MEDIA RELEASE
5 March 2009

Residents Win Brilliant Victory Over Brothel

Family First NZ is congratulating the Mt Victoria Residents Association (Wellington) for being successful in their legal action against both a brothel in their street and the Wellington City Council who allowed the brothel to operate there.

“This is a victory for families who have been victimised by the effects of the decriminalisation of prostitution – including street prostitution, residential brothels, and brothels located near schools and pre-schools,” say Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“In this particular case, residents complained of illegally parked cars, intimidating men, a client sleeping in his car, and the brothel being busiest during the middle of the day. The brothel was located close to a children’s playground, kindergarten, and primary school, and on a major walking route for children to two secondary schools in the area.”

“The politicians gave local communities a ‘hospital pass’ when they changed the law and left the local councils the impossible job of balancing the demands of the law but the concerns of families. They cannot now ignore the pleas from communities throughout NZ who are saying that the decriminalisation of prostitution has been a spectacular failure.”

“Since decriminalisation, there has been an increase in street prostitution, brothels operating in residential areas, an increase in teenage prostitution (involving girls reportedly as young as 11 in some areas), and worse still, a recent report of a parent making financial gain from ‘selling’ their daughter. There is also an association of brothels and prostitutes with drugs, alcohol, gangs, and used condoms littering the area.”

“This victory by Mt Victoria residents, as well as opposition to a brothel in the main street of Dannevirke, huge opposition to brothels being zoned for the main shopping areas in Lower Hutt, opposition to a sex parlour operating in the same building as a preschool in Wellington, Hamilton City Council’s successful restriction on residential brothels, and attempts by the Manukau City Council to tackle the problems of street prostitution, proves beyond doubt that communities are not accepting the liberalised laws,” says Mr McCoskrie.

“The National government needs to fix this particular piece of social engineering. Families deserve laws which protect them and safeguard their communities.”

ENDS

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