Sex worker wins settlement
A sex worker will receive a sixfigure payout as part of a settlement in sexual harassment proceedings against a business owner.
The terms of the settlement include payment of a six-figure sum to the woman concerned to compensate her for both emotional harm and lost earnings, the Human Rights Commission said yesterday.
All other details, including the identities of those involved, are confidential.
The worker was represented by the Office of Human Rights Proceedings after filing proceedings in the Human Rights Review Tribunal.
The director of human rights proceedings, Michael Timmins, said the settlement was an important reminder to businesses that all workers, regardless of the type of work they do, have the right to freedom from sexual harassment in the workplace.
‘‘We encourage all business owners and employers to ensure that they understand and respect those rights.’’
In an earlier decision by the tribunal, sex workers were found to be protected by the Human Rights Act.
Although they work in an environment where there will be some sexual language and behaviour, there is a difference between that with a legitimate work purpose and unwelcome or offensive language and behaviour, it found.
‘‘Context is everything. Even in a brothel, language with a sexual dimension can be used inappropriately in suggestive, oppressive or abusive circumstances,’’ the tribunal said. ‘‘It follows that it is not possible to ask whether a ‘reasonable sex worker’ would find the behaviour unwelcome or offensive.
‘‘If in a brothel language or behaviour of a sexual nature could never be considered unwelcome or offensive, sex workers would be denied the protection of the Human Rights Act.’’
The special vulnerability of sex workers to exploitation and abuse was recognised by the Prostitution Reform Act 2003, which decriminalised prostitution and created a framework to protect the human rights of sex workers.