Page 2389 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 31 July 2018
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I know that politicians are not always held in the highest regard, but the name of our profession is not a verb meaning to sell your soul. It is simply common sense and basic decency that lead to the conclusion that the term “prostitution” is no longer appropriate for a legitimate work endeavour. It is steeped in stigma and it needs to go.
This bill will not only amend all instances of “prostitute” and “prostitution” in what has until now been known as the Prostitution Act: there will also be consequential amendments so that our whole statute book is brought up to date.
Another challenge for sex workers is that they are targeted by criminal offences which do not apply to the general public. It is currently an offence for a person to provide or receive commercial sexual services when infected with a sexually transmitted infection. Note that it is not an offence for everyone in our community to engage in sexual activity when they are infected with an STI, only sex workers when they are conducting their business. The very targeted nature of this offence means that it does actually discriminate against sex workers.
Don’t get me wrong, Madam Speaker: this Assembly knows, and I alluded to it this morning, that I am passionate about the health of our community, including sexual health. I firmly believe we should be bold in talking about sexual health and bringing it into the light of everyday health discussions.
However, the way to do that is not to criminalise the behaviour of only a specific group. Discrimination has no place here. Sex workers will now be subject to the same obligations as the rest of the community. Under our public health regulations, it is an offence for anyone to fail to take reasonable precautions against transmitting certain conditions. These include particularly serious STIs such as HIV, chlamydia and syphilis. This approach means our legislation sets the same public health standard for everyone in the community.
These changes to how the transmission of STIs is criminalised are coupled with additional measures to ensure sex workers are safe at work, and so are their clients. Under the current act there are a number of offences relating to practising safe sex. Brothel owners must take reasonable steps to make sure no-one is engaging in penetrative sex without the use of a prophylactic, such as a condom. And a person must not provide or receive penetrative sex without a prophylactic.
The bill before the Assembly will introduce new offences to make sure that sex workers have access to the personal protective equipment they need to meet their legal obligations regarding safe sex and to make sure that they have access to the equipment they need to conduct their work safely, more generally. In particular, a commercial brothel will have a new obligation to provide a sex worker employed at the brothel with sufficient prophylactics and with personal protective equipment free of charge.
Personal protective equipment is defined to mean anything used or worn by a sex worker to minimise risk to the sex worker’s health or safety. It includes things like dental dams, latex gloves, water-based lubricants and sponges. These amendments put
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