Migrant sex workers abused

New Zealand must legalise sex work for migrants to prevent human trafficking, sex industry advocates say.

An international report has found no hard evidence of human trafficking in our sex industry, but abuse against illegal migrant sex workers is widely reported.

Migrant workers describe being violated, racially abused, overworked and blackmailed by clients. They are also afraid to turn to authorities for fear of deportation.

The Prostitution Reform Act 2003 bans any temporary visa holder in this country from performing sexual services.

The report, published by Thailand-based Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW), says the current policy here creates conditions that are conductive to trafficking, rather than protecting against it.

Amy, a migrant sex worker from China who was interviewed for the report, described sex workers as being encouraged to come to New Zealand to make large amounts of money.

Clients perceive Asian sex workers as submissive compared to local workers, frequently pushing boundaries and becoming abusive, Amy said.

‘‘They will grab you and say, ‘I’m gonna do this’ and you can say ‘no’ but they won’t listen to you.’’

Workers were said to have received multiple threats of Immigration New Zealand being informed, in order to extort free or denied services from them.

The New Zealand chapter of the report, written by Victoria University criminologist Lynzi Armstrong, in conjunction with the New Zealand Prostitutes’ Collective (NZPC), was launched in Wellington yesterday.

‘‘All participants were unequivocal that they had not observed or heard of any cases of people being forced to come to New Zealand to engage in sex work,’’ Armstrong said in the report.

‘‘This was consistent with existing data, which shows that despite intensive investigations by Immigration New Zealand, no cases of trafficking in the sex industry have been identified to date.’’

NZPC co-founder Catherine Healy said there was no clear explanation for a lack of trafficking, by its strict definition, in New Zealand’s sex industry.

‘‘It’s been earnestly looked for. You’ll find a lot of people who say there is trafficking but when you ask them about a case they’ve dealt with, they can’t.’’

But cases of exploitation warranted a repeal of the ban against migrants entering sex work, she said.