Red Light on Sex Work in Western Australia

Reading Second , Prostitution Amendment Bill 2007, Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 29 August 2008, 4468 ( McGinty Jim Attorney-General).

In NSW brothels are regulated like any other business. Brothels Legislation Amendment Act 2007 increased the power of local councils to close down unauthorised brothels, or authorised brothels where there are amenity complaints.

For discussion on the impact of moral concerns see Crofts Thomas Summerfield Tracey , ‘Licensing: Regulating Prostitution or Enforcing Morality?’ (2007) 33(2) University of Western Australia Law Review 289–306. For a general overview of State approaches see the Scarlet Alliance webpage at scarletalliance.org.au/laws/.

Available at wa.liberal.org.au/index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=141, accessed 19 September 2008.

The label “social control model’ is one we adopt for systems where moral disapproval colours the detail of the licensing system, for instance where a major aim aside from licensing is to diminish the sex industry, see Crofts and Summerfield, above n 3.

Systems which take a largely neutral stance on prostitution and regulate as they would other areas of commercial activity, see Crofts and Summerfield, above n 3.

Australia Western , Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 3 April 2008, 1857 ( Barnett Colin ).

Ibid.

Ibid 1858.

Australia Western , Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 20 September 2007, 5538 ( Jacobs Graham ).

Ibid.

See Law Sylvia A , ‘Commercial Sex: Beyond Decriminalization’ (2000) 73 Southern Californian Law Review 523, 525. See also Pearce Jenny Phoenix Jo , ‘Editorial’ (2007) 6(1) Community Safety Journal 3, 3–4.

Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 25 September 2007, 5685 ( Barnett Colin ).

Australia Western , Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 3 April 2008, 1866 ( Barnett Colin ).

Australia Western , Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Council, 13 March 2008, 834 ( Faragher Donna ).

This led to the famous debate between Devlin Hart , see Devlin Patrick , The Enforcement of Morals (1965); HLA Hart, Law, Liberty and Morality (1963).

Quadara Antonia , Sex Workers and Sexual Assault in Australia, Australian Institute of Family Studies Issues 8, 2008, 31.

Ibid.

Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 25 September 2007, 5683–4 ( Omodei Paul ).

Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 19 September 2007, 5332 ( Johnson Robert ).

Australia Western , Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 19 June 2008, 4224 ( Woollard Janet ).

Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 1 April 2008, 1427 ( Scott Barbara ).

Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 18 September 2007, 5140 ( Omodei Paul ).

Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 25 September 2007, 5678–9 ( Woollard Janet ).

Lowman John , Prostitution Law Reform in Canada (1997).

Eg, Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 20 September 2007, 5517 ( Buswell Troy ).

Global Alliance against Traffic in Women, Collateral Damage: The Impact of Anti-Trafficking Measures on Human Rights around the World (2007) 29.

Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 3 April 2008, 1857, ( Barnett Colin ).

Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 3 April 2008, 1864 ( Woollard Janet ).

Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 18 September 2007, 5140 ( Omodei Paul ).

Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 1 April 2008, 1427 ( Scott Barbara ).

Harcourt Christine Egger Sandra Donovan Basil , ‘Sex Work and the Law’ (2005) 2 Sexual Health 121, 122.

Ibid.

Jordan Jan , The Sex Industry in New Zealand: A Literature Review (2005) 78, 80. See also Bindel Julie Kelly Liz , A Critical Examination of Responses to Prostitution in Four Countries: Victoria, Australia; Ireland; the Netherlands; and Sweden, Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit (2003) 25.

See, eg, Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 1 April 2008, 1427 (Barbara Scott); 4 December 2007, 8121 ( O'Brien Simon ); 13 November 2007, 6989 ( Woollard Janet ); 18 October 2007, 6473 ( Johnson Robert ).

This is the position of many sex industry representative bodies. Alliance Scarlet , the peak Australian body for sex workers' rights, argues the sex industry is no different from other service industries and should not be subject to complicated regulation: Banach Linda Metzenrath Sue , Principles for Model Sex Industry Legislation (2000).

Law , above n 12, 532–533.

