Manukau resolves to make street prositution illegal

Manukau City Council’s policy and activities committee last night decided to recommend to council a working party recommendation seeking amendments to the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 (PRA) to make street prostitution illegal.

The recommendation was made by a working party led by community safety portfolio leader, Councillor Dick Quax and made up of the mayor, the deputy mayor, six other councillors, a team of council officers and local community leaders.

The working party recommended that prostitution in locations other than indoor brothels is made illegal.

Street prostitution is a concern in some areas of Manukau, says Cr Quax. “The working party received feedback from a number of stakeholders including residents, businesses, New Zealand Prostitutes Collective and Streetreach.

“Based on this feedback, we’ve determined that the priority should be seeking amendments to the PRA.”

The working party acknowledged that street prostitution existed even before the PRA decriminalised the sex industry, says Cr Quax. “There will be a small group of prostitutes who cannot or will not find alterative indoor settings. Legislative measures therefore, are only one part of the solution.

“We need wider non-legislative means to encourage street prostitutes to either move to safer indoor setting or leave the industry.”

These measures could include social support and environmental design features. The council has previously implemented a number of such measures including improved lighting, CCTV cameras, enhanced cleaning measures and restricting access to areas such as car-parks.

The ministry of justice also provided feedback to the working party. The ministry will be providing a detailed report to the council in May which is expected to provide further options for reducing or managing street prostitution in Manukau.

A 2005 report by the Prostitution Law Review Committee estimated that there were 423 sex workers in the Counties Manukau Police District, of which 150 were on the street. The report also found that street prostitution was the most likely entry point for underage people into the industry and that the benefits of the law change cannot be fully realised in the street based sector.

Earlier in 2006, the Labour government rejected the council’s bid to recriminalise street prostitution in Manukau, although the members of the national party on the select committee argued that local government should have the power to regulate street prostitution.