What Needs To Change
There’s a common misconception that sex trafficking and exploitation just aren’t big problems anymore – especially in our own backyard. Unfortunately, the sex trade in our nation is feeding a growing trend for exploitation, both online and offline. This doesn’t always look like we expect it to – sex trafficking isn’t just people being moved against their will from one country to another (although, that’s happening too). The culture of trafficking and exploitation is growing in a range of ways, and we want to stop them all.
It can be hard to find statistics on the rates of different types of sexual exploitation since there is just so much that remains hidden. Where we can’t provide statistics or formal research, we’ve used the stories of survivors and organisations within New Zealand to demonstrate our claims.
Domestic trafficking
Immigration New Zealand defines trafficking as ‘the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a person, using coercion or deception, for the purpose of exploitation. People trafficking does not have to involve crossing a border and often happens entirely within a country.’ Here are the main ways people are sexually trafficked within the borders of Aotearoa New Zealand:
Decriminalised prostitution
Prostitution results in egregious violations of human rights and multiple forms of violence against women and girls.
A UN investigation has declared that the system of prostitution fundamentally breaches human rights. A June 2024 report by the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls described prostitution as a system of inherent violence which exploits the vulnerable. But here in Aotearoa New Zealand, we’ve made this system completely legal. The total decriminalisation of all parties engaged in prostitution was part of the Prostitution Reform Act of 2003 (PRA). This was an attempt to protect women within the sex trade. However, women cannot be protected within brothels – the sex trade is inherently violent and degrading.
Even when they have workers’ rights and protections, prostituted women face unacceptably high rates of workplace violence and abuse. This is confirmed by materials produced by the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective, a pro-sex work organisation that advocated for the PRA. In their occupational health and safety guide for sex workers, they acknowledge the risk of sexual assault, abuse, sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/Aids, and pregnancy. In the handbook they distribute to new workers, ‘sex worker burnout syndrome’ is described. What follows is a long list of symptoms associated with depression and PTSD. Risks of kidnapping, assault, and sexual assault are blithely acknowledged, and tips on how to mitigate the risks are given, such as having a friend on standby during ‘outcalls’ to check if they don’t hear back.
However, we believe that advice on how to mitigate risks is not enough. None of these are things people should be regularly exposed to at work and expected to handle alone. Such risks to personal safety are only accepted in very few other jobs, such as the military, police, and secret services. In each of these careers, backup and medics are professionally available if things go wrong. No one else is expected to accept these dangers in their work, but they are inherent to the sex trade and experienced widely. This is confirmed by the stories of many survivors of the sex trade.
Many women enter the sex trade because of financial pressure, addiction, or abuse. These same factors are exploited to keep them trapped there. The PRA has made it easier for women to be forced into the trade, and harder for them to leave when they choose to. Many women who attempt to leave eventually turn back to prostitution out of desperation believing it’s their only option. Rather than enable a predatory system by legalising it, we believe New Zealand should help women escape and overcome the social factors that have left them vulnerable.
Some women do believe sex work empowers them. But “those who do are a relatively privileged minority — primarily white, middle-class, Western women in escort agencies — not remotely representative of the global majority.” And their right to sell is not more important than the rights of vulnerable women “not to be sold in a trade that preys on women already marginalised by class and race.” (Rachel Moran, author of Paid For: My Journey Through Prostitution)
The short videos below discuss how prostitution strips women of their choices, and the ways they are endangered in the sex trade.
Pornography and online exploitation
There is a common narrative that watching pornography is normal, natural, and unproblematic. But this isn’t true. Sex trafficking and image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) are widespread among videos found online, and there’s no way to tell if content is consensual when viewing it – even on sites like OnlyFans that are often touted as ‘ethical’ alternatives to traditional porn. The only way to combat online exploitation in the porn industry is to stop watching porn, denormalise it, and hold those that exploit others to account. Find out more at the buttons, and watch the true stories of how the porn industry and porn use has affected the lives of Jessa and Elizabeth.
Rape culture and victim blaming
Academic Pala Molisa has spoken out about rape culture in New Zealand. He believes that campaigns to challenge violence against women such as White Ribbon are ‘too white and too polite’. They challenge men on an individual scale but fail to address the systems that prop up male supremacy and rape culture. He argues that the sanctioning of brothels, the prominence of ‘lads mags’ and the closing of rape centres by politicians are all evidence of the continued prevalence of rape culture in New Zealand. He argues that the decriminalisation of prostitution in New Zealand is a clear public indication that rape culture is ok – he echoes the voices of survivors by referring to prostitution as commercial rape. As Australian expert Sheila Jeffreys put it, ‘the need for money is a form of coercion and prostitution is, in that sense, forced sex’.
Arguments against this name – saying that the women ‘chose’ this work so can’t call it rape – are in line with the prevalence of victim blaming in Aotearoa. Research has demonstrated that blaming victims of crime for their suffering is a particular problem here. This goes a long way towards explaining our low crime-reporting rate – only 28% of all crimes are reported. This plummets to 6% for sexual assaults.
But many women in Aotearoa New Zealand can see that rape culture is alive and well, without needing academics and research to support it. From rape jokes to sexual harassment to victim-blaming, many women have daily experiences of rape culture. This entitlement to women’s bodies that many men feel is dangerous and does not serve either men or women. Instead, it breeds disconnection, fear, and emotional suppression. Toxic masculinity separates men’s experiences from ‘feminine’ expressions of emotion, leaving men often feeling unable to seek help for mental health concerns. As a result, men account for 72% of suicides in Aotearoa New Zealand.
International sex trafficking
International sex trafficking is rarely acknowledged in Aotearoa New Zealand. As this 2016 article explores, crimes that are clearly trafficking have historically been ignored or mislabeled, with no one being convicted. This is true of both labour and sex trafficking, domestically and internationally. Sadly, things have changed little since 2016.
Because of a lack of convictions, Aotearoa New Zealand claims low rates of trafficking. This means the problem is not on the political agenda. However, the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report identified that the New Zealand government was inadequate at prosecuting trafficking and protecting victims. Prevention methods were identified as having improved since the previous year. People from South Asia and South America were identified as at particular risk of sex trafficking into New Zealand.
Our historical failure to recognise and prosecute sex trafficking means that people continue to commit these crimes. Others remain at risk of trafficking, and without protection once they arrive in New Zealand. Immigration workers and other officials are unable to recognise signs of sex trafficking and intervene, while the legal system is not prepared to appropriately handle allegations. While prostitution remains legal, the demand for women to fill brothels only increases.
International sex trafficking is happening in Aotearoa New Zealand. This needs to change.
So what Can we do about it?
When prostitution and pornography are normalised, the cultural message is clear: women’s bodies are commodities that can be purchased for the enjoyment of men. This message is everywhere in New Zealand.
As a result, statistics on sexual abuse and exploitation in New Zealand are staggering, and much of it is not reported. When culture and policy portray women as replaceable commodities, all women are affected. The proliferation of the sex trade is a constant undercurrent to this, promoting and increasing rates of sexual harm – men who buy sex are more likely to commit rape, and watching porn is associated with sexual aggression. Culture says that women are replaceable commodities.
We disagree. We believe women are valuable. We believe women are capable. We believe women are deserving of safety, protection, and care. Because we believe this, we must oppose trafficking, prostitution, pornography, and all other forms of exploitation.
Get involved with the work we’re doing to oppose exploitation and bring freedom to the lives of women in Aotearoa New Zealand. Find out more about our advocacy, and how you can be a part of it, below.