"I never thought freedom would come down to this."
“Those entering the sex industry as workers do so primarily for economic reasons, a factor highlighting the economic marginalisation of some sectors of our communities, and the difficulties of securing well-paid employment.” - Jan Jordan, 2005. On the 25th of June 2003, parliament passed the Prostitution Reform Act on a conscience vote, and Aotearoa New Zealand became the first country in the world to decriminalise sex work. The Act’s slim margin of success (60-59) reflected the controversial nature of the legislation at this crucial tipping point. While this was a progressive step, the road to decriminalisation was littered with societal angst. Until this point, the morality, contractual legitimacy, and humanity of sex work was often narrated by a hostile and conservative media climate. The law consistently undermined the profession, and sex workers were frequently either demonised or subject to paternalistic saviour complexes. Outside public debate, the lived experiences a...
