“The revelation that there are nearly 200 prostitutes under 18 years of age, 140 of whom are under 16, will be only the tip of the iceberg if politicians persist in their intentions to legalise prostitution,” Party Leader Graham Capill warned.

Mr Capill said, “That we have this number of young people involved when soliciting is illegal ought to be a concern to those supporting decriminalisation. It shows that clauses in the Bill aimed at making teenage prostitution illegal will be ineffective and are unlikely to improve the situation.

“It is time the government looked at the social reasons underpinning why these young people end up as prostitutes. Clearly broken and dysfunctional families are a root cause. Until we have a government willing to enact family-friendly legislation, the problem will continue to get worse. The problem certainly will not be addressed by decriminalisation,” Mr Capill predicted.

The police should target the pimps who are often the masterminds behind the whole sordid “industry” and the men who pay for such sexual abuse of underage girls, and also boys, to a lesser degree.

“If the Prostitution Reform Bill becomes law, New Zealand can expect more widespread prostitution at lower and lower ages. Instead of shedding crocodile tears about the latest statistics, politicians should be warned that decriminalisation will only compound the problem,” Mr Capill concluded.

Ends

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>