Abstract

On 27 June 2003 the New Zealand Parliament passed a unique piece of legislation, the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA), effectively decriminalising prostitution. The momentum for the Act came from the desire to minimise harm and risk for sex workers through the promotion of human rights, and the welfare and occupational health and safety of workers in the sex industry. The passage of the Prostitution Reform Act in 2003 required a redefinition of prostitution regulation, that would fit within a work/employment and rights framework. When prostitution was illegal, the dominant social control agency was the police. However, when prostitution was decriminalised, issues of occupational health and safety were left to central and local government departments, alongside community, health groups and the prostitutes’ collective. This reconfiguration of regulatory responsibility brought together a number of diverse groups. Drawing upon two empirical studies undertaken in Christchurch, between 1997 and 2004, this paper will explore this shift to decriminalisation, and highlight the tensions associated with implementing the principles of the Act within this new regulatory framework. In particular, the ‘manoeuvrings’ of local authorities that sought to both reclaim public spaces and secure the legal ambiguity and vulnerability of sex workers, and the organised resistance by the sex work industry in response. The transition to decriminalisation of prostitution in New Zealand illustrates that the inclusion of a work approach to law reform can result in a new set of problems with regard to managing working conditions and the control of workplaces.