Länderberichte AUSTRALIEN:

[fraences]

Sex industry survey finds NSW the best place in the world to work for prostitutes


IT'S the world's oldest "game" and New South Wales is well and truly on the ball. In fact, according to a new survey, NSW is the best place in the world to work if you're a sex industry worker.
It also reckons most of the state's prostitutes are well-adjusted and comfortable about their jobs.

The decriminalisation of sex work in NSW has resulted in the world's the healthiest sex industry, the research released today found.

"Jurisdictions that try to ban or license sex work always lose track as most of the industry slides into the shadows," the report's lead author, Professor Basil Donovan from the University of NSW's Kirby Institute, said in a statement.

"In NSW, by contrast, health and community workers have comprehensive access to and surveillance of the sex industry.

"This has resulted in the healthiest sex industry ever documented."

The report, prepared for the NSW government, found there were at least 101 brothels within 20 kilometres of Sydney's CBD and estimated that between 3000 to 4500 sex workers operated in the region in any one year.

On the whole, sex workers surveyed also reported being "well adjusted and comfortable with their occupation".

But Prof Donovan said there was still a "ragged edge" to the sex industry and room for improvement.

While most of the 201 sex workers surveyed by The Law and Sexworker Health (LASH) team reported good mental health, 10 per cent had high scores of psychological distress.

The level of distress was about twice the rate for similarly aged women in the general population.

About 11 per cent also reported being very unhappy about having to do sex work.

The report recommends introducing state-wide guidelines on planning approvals.

Currently, difficulties in getting development approval from local councils means some Sydney brothels are operating without approval.

These were often small with poor occupational health and safety standards and often masqueraded as massage parlours, the report said.

"State-wide planning guidelines for brothels need to be implemented and councils need the expertise and support for an organisation like WorkCover to ensure that standards are met," Prof Donovan said.


http://www.news.com.au/business/worklif ... 6308252063

[Marc of Frankfurt]

Studie
Sex Industry in New South Wales, Australien:

"Dekriminalisierung" als Strategie zugunsten der öffentlichen Gesundheit

Code: Alles auswählen

vgl. Region Sydney          Ruhrgebiet
NSW in .au                  NRW in .de
7 Mio Einwohner             18 Mio Einwohner
800.000 Km²                 35.000 Km²
400 Mrd $ GDP               750 Mrd Eur Sozialprodukt
58.000 $ per person         42.000 Eur pro Kopf

[/font]



Nur 2,3% der Männer kaufen Sexdienstleistung in einem Jahr.

4.000 Sexworker arbeiten in Sydney (3,6 Mio Einw.) in einem Jahr.
1.500 an einem Tag [S. 16].
Durchschnittsalter 30 Jahre.
3-9% aus Westeuropa.

Zahlen der Sexworker so wie vor 20 Jahren.
Die Entkriminalisierung hat NICHT zu der von manchen befürchteten Verstärkung von Prostitution geführt.

Strafprozesse befassen sich meist mit Straßenprostitution. Davon 1/3 männliche Kunden betreffend [d.h. 2/3 die Frauen]!

Bordelle sind überall in Stadt und Land verteilt [kein Rotlichtviertel/keine Sperrgebietsverordnung so wie Berlin]. Kaum Anwohnerbeschwerden. Viele illegal Betriebe getarnt z.B. als Massagesalon, weil Kommunen Lizenzen nur sehr restriktiv vergeben. Korruption von Behörden, aber nicht der Polizei.

Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) hat 20 Jahre Erfahrung und Kontakt mit Sexworkern.

Brothel-based female sex workers in Sydney were better educated, and were more likely to have been born in an Asian or other non-English speaking country in comparison sex workers surveyed in Melbourne’s licensed brothels and in Perth.

Kondomanwendung bei 100%.
STIs was at least as low as the general population.
2.8% chlamydia
0.0% gonorrhoea
3.6% Mycoplasma genitalium
0.7% trichomoniasis
[200 Sexworker in der Studie]

Sydney brothels workers enjoyed levels of mental health that were comparable to the general population.


10% of the Sydney women were found to be severely distressed on psychological testing (the Kessler-6 scale): twice as often as the general population. Psychological distress was strongly associated with injecting drug use.

