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Scarlet Alliance fails in bid to gag playwright Peta Brady

By Matthew Holloway - posted Thursday, 21 August 2014


The group's perverse attack on 'laws that do not recognise our profession' ignores the fact that Tracy was not killed by Victoria's sex work legislation - she was killed by a punter, and it is punters who perpetrate violence against people in the sex trade.

In an article published in 2012, vice-president of the Scarlet Alliance, Elena Jeffreys, stated that:

Sex workers (most commonly women) make money from sex work. The clients (usually men) pay for sex work. This is a relationship, this is negotiation and this is a system in our culture''Why should it be reasonable to criminalise the negotiation of financial arrangements for sex?', she asks. 'Rape is criminal. Violent assault is criminal. But consensual sex with a dollar figure attached to it is not. In NSW sex work is decriminalised and workers, clients and health advocates believe it should stay that way.

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But Ms Jeffreys' rose-tinted view of the decriminalisation of prostitution in NSW is frankly misguided. Decriminalisation has not resolved the violence faced by people working in the sex trade. Prostitution in NSW is an unregulated minefield with many instances of exploitation having been exposed in the media, including former brothel owners from Victoria who were convicted of managing under-age prostitutes being allowed to run brothels in the state.

The Law and Sexworker Health (LASH) report from 2012 documented the experiences of prostitutes with 17 years of a fully decriminalised regime in NSW - 45% of sex workers still did not feel safe to report violence perpetrated against them.

Instead of being attacked, Peta Brady needs to be congratulated for highlighting the fact that St Kilda sex workers, like their comrades in NSW, do not feel safe to report the violence they face. Brady was interviewed on ABC radio in April 2014 along with Laura Bates, the founder of the Everyday Sexism Project blog. This interview highlighted our male apologist culture, which places the blame for violence back on women, and the attitude of the general population towards the violence suffered by prostitutes - 'what else would you expect from being involved in that type of work.'

The experience of St Kilda street prostitutes was also documented by journalist Jane Gilmore, who visited the Gatehouse, a drop in centre for people involved in street prostitution. A service user told Ms Gilmore:

It would be better if Gatehouse was open more. At least you'd have somewhere to go when the carloads of mugs drive past. It's the ones with 3 or 4 in it that are a problem and they come driving around and around, but there's nowhere to go to wait until they're gone. They know that too.

Sally Tonkin, CEO of the Gatehouse said:

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The women come in sometimes and they're a bit grumpy or teary because they've been raped again and they just need somewhere to go to feel taken care of.

Jane Gilmore's report highlights the nature of street prostitution in St Kilda – it is a world where rape is common, and where the Gatehouse staff are the people offering their clients help with filing a police report. Unfortunately, however, Gilmore notes that:

…it's rare that the women will follow through. They don't expect to be taken seriously, don't think that anyone will see rape of a street sex worker as a crime, don't expect that the justice system will give them any justice and don't really believe that they deserve justice even if they could get it.

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About the Author

Matthew Holloway is a freelance writer and social justice advocate from Tasmania, where he stood for state and federal parliament and co-founded Tasmanians for Transparency. He has previously written for Tasmanian Times and Eureka Street, Matthew currently lives in Melbourne where he works as a Counsellor in Aboriginal Health and a Social Worker in Catholic social services.

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