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Pop CultureJanuary 10, 2021

Alice Snedden’s Bad News: Why is sex work still only legal for some?

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Summer reissue: The first episode of the all new Alice Snedden’s Bad News asks why migrant sex workers aren’t legally allowed to operate in New Zealand.

First published August 11, 2020.

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Sex work was decriminalised in New Zealand in 2003, but not for everyone – it remains one of the only jobs migrants aren’t allowed to do. But is the law successfully holding back a tidal wave of sex trafficking, or is it a discriminatory measure that’s causing more harm than good to the migrant community?

To get to the bottom of the issue, Alice talks to a migrant sex worker who wants to be able to work here with the full protection of the law, gets an eye-opening tour of Wellington’s Funhouse brothel from owner Madam Mary, sits down for a chat with Dame Catherine Healy from the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective and asks Iain Lees-Galloway, the immigration minister at the time, if he thinks the current legislation is working.

Commissioned by RNZ and made possible by the RNZ/NZ On Air Innovation Fund.

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