Street-based sex work is politically challenging everywhere as traditional working areas become gentrified. Street sex workers are among the most traumatised people in the sex industry. Though they are the smallest component of the industry, street sex workers are the major target for police prosecutions because of their high visibility.


Reforms 1979 and 1995 that decriminalised adult sex work have:
- improved human rights
- removed police corruption
- netted savings for the criminal justice system
- enhanced the surveillance
- health promotion
- safety of the NSW sex industry.





Die Studie spricht klar gegen "Legalisierung" (Lizensierung/Zwangsregistrierung wie in Bayern und Wien) und für "Entkriminalisierung" (Normalisierung wie in Neuseeland)

Licensing of sex work (‘legalisation’) should not be regarded as a viable legislative response.

For over a century systems that require licensing of sex workers or brothels have consistently failed – most jurisdictions that once had licensing systems have abandoned them.

As most sex workers remain unlicensed criminal codes remain in force, leaving the potential for police corruption.

Licensing systems are expensive and difficult to administer, and they always generate an unlicensed underclass. That underclass is wary of and avoids surveillance systems and public health services. Licensing is a threat to public health. [Ziffer 2. Seite 7]

Decriminalisation of the adult sex industry means that prime responsibility for the industry has moved from the police to local government. Local government should be resourced by the state for this role.

For health and safety reasons and in order to meet best practice in a decriminalised environment the word ‘brothel’ as defined in the legislation, should not apply when up to 4 private sex workers work cooperatively from private premises [Freiberufliche Wohnungsprostitution/Kooperative].

All of the evidence indicates that private sex workers have no effect on public amenity [Schönheit des Wohnumfeldes].
Exempting this group from planning laws that pertain to brothels will limit the potential for local government corruption.
The New Zealand experience provides a successful precedent for the four worker model.

Zum Unterschied von Kriminalisierung - Dekriminalisierung und Lizensierung: Seite 9.
Schwedisches Modell von 1998: Seite 10.

Quelle www.med.unsw.edu.au/nchecrweb.nsf/resou ... portV4.pdf

[Marc of Frankfurt]

Gutachten

dass eine Bordell-Lizensierung, wie sie derzeit auch in Deutschland in der Diskussion ist und zum 1.11.11 in Wien eingeführt wurde, die Prostitutions-Branche nicht sicherer und nicht legaler macht.

Statt vermeindlich funktionierender neuer Regeln, lassen sich die Probleme mit normalen, bekannten Maßnahmen der Verbrechungsbekämpfung in den Griff bekommen.

Stattdessen sollte sich die Regierung für einheitliche und gleichberechtigte Regeln der Gesetzes-Umsetzung auf lokaler Ebene einsetzen für Sexarbeitsstätten wie andere Nichtprostitutions-Betriebe.

Es sollte unterschieden werden zwischen Vergnügungsstätten-Großbetrieben mit Auswirkungen aufs Nachbarschaftsumfeld und privater Wohnunsprostitution. Wohnungsprostitution sollte wie andere Heimarbeitstätigkeiten gleichbehandelt werden.




Lenny Crofts (LLM, M.Phil (Cantab))
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law
University of Technology Sydney



The Proposed Licensing of Brothels
in New South Wales



Abstract:

The NSW Coalition government is proposing to introduce a licensing system for brothels in accordance with pre‐election commitments.

This paper argues that there is no evidence that brothels are criminogenic or inherently corrupting, nor any evidence that a Brothel Licensing Authority would effectively reduce and/or prevent crime and corruption. The paper considers the current NSW planning based model and compares this with the Queensland and Victorian licensing models.

There are other regulatory concerns associated with the sex industry, such as amenity impacts and health and safety concerns, and the paper argues that these are regulated effectively under the current planning regime.

A Licensing authority is unlikely to improve the regulation of brothels in NSW in terms of illegality, amenity [Umfeldverträglichkeit], and health and safety.





... The Wood Royal Commission had identified 1995 a link between an illegal ex industry and police corruption. The threat of closure of brothels led to potential to demand and receive payment of bribes.

It is estimated that licensed brothels make up only 10% of the state’s sex work industry.

