section: Challenges To Prostitution Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Why Prostitution Policy (Usually) Fails and What to Do about It?

Wagenaar

2017

Social Sciences

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This article describes and discusses the results of two comparative studies of prostitution policy in Europe that are complementary in their design and methodology. One is a comparison of 21 countries using a most different systems design; the other an in-depth comparison of Austria and The Netherlands, using a most similar systems design. The two studies found a remarkable continuity in the inherent approach to the regulation of prostitution and its effects. Despite differences in political regime, administrative organization, and national cultures, since the middle of the 19th century, the purpose of prostitution policy has been to impose strict controls on sex workers and to a lesser extent their work sites. The effects of this approach have been disappointing: despite rhetorical claims to the contrary the control of sex workers has no discernable effect on the prevalence of prostitution in society. The effects of policies aimed at control are mostly negative in that they corrode the human and labor rights of sex workers. The article discusses several challenges to the regulation of prostitution (such as its deeply moral nature and the lack of precise and reliable data) as well a number of other important outcomes (such as the importance of local policy implementation for the effects of regulation). The article concludes with the empirically substantiated suggestion that a form of collaborative governance in which sex worker advocacy organizations participate in the design and implementation of prostitution policy offers real prospects for an effective and humane prostitution policy.

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Section: Towards An Effective and Decent Regulation Of Prostitutionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Section: Challenges To Prostitution Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Prostitution Policy (Usually) Fails and What to Do about It?

Wagenaar

2017

Social Sciences

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“…As hinted at above and discussed in detail elsewhere (Benoit et al 2016b), sex workers in our multi-city study had significantly lower confidence in police than other Canadians, and said that the police especially do a poor job treating sex workers fairly and being approachable and easy to for them to talk to. Decriminalization and regulation may not completely eliminate such prejudicial attitudes and unjust treatment of sex workers by police, but at least some of our participants suggested legal reform may reduce hesitancy by sex workers to involve the police if they witness or experience a crime (Abel et al 2009;Stoltz et al 2007;O'Doherty 2011;Abel et al 2010). The same is likely to be the case regarding sex workers' comparatively high unmet healthcare needs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“Well, It Should Be Changed for One, Because It’s Our Bodies”: Sex Workers’ Views on Canada’s Punitive Approach towards Sex Work

et al. 2017

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Abstract:Background: The regulation of sex work is contentious in all countries, including for governments, the public, and sex workers themselves. Research shows sex workers' perspectives are ignored during policy formation in most cases. This is despite the fact they have unique insider knowledge and are directly affected by the policies that are enacted. Methods: We analyzed the accounts of a heterogeneous sample of adult sex workers (N = 218) residing in different urban cities in Canada to find out their views on current laws and their recommendations for reform. The interviews were conducted in 2012-2013 prior to the implementation of the 2014 Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act. The paper thus provides an opportunity to compare the changes desired by Canadian sex workers with changes put into law by the Act. Results: Although the interview questions did not directly ask about the current legal system, 121 expressed an opinion. Three main themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: (1) the challenges that criminalization posed to sex workers; (2) the workers' suggestions for legal reform; and (3) potential issues with legal reform. Conclusions: We discuss the contributions our qualitative findings make to the scholarship on sex work regulation and call for further research that includes sex workers' voices in decision-making regarding changes to policies affecting their lives.

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“…In the prostitution literature the concept of a policy regime is taken in a somewhat narrower sense. Outshoorn, for example, defines a regime as 'sets of laws and practices governing prostitution that shape prostitution in their respective jurisdictions in distinctive ways' (Outshoorn, 2004a, p 6, but see also Bernstein, 2007;Abel et al, 2010;Chuang, 2010;Weitzer, 2012). As this definition illustrates, prostitution policy regimes are thought to coincide with national borders and consider laws the main vehicle for policymaking.…”

Section: The Primacy Of Policy In Prostitutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This perspective on prostitution policy is borne out for example in Outshoorn's analysis of the national parliamentary debates that resulted in the decision to legalise the commercial exploitation of prostitution in the Netherlands, and her subsequent analysis of the changes that resulted in a proposal for, and subsequent defeat of, a new repressive national prostitution law of 2010 (Outshoorn, 2004a;. There is considerable debate about the type and proper nomenclature of the different regimes (Agustín, 2008;Phoenix, 2009;Abel et al, 2010;Chuang, 2010;Scoular, 2010), but that need not concern us here.…”

Section: The Primacy Of Policy In Prostitutionmentioning

confidence: 99%