BY SOHANI GOONETILLAKE 

The Victorian Labor Government has announced its plans to decriminalise sex work and recognise it as a legitimate form of employment. 

Reason Party leader Fiona Patten led the Sex Workers’ Voices Project, which put sex workers’ ideas forward to Labor, to help the government make informed decisions about how to regulate the sex work industry. 

It concluded that decriminalisation was necessary to achieve the best health and safety outcomes, although many sex workers note that community attitudes need to change with the law.

A private escort and member of the violence prevention charity Red Files, Estelle Lucas, said anti-sex work advocates are misguided.

“Those who have an interest in ‘helping’ the industry are the most harmful because they do not do what they do out of altruism,” Ms Lucas said.

“They do what they do because it feeds their ideology and their ego and their perception is not up for challenge.”

Ms Lucas said she also came into the industry with misguided beliefs.

“I entered this industry at 18 thinking all the workers were drug-reliant, abused, mentally ill, feral, dirty, uneducated,” Ms Lucas said.

However, once people engage with evidence and listen to sex workers, they often find that this stereotype dissipates rather quickly, Ms Lucas added.

A gay male sex worker and committee member for a Victorian male sex worker support group “Working Man”, Dean Lim, said sex work is still taboo in Australia.

“Sex and sex work are the last frontier in terms of taboo subjects and people would rather not discuss them,” Mr Lim said.

“[Sex workers] are very hesitant to approach police and banks or financial institutions and anecdotally, I have been told by sex worker peers, that they haven’t had any justice.”

Research conducted by the Centre for Social Research in Health (CRSH) found sex workers find it difficult to access financial infrastructure, criminal legal mechanisms, social services and health services.

Cheryl Overs, founder of the Prostitutes Collective of Victoria and the Scarlet Alliance, said this hesitancy is a result of stigma and the persecution of sex workers.

“There are endless stories of sex workers reporting violence and ending up being the ones that get arrested,” Ms Overs said.

Ms Overs said decriminalisation is a crucial step forward to addressing this issue, but she is concerned about the next stage.

“Once you come away from the criminal law, you enter into a byzantine of regulations and laws and sub-laws,” she said.

Policy officer at Sex Work Law Reform Victoria Roger Sorrenti welcomed Labor’s proposal to amend the Equal Opportunity Act to include anti-discrimination provisions for sex workers.

Mr Sorrenti also suggested implementing additional education programs to integrate sex work into the existing business and local government legal framework effectively.

“Sensitivity training and education of the government bodies regulating this industry needs to occur so that they are aware of how to appropriately treat and engage with sex workers,” Mr Sorrenti said.

The Victorian Government is inviting feedback from the public to inform the implementation of the sex work decriminalisation reforms.