If illegality is assumed to be the problem, then in both Victoria and Queensland licensing has not resolved these problems. Rather, licensing has pushed problems of illegality side, resulting in a two tiered industry, of a heavily regulated legal industry and a a thriving illegal industry. ...





Conclusion:

There is a lack of evidence that crime and corruption are specific to the sex industry. Instead it is suggested that
any issues can be handled in pragmatic planning terms and utilising existing crime prevention strategies.

NSW currently has one of the best regimes for regulating sex services premises. If the NSW government was serious about improving the regulation of sex services premises, I would suggest that

• the government provides leadership to local councils and encourage the regard of sex services premises in the same way as other businesses,
• the government differentiate between sex services premises types based on amenity impacts, and require that home occupations sex services premises are regulated in the same way as other home occupations.

The current regulatory regime for businesses works. There is nothing inherently criminal or disorderly about the sex industry.





Quelle:
Sex Workers Ourtreach Project
Sydney
www.swop.org.au/sites/default/files/pennyCrofts.pdf

[Marc of Frankfurt]

26 Railway Street
Chatswood NSW 2067, Australia
www.lapetitearoma.com.au

http://maps.google.de/maps?q=willoughby ... tite+aroma

[Marc of Frankfurt]

Medienarbeit von mutigen, geouteten Sexworkern in New South Wales, wo Sexarbeit seit 1995 entkriminalisiert ist



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-_MixxLS5I[/youtube]





.

[Marc of Frankfurt]

Zum leidigen Dauerbrennerthema Stellenanzeigen Beratungsstellen. So formulieren es die Australierinnen:



"Check out positions vacant at www.scarletalliance.org.au - SIN are advertising for a peer services co-ordinator. Non-sex workers need not apply!"





.

[Marc of Frankfurt]

NAUWU-Kampagne
www.nothing-about-us-without-us.com

[Marc of Frankfurt]

Informations- und Aktions-Kit der Sexworker-Interessenvertretung zur politischen Beteiligung gegen geplante Gesetzesverschärfungen wie Lizensierung und Registrierung in NSW


Ähnlich wie zur derzeitigen Situation in Wien und in Deutschland, wo auch eine Gesetzesverschärfung vorbereitet wird www.sexworker.at/prostg , sind neue Prostitutionsgesetze in Planung in NSW (New South Wales, Sydney), wo 1995 Sexwork weltweit erstmals entkriminalisisert wurde.

Mit dem folgenden 10seitigen Action-Kit informiert die Sexworker Gewerkschaft und der Australien-weite unabhängige Dachverband der Sexworker www.scarletAlliance.org.au ihre Mitglieder, alle Sexworker und Unterstützer, wie sie im politischen Prozess und Gesetzgebungsverfahren ihre Stimme einbringen können. Die aus der Perspektive der Sexworker gelungene und weltweit vorbildliche Entkriminalisierung seit 17 Jahren soll nicht rückgängig gemacht werden, sondern weiter verbessert werden:
- SW Anti-Discrimination Act
- Sex industry liaison officer
- Fund the development of a sex worker run education program
- Repeal the advertising restrictions
- Decriminalise street-based sex work


Kernpunkte:

• Licensing has very low compliance and creates a two tiered industry- the minority who can comply and the majority that cannot and are therefore considered “illegal”.
• Sex workers do not have rates of STIs/HIV that are ‘comparable to’ the general population. Sex worker rates of STIs/HIV are lower than the general population.
  
  The Kirby Institute’s 2012 Report to the NSW Ministry of Health states that licensing is a ‘threat to public health’ and should not be regarded as a viable legislative model.
• Decriminalisation was introduced of corruption by police and by removing police as regulators has successfully addressed corruption. Police are inappropriate regulators of the sex industry and we are glad they’re out!
  
  Decriminalisation is supported by the United Nations.
  UNAIDS, Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS Guidance Note on HIV and Sex Work, Geneva, 2009,
  www.unaids.org/en/media/unaids/contenta ... ork_en.pdf.

[Marc of Frankfurt]

Sexworker-STI-Zwangstests nur noch alle 3 Monate in Victoria, Australien (Melbourne)

The Victorian Government have chosen to decrease their system of mandatory sex worker sexual health testing from monthly, to every three months.

