Prior to 2003, most activities associated with sex work were illegal in New Zealand. Offering sex for money, brothel-keeping, procuring, and living off the earnings of sex work were all prohibited. It was practically impossible to be a sex worker and remain within the law. As a result, sex workers were extremely reluctant to disclose violence, coercion, and other crimes committed against them to the police. The risk of being identified and later prosecuted were too high. The police operated a fully detailed register of ‘known prostitutes’ and, along with other government officials, were conscientiously avoided.
This approach harmed sex workers by disrupting their livelihoods and reinforcing stigma. Sex workers were periodically arrested and shamed in court as ‘common prostitutes’. Even youth as young as fourteen were prosecuted for sex work-related offences and had to carry the stigma of conviction into adulthood. Those convictions closed doors. They derailed opportunities to seek other work, as well as hindered the ability to rent a property, borrow money or buy insurance. People were afraid during childcare battles that their sex work could be used to deprive them of custody or even access to their children.
Because most of what was taking place was illegal, sex workers had nowhere to turn when their managers became abusive.
Sex workers were not supported by the law in terms of their occupational safety and health. They were uneasy around health professionals, and there was always a sense that official documentation of their work status could be used to destroy their lives. Even in the workplace they had to disguise their sex work and could not have direct conversations with managers or clients to outline their services. Advertisements were coded and misleading, and there was little appreciation that massage parlours and escort agencies were sex work venues.
