Abstract

Sex work is decriminalised in Aotearoa New Zealand and so brothels are deemed a ‘businesses like any other’ in the eyes of the law. We interviewed 14 brothel operators in this study to understand whether they were able to run their ‘business like any other’. Similar to any other business owners, local authorities require brothel operators to run their businesses in accordance with the local district plan. Institutions such as banks and insurance companies, however, have policies which discriminate against brothel owners, and this presents a barrier to running their business like any other. Brothels continue to be seen as discreditable businesses in a decriminalised context and brothel operators internalise this stigma. More effort is needed to reduce stigma and discriminatory practices. The inclusion of the prevention of discrimination on the basis of occupation in New Zealand’s Human Rights Act should be the first step. This could better allow brothel operators to run their business like any other in the ‘mainstream’ economy.

摘要

在新西兰，性工作已被合法化，因此在法律眼中，妓院被视为“与其他任何行业一样”。在这项研究中，我们采访了 14 家妓院经营者，以了解他们是否能够“像其他人一样经营”。与任何其他企业主类似，地方当局要求妓院经营者按照当地地区计划经营业务。然而，银行和保险公司等机构制定了歧视妓院老板的政策，这给他们像其他机构一样经营业务带来了障碍。在非刑事化的背景下，妓院继续被视为不可信的企业，妓院经营者将这种耻辱内化。需要做出更多努力来减少污名和歧视性做法。第一步应该是将防止基于职业的歧视纳入新西兰的《人权法》。这可以更好地让妓院经营者像“主流”经济中的任何其他人一样经营他们的业务。