SWOP (Sex Worker Outreach Project) supports a healthy, resilient and empowered sex industry workforce, and continues to work with NSW sex workers to enable them to make informed choices about their own sexual health.

www.swop.org.au





Victoria Government Gazette 6 October 2012
www.gazette.vic.gov.au/gazette/Gazettes ... 12S333.pdf

Sex Work Act 1994
www.legislation.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_N ... orised.pdf
185 pages!

Sections 19(2)(a)(ii) and 20(2)(a)(ii) Arbeitsverbot für STI-positive (geschlechtskranke) Sexworker.

(vaginal) swab test - also called a pap smear - Abstrich / Bluttest





Zur Problematik des Berufsverbots bei HIV+ siehe hier:
www.sexworker.at/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=32674#32674

Zur Situation wöchentlicher Zwangstests bei Sexworkern in Wien siehe hier:
www.sexworker.at/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=750

Wg. "Lohnfortzahlung im Krankheitsfall", was es für Sexworker niergendswo auf der Welt gibt vgl. Kranken-Tagegeld-Versicherung: Für Selbständige in Deutschland auch für Sexworker unerreichbar:
www.sexworker.at/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=117824#117824
www.sexworker.at/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=49583#49583

Sexworker sind i.A. keine Vektoren von Geschlechtskrankheiten (keine Krankheitsüberträger) - Sammelthema Gesundheitsdebatte:
www.sexworker.at/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=5171#5171

[fraences]

Don't change NSW sex laws: UN report

PLANS to charge licensing fees for brothels in NSW would force many sex workers underground and prevent them from accessing health and welfare services, says the Australian author of a United Nations report.


Human rights lawyer John Godwin's UN report backs the decriminalisation of the sex industry in Asia.

And he says the NSW government's plans to create a brothel licensing authority and charge licensing fees undermines a policy that has been largely successful since its introduction in 1995.

"We currently have a decriminalised sex industry in NSW that has proven to be very successful in terms of both HIV prevention and ensuring a safe and healthy work place for sex workers," Mr Godwin said.

"The licensing systems in the other states have not been evaluated as being highly effective in terms of public health outcomes," he said after the report's launch in Bangkok.

Mr Godwin says the weaknesses of a licensing system are that "it only catches a very small proportion of the industry and the vast majority of sex workers operate outside of licensed establishments".

"Whereas there might be some health benefit for those who are working in the licensed establishments, those who are not are alienated from mainstream services and driven more underground in terms of accessing health and welfare services," he said.

The 226-page UN Development Program report, Sex Work and the Law, calls for decriminalisation of prostitution in Asia, and points to the decriminalisation policy in New Zealand and NSW as enabling sex workers adequate access to services in preventing the spread of the AIDS virus.

The report said the two jurisdictions' approaches indicated that "defining sex work as legitimate labour empowers sex workers, increases their access to HIV and sexual health services associated with very high condom use rates".

"Very low STI (sexually transmitted infection) prevalence has been maintained among sex workers in New Zealand and NSW, and HIV transmission within the context of sex work is understood to be extremely low or non-existent," the report said.

Mr Godwin said it was important to treat the sex industry like any other industry in terms of workplace, occupational health and safety standards.

Instead of a highly bureaucratic and heavy handed licensing system monitoring premises or individual sex workers' there should be application of general and work place laws as well as zoning requirements for any business, he said.

Tracey Tully, the spokeswoman for the Asia-Pacific Network of Sex Workers, says the NSW policy has been promoted as a model of best practice.

Ms Tully said the policy offers "the most enabling environment legally, in terms of HIV prevention - particularly from key affected populations, which is where the most effective interventions come from".

In Victoria, under a licensed system, operators pay about $4300 to apply for a brothel licence and $2500 to renew it. Health workers say the process acts a deterrent for most operators being licensed.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaki ... 6501900730

[fraences]

Sex Workers: We know what we want



When workers in industries other than mine are organising for rights, their ability to speak on what they need as workers is rarely questioned. However, when it comes to sex workers there is an assumption that we can’t even articulate what we want as workers, and that we can’t organise together. It is often argued that our work isn’t even work and that we don’t understand that it’s just “exploitation” or “violence” or “criminal.” When sex workers collectively organise or speak out about our needs, we are frequently treated differently to other worker collectives and unions. We are accused of not really representing sex workers or of being brothel owners and “pimps” with a vested interest in exploiting workers.

