Posted April 13, Queensland sex workers say they face a dilemma β break the law to stay safe, or obey it and put their lives at risk. Chrissie whose last name is withheld has been working as a fly-in, fly-out sex worker in regional Queensland for the past eight years and is one of many sex workers along with organisation Respect calling for a law change.
Under current law, independent sex workers are not allowed to message one another about their current location or check in or out with each other, do bookings together, share a workspace or work in the same building, employ someone to answer their phone, or use a driver another sex worker uses.
She said the current law forced sex workers to work in isolation and placed them in a vulnerable position.
Chrissie was working in Rockhampton eight years ago when another sex worker in nearby Gladstone was murdered in what the court described as an act of savagery. Chrissie has been a sex worker on and off for more than 20 years and has learned extreme caution to stay safe.
Respect, a not-for-profit community organisation run by sex workers, is calling for these laws to be repealed and replaced with a decriminalisation model that removes police from the regulatory role. Its spokesperson, Janelle Fawkes, said research into decriminalisation in New Zealand and New South Wales found work, health and safety improved as a result.
