Asenati Lole-Taylor MP
Spokesperson for Social Policy
26 February 2013

Support Grows For Member’s Bill Banning Street Prostitution

New Zealand First has been inundated with calls of support for its Member’s Bill to ban street prostitution.

Support for the Prostitution Reform (Control of Street Prostitution) Amendment Bill comes as news emerges that widespread street prostitution, and the trouble it creates, is spreading to other neighbourhoods around the country, including Otara.

Social Policy spokesperson Asenati Lole-Taylor says the real victims of street prostitution are local communities who are being made to live as prisoners in their own homes.

“We cannot allow this to happen.

“The Prostitution industry has had 10 years to get to grips with street prostitution. Instead, the situation has worsened and it’s time to sort it out.”

Mrs Lole-Taylor says there has been some scaremongering that banning street prostitution would drive operators underground.

“That is complete bunkum.

“What the Bill would do is banish prostitution to brothels which are more easily policed for criminal activity and anti-social behaviour.

“But it would also allow for better health and safety processes and monitoring for sex workers.

“And once prostitution is carried out in brothels, it would enable better scrutiny of sex workers incomes so they can less easily avoid paying tax,” says Mrs Lole-Taylor.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>