Why is it that sex workers are told that we can’t represent ourselves? Why is our autonomous worker organising dismissed as untrustworthy, of being against the interests of sex workers? And who can speak and represent us if we supposedly can’t do it ourselves through organisations which are sex worker only and exclude managers/operators, such as Scarlet Alliance and its membership?

Those who make these accusations are generally not sex workers themselves. They are people who make some of their living or social and political status through their own commentary and theories on sex work and sex workers. They have a clear vested interest in maintaining the whorephobic belief that sex workers can’t self-represent, let alone organise together and articulate our needs as a community. They often argue that sex workers who speak out aren’t representative of “real” sex workers or that sex worker organisations don’t understand the “real issues” sex workers face. In these statements it is implied that non-sex worker academics understand the “real issues” and know what sex workers really need. Unfortunately, stereotypes of sex workers as “psychologically damaged victims who do not even understand our own oppression” are easily utilised and promoted by non-sex workers to justify their position as a valid voice for sex workers. In doing so they de-legitimise sex worker voices and sex worker organisations generally.

The left wing and mainstream media promote whorephobia too; every time the media chooses to publish the work of a non-sex worker who promotes policies and ideas that autonomous sex worker collectives and organisations oppose (such as the Swedish model of law reform which criminalises our workplaces and clients) it is making a statement that non-sex workers have the right and the authority to speak on behalf of sex workers. This simultaneously reinforces the whorephobic assumption that sex workers are not organised and do not, or cannot, know what we need. Normative narratives about sex workers are promoted by the left and by mainstream media because they are easier to digest. It’s easy to argue that sex workers are victims and need to be rescued. The general public is fed these kinds of myths and incorrect stereotypes every day through mass entertainment, the daily news, and our slut-shaming, sexist, racist and whorephobic culture.


It is notable that online media (including the comments sections) on articles about sex work often end up being full of non-sex working academics and theorists claiming that they know the “real” truth and that sex worker groups are not representing the views or interests of sex workers but of “pimps” or business owners. This discrediting that seems to be a hobby of quite a few people relies on the whorephobic assumption that it must be owners and managers and not sex workers who would willingly engage publicly about our industry. A recent example of this is a piece published on The Conversation which argued Australia should adopt the Swedish model of laws to protect sex workers (the author referred to the laws incorrectly as originating from Norway, something the editor did not pick up). Commentators on the site then went on to claim that Scarlet Alliance – the Australian Sex Worker Association – was an “industry association” and a “bosses union… one that pretends to act for workers but in reality serves only the vested interests of the boss.”

Scarlet Alliance (an organisation made up of and directed entirely by sex workers) consistently identifies issues different to those presumed to be the “real issues” sex workers would face. According to non-sex workers commentating on The Conversation, if Scarlet Alliance’s main policies were not about extra regulation of brothel owners or about monitoring clients we couldn’t actually be sex workers – as if everyone should intuitively know these are the most important issues facing sex workers. In other words, they couldn’t deal with the fact that when sex workers organise autonomously we may come up with different issues to what non-sex workers think. When we organise as sex workers we know we need the tools to organise our own work conditions. Decriminalisation allows for this, not the Swedish model which criminalises our clients and workplaces and pushes us further underground. The Swedish model would mean we would have to prioritise police evasion tactics over setting up for, in a best practice manner, occupational health and safety.

Scarlet Alliance was formed in 1989 by individual sex workers involved in the state/territory networks. Our membership has always been made up of sex workers (past and present) as well as sex worker organisations and excludes anyone who is a sex industry business operator or manager. It includes a diverse range of sex workers of many genders and backgrounds. By meeting together and discussing our experiences as sex workers we form ideas about what the key issues are for sex worker representation, services and political lobbying in Australia. Scarlet Alliance’s member organisations and projects have the highest level of contact with sex workers in Australia of any agency, government or non-government. Through our projects and the work of our membership we have a high level of access to sex industry workplaces in the major cities, over 20,000 “occasions of service” annually.

