Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-r5zm4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-07T00:50:52.691Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - Contested Space: Street-based Sex Workers and Community Engagement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2021

Lynzi Armstrong
Affiliation:
University of Wellington
Gillian Abel
Affiliation:
University of Otago, New Zealand
Get access

Summary

Introduction

Since sex work was decriminalised in New Zealand through the passing of the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) 2003, all citizens have the right to work as a sex worker, and this right extends to those who work on the street. Sex workers are now able to exercise their rights as citizens through use of the legal system (Abel, 2018) and, because street-based sex workers have rights, some have a better relationship with the police and no longer fear arrest (Armstrong, 2017). In general, since the law change street-based sex workers are more likely to report violent acts committed against them to the police and to help police investigations of other crimes (Armstrong, 2017). But, while decriminalisation has been seen to be successful and is widely accepted in New Zealand (Prostitution Law Review Committee, 2008; Abel et al, 2010; Abel, 2014), there has still been some unease about street-based sex workers’ presence within certain communities. Primarily, this unease has been linked to public nuisance associations with street-based sex work (Buckley, 2009; Boreham, 2012; Robinson, 2015; Law, 2017; Steele, 2018). Some community members have used these associations to argue that street-based sex workers’ presence in some residential and mixeduse areas is not consistent with community values and therefore is out of place in a community environment (Boreham, 2012; Anon, 2017).

Place, in geographical terms, often refers to the physical environment. But the social relationships and activities that happen within any particular place make separating the social and geographical impossible (Cresswell, 1996). Spaces become places when people use them and make them meaningful (Chen et al, 2018). The city is made up of different places which are constructed through social processes into middle-class and working-class suburban spaces, industrial and commercial spaces, green spaces and entertainment spaces, each fulfilling particular social needs (Chen et al, 2018) and each having attachment and meaning to those who use or live in them (Holloway and Hubbard, 2001). It is important to understand social space because, although it is concealed, it plays a big part in the experiences minority cultures have in society (Sibley, 1995). Who is considered as belonging or not belonging to a community contributes to the shaping of a social space.

Type
Chapter
Information
Sex Work and the New Zealand Model
Decriminalisation and Social Change
, pp. 199 - 222
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×