Sex work in most of Australia is now decriminalised. Current states and territories that have decriminalised sex work include: New South Wales, Victoria, Northern Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory. That covers the majority of the population of Australia. Other states have some form of “legalised” sex work which is still better than nothing, but we are waiting for them to catch up.
This is good for both sex workers and our clients. Sex workers can go to the police for protection if we need, clients also are protected by consumer protection law from sex workers who may behave unethically. And most of all – because of this protection potential abusers no longer considered sex workers (or our clients) “easy targets” that no one will care about.
People from other countries generally have no understanding of what this means for sex work and sex workers. Case in point, a video that I came across the other day.
https://www.facebook.com/ItsGoneViralOfficial/videos/456528303190628
This post looks to be ripped off the TikTok of the original creator – a female sex worker in Sydney, Australia called Jasmine (https://www.tiktok.com/@gentle_aura).
What is relevant here is the comments on the Facebook repost. They are for the most part judgemental, ignorant, moralistic (or some combination of the above), and show no awareness of decriminalisation of sex work and understanding of how it changes the industry.
Decriminalisation of sex work makes the work much, much safer for women – as sex workers and as clients. It is frustrating when I am contacted by women (especially from the US) who want to see a male sex worker but are unable to find a suitable man in their area. I would like to be able to refer them to someone known in the industry with a good reputation and plenty of online presence to allow potential clients to decide if they are suitable. But where sex work is criminalised workers have to hide themselves.
For most women who might choose to pay a sex worker this makes the entire transaction just too much of a risk. So they are locked out of the opportunity to explore their sexuality in that way.
It’s easy for us to take for granted what we have here in Australia. So I’m taking this moment to recognise the privilege that we have compared to our peers (workers and clients) around the world. We are incredibly lucky – but never forget that all of these advances can be taken away from us if we fail to defend our hard won rights from the ignorant masses who reflexively lash out at sex work whenever it is presented to them.
John