When we speak as sex workers we are speaking from our own experience. We spend time in sex work workplaces engaging with other sex workers. We spend time engaging in sex worker community spaces. Within our own community we have our own theories and knowledge about sex work through our own lived experiences. To suggest that academics or researchers somehow have a better idea of what sex workers need is insulting, especially amongst the left wing which should be listening to voices from a marginalised community and not speaking on our behalf. We can speak for ourselves.

Sex work is work. And when we organise as workers people need to listen to us as workers. If you are a non-sex worker you need to recognise that when sex workers get together and organise autonomously and speak about sex work it is whorephobic to presume that we don’t actually know what is best for us and that non-sex working academics and theorists have a better idea. As sex workers, we are the experts on our own lives!

Ryan Cole has worked as a sex worker for several years and is the current secretary of Scarlet Alliance, the Australian Sex Workers Association. She is passionate about sex worker rights and organising.

http://rightnow.org.au/writing-cat/opin ... t-we-want/

[Marc of Frankfurt]

Süd-Australien berät Gesetz zur Dekriminalisierung


http://becauseimawhore.com/2013/05/22/d ... -the-bill/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostituti ... _Australia

https://www.facebook.com/decriminalisesa

[Tilopa]

Es gibt reelle Chancen, die Entkriminalisierung der Sexarbeit bald auch in Südaustralien zu erkämpfen:

AN ALLIANCE of sex workers are lobbying state MPs to support a legal bid to decriminalise prostitution.

"Labor MP Steph Key has introduced a Bill to State Parliament which would decriminalise all forms of sex work for people aged over 18, make it illegal to discriminate against a sex worker and wipe clean past convictions.

Yesterday, members of the Scarlet Alliance, Australian Sex Workers Association, SA South Australian Sex Industry Network and Sex Worker Action Group: Gaining Empowerment, Rights & Recognition joined forces to rally on the steps of Parliament.

A previous attempt to decriminalise sex work by Ms Key was rejected by one vote last November."

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 6657822761

[Marc of Frankfurt]

Lizensierungsdebatte erneut auch hier verknüpft mit Menschenhandels-Mythen


The Scarlett Alliance, which represents Australian sex workers, is against any licensing regime. "There's no policy work or research that would support the NSW government moving in that direction," said its president, Elena Jeffreys.

A spokesman for the government said: "The government is currently developing options for the delivery of its commitment to close down illegal brothels and properly regulate approved operations through the creation of a Brothel Licensing Authority, and will progress these matters in the near future."


Mehr:
von 2011
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/licensing-law ... 1lhm7.html


Deutschland
http://www.sexworker.at/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9962

[Marc of Frankfurt]

So sieht die Information für Rechte von Sexworkern in Australien NSW aus, dem weltbesten Ort für Sexwork:

• Sex Industry Legal Kit
  NSW, Australia
  2010
  
  SWOP - Sex Work Outreach Project, Sydney. Costa Avgoustinos, Penny Crofts, Deborah Henwood, Jo Holden, Adam Knobel, Maria McMahon, Andrew Miles, Maggie Moylan, Wendy Parsons, Jane Sanders, Melissa Woodroffe
  
  Sex Work Regulation in the Decriminalised System of New South Wales, Australia, regarded as world best sex worker legislation.
  
  www.swop.org.au/sites/default/files/leg ... gle_pg.pdf

Für Deutschland
www.sexworker.at/prostg

[Snickerman]

Der Artikel betrifft nicht nur, aber auch Australien, deshalb habe ich ihn hier eingestellt- falls er woanders besser aufgehoben ist, nur zu.
Das Thema ist aber für alle interessant, geht es doch um eine himmelschreiende Ungerechtigkeit, einfach aufgrund eines oberflächlichen Verdachtes!
Kurz zusammengefasst: Toristinnen, deren Kleider/Unterwäsche den Zöllnern zu "sexy" erscheinen, werden beschuldigt, illegal als Prostituierte arbeiten zu wollen.



