What really happened in New Zealand after prostitution was decriminalized in 2003?1. Violence in prostitution continued after prostitution was decriminalized in New Zealand, according to the New Zealand Law Review Committee. The Report is available at
http://www.justice.govt.nz/prostitution-law-review-committee/publications/plrcreport/index.html
2. Stigma and prejudice against prostitution, and the shame associated with prostitution, continued since decriminalization of prostitution in NZ.
3. Street prostitution in New Zealand’s cities increased dramatically after prostitution was decriminalized in 2003.
4. There is inadequate protection for children against prostitution in New Zealand since decriminalization.
5. The US State Department has noted trafficking of women and children since prostitution was decriminalized in New Zealand.
Decriminalization can’t stop the violence, abuse, and stigma that are built-in to prostitution. Prostitution has increased dramatically in New Zealand since decriminalization in 2003, with a 200-400% increase in street prostitution in Auckland.
Prostitution of children and youth has increased, with humanitarian agencies declaring that indigenous Maori children are at highest risk for prostitution.
When prostitution is decriminalized, neighborhoods mount legal battles over whose back yard the next brothel will be zoned into.
In October 2008, frightened parents discovered that a New Zealand brothel was in the same building as a child care center. Yet under decriminalized prostitution “We don’t believe we have any legal avenues to stop them,” said the director of the child care center.” (“Brothel Shares Childcare Building” OneNews NZ, Oct 14, 2008,
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411365/2199590)“For the most part the women in prostitution who I talk to don't really seem to care about their human rights. The stigma and shame of prostitution is still very strong even after decriminalization. The women I see feel that prejudice intensely. One of the women we work with was raped in prostitution since decriminalization. She told us, however, that she felt that ‘it was part of the job’ of prostitution. Of all the women I’ve worked with, none of them told me that when they were little girls they dreamed of growing up to be prostitutes.” - Director of an Auckland agency providing services to women in prostitution, 2008.
