Migrant sex workers exploited

Researchers are calling for migrant prostitution to be legalised after finding some sex workers were raped, not paid or had their passports withheld.

A University of Otago, Christchurch, study, released yesterday found that most migrant sex workers interviewed were ‘‘in safe employment situations’’. They chose the job to fund study or travel, ‘‘rather than being desperate, exploited or trafficked’’.

But those who did not work in reputable brothels were found to be more vulnerable, with at least one having been raped at a motel by a man alleged to have known that prostitutes had previously worked from that room.

‘‘In the morning the motel cleaner found the girl crying [and] told the motel manager, who then called the police as well as NZPC [the New Zealand Prostitutes’ Collective],’’ the report says.

‘‘The police and NZPC came to the motel but the worker was scared of Immigration and being deported, so said that nothing happened and denied being a ‘working girl’.’’

The report was conducted by Otago associate professor Gillian Abel and Dr Michael Roguski of Kaitiaki Research and Evaluation. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment commissioned the study.

Abel said lawmakers should consider repealing section 19 of the Prostitution Reform Act, which prohibits temporary migrants working as prostitutes. Sex work is legal for New Zealand citizens and permanent residents, as well as migrant workers, aged 18 and over.

NZPC’s Catherine Healy said it hoped to have ‘‘a formal political discussion’’ about repealing or amending section 19, especially after a June recommendation from a United Nations committee to do so. ‘‘It’s untenable to have explicit discriminatory legislation against a group of migrants. We’re not suggesting having no immigration law; just repealing the part of it that’s discriminatory.’’

Although small in scope, the Otago University study reflected the experiences relayed to NZPC, Healy said: ‘‘We’re in touch with thousands of [migrant] people each year. We haven’t come across that sex worker who says, ‘Help me get out of here’.’’

Eleven migrant sex workers were surveyed in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, along with nine others with close associations to the sex industry, including advocates and sexual health workers.

The small sample size was due to a ‘‘short research time frame’’ and because the most vulnerable migrant sex workers were ‘‘firmly underground’’ and reluctant to participate. ‘‘If you’re working illegally, you’re nervous about talking,’’ Abel said.

Three of the sex workers interviewed were from China, two from Britain and the rest from the United States, India, Germany, Singapore, Brazil and Vietnam.

Having ‘‘underestimated’’ the high cost of living in New Zealand was often cited as a reason for pursuing sex work, Healy and Abel said.

Abel said women with poor English and who ‘‘are obviously from another ethnic group’’ were more likely to be exploited and unlikely to report any maltreatment.

‘‘If you can fit in, you get jobs in reputable brothels and are not exploited. Those who stand out wouldn’t be able to. There’s a potential that people can get away with a lot of things while this remains underground.’’

Those women were more likely to be forced to work long shifts, pay fines and bonds, have their passports withheld, be forced to offer unprotected sex, and be subjected to sexual violence. They were also least likely to know about and access health and welfare services offered by the likes of NZPC.

The ‘‘biggest stress’’ for the migrant sex workers interviewed, who all chose to come to New Zealand and engage in sex work, was fear of being reported to authorities and deported.

Immigration New Zealand compliance assistant general manager Peter Devoy said the research was commissioned ‘‘to better understand issues within the sex industry, as part of work to combat migrant exploitation’’.

Anyone forced to work in the sex industry can contact MBIE on 0800 203 020 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

‘‘It’s untenable to have explicit discriminatory legislation against a group of migrants.’’ Dame Catherine Healy