‘Your luggage is too sexy’: Immigration officials’ bias about trafficking and suspicious non-citizens
Source: Fri, 8 Nov 2013 08:17 PM
Author: Julie Ham

Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

By Julie Ham, Marie Segrave and Sharon Pickering

Immigration officials rely on simplistic stereotypes when making decisions about ‘suspicious’ non-citizens. The consequences of these decisions are serious.

Two studies (one with immigration officers at two major Australian airports, the second with victims of trafficking and authorities in Australia and Thailand) have revealed consistent findings of authorities’ use of stereotypes about sex work and trafficking when they are determining whether a non-citizen is a potential victim of trafficking or a potential offender.

Looking for Lingerie

The first research study looked at how immigration officers decide that a person entering Australia on a tourist visa is ‘suspicious’. Someone is ‘suspicious’ if it is believed they may breach visa conditions by overstaying or by working when this is disallowed. Authorities explained they are suspicious of sex workers, who they say are the main example of the ‘problem women traveler’. Women suspected of coming to Australia to be involved in sex work were identified by authorities as presenting two risks: risks that they would be victimized (i.e. trafficked) and/or the risk that they would work illegally (i.e. breaching tourist visa conditions).

How, though, do airport authorities identify a woman arriving on a tourist visa as a potential sex worker? Mostly it has been through scrutinising women’s luggage. Authorities said that they assess what is packed, what the woman is wearing when travelling and decisions about whether the type of clothing in her luggage is perceived to ‘fit’ the visa she was travelling with and where she is from. The inclusion of ‘sexy’ clothing (e.g. underwear, lingerie) leads to further questioning of women as potential victims of trafficking or unauthorized sex workers, particularly if women are Asian, as this airport immigration officer explained

“we have to find evidence…. [when] we are doing a baggage search [the question is]… what are their motives. If you’re coming here for a holiday, why do you bring…sexy lingerie and so many [items], like…a sex worker?”

This finding raises concerns about entrenched racial and gender discrimination. Further interrogation does consider whether there was evidence of sufficient involvement in travel arrangements and knowledge of the intended destination, but discrimination and bias remain. Immigration judgments about women travelling with sexy underwear suggest that race and gender are key considerations when predicting victimization or the intention to work illegally. Despite evidence to the contrary, it is assumed Asian women form the bulk of women entering Australia to work in the sex industry as well as being the group most at risk of trafficking.

Is She Sad Enough to be a ‘Real Victim’?

In the second research project examining counter-trafficking efforts in Australia and Thailand interviews with authorities- including police and immigration authorities- found that the way women behave when they come into contact with authorities is critical. As this Thai support worker explains:

“I think that [they] are a victim [of]… trafficking… but the authorit[ies] will not recognise [this], they think that…women lie and some women don’t cry and don’t seem vulnerable enough to be victim… [When I reported a case to an authority, he] said [to me] ‘I don’t feel she’s a victim she didn’t cry’”

This is in direct contrast to government agencies arguing that a process or a checklist is in place for determining whether someone may be a victim of trafficking. Consistently, over the course of these projects conducted in a five year time frame, those most likely to be identified as potential victims are those perceived by authorities to be closest to an innocent and passive stereotype: women who subject to extremely exploitative conditions. The women not identified as potential victims; like suspect travelers, are the most proactive, independent, experienced sex workers.

The findings suggest that there remain certain groups of people who are subject to more scrutiny by authorities and whose ability to travel across borders may be reduced as a consequence. Their experiences of exploitation may also be ignored. These projects indicate the need for a more thorough review of immigration decision-making processes.

--Excerpted from ‘In the Eyes of the Beholder: Border enforcement, suspect travellers and trafficking victims’ Anti-Trafficking Review, 2 (Sept 2013) Julie Ham, Marie Segrave and Sharon Pickering.

