MEDIA RELEASE

27 February 2014

“Nordic Model” of Prostitution Should Be Adopted in NZ

Family First NZ is welcoming a decision by the European parliament overnight to back the ‘Nordic model’ of prostitution which legalises the selling of sex but criminalises buying it, and says that New Zealand should follow the lead and adopt similar legislation.

The vote will put pressure on member states to follow their lead. The London MEP and Labour spokeswoman for women in Europe, Mary Honeyball, who put forward the resolution said

“This punishes men who treat women's bodies as a commodity, without criminalising women who are driven into sex work. The idea that prostitution is the oldest profession leads some to think we should accept it as a fact of life, that all we can do is regulate it a little better. This course of action leads to an increase in prostitution levels, normalising the purchase of sex and ingraining the inequalities which sustain the sex industry."

“The EU decision is the correct one and sets an important example and precedent for New Zealand. It was completely wrong for the state to legitimise the exploitation of women who are so vulnerable. True equality can’t exist where men can exploit women and sometimes other men through prostitution,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“For a woman to sell her body she has to be in desperate circumstances and therefore the sale is not really a genuine choice. In effect, the decriminalisation of prostitution in New Zealand should have been labelled as the ‘Pimp Protection Legislation’.”

“The fallout from the naïve decriminalisation of prostitution has affected both residential areas and family shopping areas and the local councils have been powerless to act,” says Mr McCoskrie.

“It has been a community disaster harming families, businesses, and the welfare of workers caught in the industry. Communities throughout NZ have been trying to deal with the ‘hospital pass’ given by the politicians when they passed this law. It’s time they now fixed the law. The EU stance is the right way to go.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media