Thread by @MKellyPalm

#sexworkiswork activists like to hold up the 'New Zealand model' of 'fulldecrim' as the best way to make the sex industry safer. It's nonsense, and I'm sick of seeing it and having to counter it, so here's a handy thread to link to.

We have two main pieces of evidence 1/

The first is the 2008 Review of the Prostitution Law commissioned by the NZ govt. You can find it here

prostitutescollective.net/wp-content/upl…

They conclude from this the law was so far successful. But let's take a deeper look 2/

on p152 we find that stigma against those selling sex has not lessened
on p153, that brothels that were considered to be exploitative before are no better, with reports of rape and extortion
on p155 the promised 'employee rights' have not materialised as sellers are treated as… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

on p163 sellers are still more likely to be crime victims and local relationships between prostitution and criminal activity have not altered
on p45 despite what is often claimed, women in brothels still feel they have no right to refuse clients
p46 goes on to state that 41% of… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

on p47 the Law Review Committee has some advice to tackle these rates of 'unwanted sex' (RAPE) in brothels - give educational materials to brothel owners
yet on p56 the review states only 5% of sellers have been raped - perhaps they're defining with physical violence only as… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

on p58 it is admitted that violence is still happening and still not being reported to the police
p120 - in local areas, street prostitution has increased
p121 is interesting - tries to show rates of ability for client refusal (on street) purely in the 3 years since the law and… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

p122 - relationships with the police have improved. Well, this is good - but then why are SW activists always wanting to defund the police if actually one of the selling points of decrim is to work better with them???
p123 - 73% of on street sellers in Auckland will accept drugs… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

p124 - street prostitution is spilling over into residential areas and relationships with residents are at an all-time low. Sellers get verbally abused and female residents are propositioned by punters.
p160 - the Committee's recommendation for dealing with thse ongoing problems… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

There was supposed to be another review after 10 years. It never materialised. But in 2021 we got an independent SASE Report, made using FOI requests from the NZ govt, inc the NZPC info. The report can be found here

sase.org.uk/resources

Here's a summary of the findings 9/

NZPC (New Zealand Prostitutes Collective) indicates a 3fold increase in prostitution, with a 10fold increase in street prostitution in Auckland
The NZPC hasn't provided the govt with the information it was contracted to. Govt havn't chased it up.10/

The mandated brothel inspections just aren't happening - only 11 were performed in a decade.
In 2016 the NZPC said it was impossible to stop violence in the sex trade, even though 'safety' was one of the main rationales for bringing the law in.
NZPC data show frequent complaints… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

No funding is allocated for exit support.
Despite NZPC having data on which brothels are most exploitative, they haven't passed this data on.
In 2010 NZPC data shows concern for sex sellers' mental health. Several women had committed suicide. 12/

THIS is the model held up as 'what sex workers want'?
Really?
Because it seems from this that 'full decrim' is nothing but a scam that benefits pimps, punters, sex trade lobby groups, NGOs and government taxes. Everyone, but women and people caught in the sex trade.

Next time a… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…