The study was originally published in the Anti-Trafficking Review (www.antitraffickingreview.org), a journal that promotes a human rights based approach to anti-trafficking. A peer-reviewed, open source publication with a readership in 78 countries, the Review offers an outlet and space for dialogue between academics, practitioners, trafficked persons and advocates seeking to communicate new ideas and findings to those working for and with trafficked persons



Julie Ham is a PhD Candidate in Criminology in the School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University. Email: julie.ham@monash.edu

Marie Segrave is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University. Email: marie.segrave@monash.edu

Sharon Pickering is a Professor of Criminology in the School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University and holder of an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship undertaking research on Border Policing and Security and Gender. Email: sharon.pickering@monash.edu

All three researchers are involved in research relating to gender, trafficking, sex work and border regulation. They are contributing members to the Border Observatory, an independent research forum on border crossings which aims to enhance scholarly and public policy debates at local, regional and international levels (www.borderobservatory.org ; Twitter @BObservatory ; https://www.facebook.com/BorderCrossingObservatory )


http://www.trust.org/item/2013110820171 ... ource=shtw

[fraences]

Sex Worker Consensus Statement from the AIDS 2014 sex worker pre-conference

A two day meeting of sex workers from more than thirty countries was held in Melbourne, July, 2014 and documented the outcome of workshopping, discussing and agreeing on key statements across five areas. The meeting was the sex worker pre-conference meeting for the 20th International AIDS Conference - AIDS 2014.

http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/event ... ensus2014/

[fraences]

Sex Worker Consensus Statement from the AIDS 2014 sex worker pre-conference

A two day meeting of sex workers from more than thirty countries was held in Melbourne, July, 2014 and documented the outcome of workshopping, discussing and agreeing on key statements across five areas. The meeting was the sex worker pre-conference meeting for the 20th International AIDS Conference - AIDS 2014.

http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/event ... ensus2014/

[fraences]

Sex Workers Legislation Disscussion

[nina777]

18.3.2015

Ein Mann bekommt Geld, dass er Sex mit Prostituierten hat

Normalerweise zahlen Männer für Sex mit Prostituierten. In diesem Fall ist es umgekehrt.

In Australien bekommt ein 60-Jähriger Geld, weil er mit Frauen vom Strich schläft. Klingt nach dem Traumjob vieler Männer? Der Fall, von dem jetzt die die Nachrichtenseite "news.com.au" berichtet, hat einen ernsten Hintergrund. Der Mann hilft der Polizei, illegale Bordelle aufzudecken. Illegale Prostitutionsringe auszuheben.

Seit der Entkriminalisierung der Sexindustrie im Bundesstaat New South Wales im Jahr 1990 gibt es immer mehr unangemeldete Bordelle. Eine Entwicklung, die auch in Deutschland ein großes Problem ist.

Oft sind Bordelle in Sydney als Massagesalons getarnt. Dass in den Räumen tatsächlich Sexdienste angeboten werden, ist schwer nachzuweisen. Doch John soll genau das tun.

Verdeckte Ermittler wie er sollen Bordellbetreiber auf frischer Tat ertappen - indem sie Sexdienste in Anspruch nehmen und ihre Berichte darüber den Ermittlungsbehörden vorlegen. "Der Auftrag lautet, darauf einzugehen, wenn sexuelle Dienste für Geld angeboten werden. Das ist der beste Beweis", sagte John jetzt "news.com.au".

"Ich bin sicher, ein paar Leute werden neidisch darauf sein, wie ich mir von Zeit zu Zeit ein bisschen Taschengeld dazuverdiene", sagte der 60-Jährige, der zu seinem Schutz anonym bleiben soll. Viel Geld bekomme er zwar nicht für seine Arbeit: "Ich fahre nicht mit einem Porsche durch die Gegend. Es ist eigentlich kein großer Betrag."

70.000 Dollar Jahresgehalt

Wie wird man zum "Brothel Buster Investigator" ("Bordellermittler")? Die Seite LiveLeak berichtete 2012 von einer Anzeige der Ermittlungsbehörde Lyonswood in dem australischen Karrieremagazin "My Career". Gesucht wurde ein unverheirateter Mann - möglichst Single - der bereit ist, sexuelle Kontakte mit Prostituierten einzugehen und darüber vor Gericht auszusagen. Etwa zehn bis zwölf solcher Ermittlungen werden pro Jahr durchgeführt.

Die Bezahlung für den "Brothel Buster Investigator" war mit 70.000 Dollar pro Jahr angegeben.

http://www.huffingtonpost.de/2015/03/18 ... 86732.html