Dowd Elaine , ‘Sex Workers' Rights, Human Rights: The Impact of Western Australian Legislation on Street Based Sex Workers’ Outskirts Online Journal, chloe.uwa.edu.au/outskirts/VOL10/article5.html at 6 November 2008. See also Sullivan Barbara , The Politics of Sex, Prostitution and Pornography in Australia since 1945 (1997) 264.

Richards David , ‘Commercial Sex and the Rights of the Person: A Moral Argument for the Decriminalization of Prostitution’ (1979) 127 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1195.

Albert Rocio Gomez Fernando Franco Yanna Gutierrez , “Regulating Prostitution: A Comparative Law and Economics Approach’ unpublished, available online at fedea.es/pub/papers/2007/dt2007-30.pdf at 6 November 2008.

Coontz Phyllis Stahl Anne , ‘Revisiting Anti-Prostitution Sanctions: An Argument for Changing Policy’ (2007) 43(3) Criminal Law Bulletin 1, 2.

Ibid.

Law above n 12, 531–532 and fn 42.

Coontz Stahl , above n 41, 1.

Harcourt , above n 32, 122.

Albert , above n 40, 15.

See generally, Banach, above n 36, 24; Arnot Alison , Legalization of the Sex Industry in the State of Victoria, Australia (MA thesis, Melbourne University, 2002) 22–23; Crime Comm Misconduct , Regulating Prostitution: An Evaluation of the Prostitution Act 1999 (Qld) (2004) 29–30; Jordan above n 34, 78–79; Harcourt et al, above n 32, 122. Evidence suggests the industry self regulates physical health issues, with safe practices and low rates of sexually transmitted infections; some reports reveal a higher standard of sexual health among workers than the general population. There are nevertheless differences in the practices of street and brothel based workers and reports of high levels of violence in street based work and non-licensed brothels: Queensland. Prostitution Licensing Authority Annual Report 2003–04 (2004) 34; Godwin John ‘Two Steps Back?’ (2003) 2(3) HIV Australia, afao.org.au at 11 November 2008.

Neave Marcia , ‘The Failure of Prostitution Law Reform’ (1988) 21 ANZ Journal of Criminology 202, 207; Banach , above n 36, 6–8; Harcourt , above n 32, 122.

Neave , above n 48, 208; Jordan , above n 34, 83–84; Harcourt , above n 32, 122.

Jordan , above n 34, 84.

‘Police Welcome Sex Worker Laws’, The West Australian (Perth), 12th August 2007.

Weitzer Ronald , “New Directions in Research on Prostitution’ (x2005) 43 Crime, Law and Social Change 211, 214, quoting Zatz Noah , ‘Sex Work/Sex Act: Law, Labour, and Desire in Constructions of Prostitution’ (1997) 22 Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 277, 291. More recently Weitzer examined the role of moral panics and crusades in the State's approach to sex work. Weitzer , ‘Legalizing Prostitution’ (2008) British Journal of Criminology, advanced access online on May 15 2008, doi 10.1093/bjc/azn027.

WA, Prostitution Law Reform Working Group Prostitution Law Reform for Western Australia (2007) 12.

Östergren Petra , Sexworker's Critique of Swedish Prostitution Policy petraostergren.com/content/view/44/108/ at 6 November 2008.

As of 2004 there were a lack of official records on client violence towards workers in Sweden, but it has been reported that legislation has moved work from the street to the client's premises, leaving workers more vulnerable, and driven away mainstream clients, leaving a greater proportion of dangerous ones with rougher, more peculiar demands. Socialstyrelsen, Kännedom om prostitution 2003, SoS-rapport −03 ss 8–9 reported in Norway Ministry of Justice and the Police Affairs (2004) Purchasing Sexual Services in Sweden and the Netherlands: Legal Regulation and Experiences. Abbreviated English Version, 12–13.

Norway Ministry, above n 55, 20.

Harcourt , above n 32, 123.

This may also be true for men working in the industry, yet the nature of the economic and social oppression may have different roots.

Neave , above n 48, 207–209.