Cairns Busty Brunette

Shadowban

Poetry

I see right through everything you try to impress upon me.

My nose is already cut; off, my mask forever cast into the pantomime of the dead.

When I rise,

I won’t need you.

?

There are no wallflowers here,
just silent observers casing the joint.

My grandfather’s spyglass has a cracked lens – one of those monocled, steampunky brass edged gems that’s uncoordinated at best but it serves more than a purpose.

Without you, I fade into the background.

?

I am like a mage.

I draw you in, but you beckon me out from behind my crystal pillars dangling wads of money and a job offer that’s on hold.

I come, baring more than just my breasts,

I am yours.

?

Till the thrill is gone.

I am in danger of succumbing to my own spell, rebounding long before

I am discarded,

when you’ve already moved on to Nightingales and page three nostalgia,

my unnatural incantations losing their spark along the way.

Still, you make me question where I belong.

?

I stand in the orange sunset smoking a durry on my balcony,

looking down from my lofty thoughts.

My high society, contemptible self-loathing

boldly framing my red-hinged double revolving doors

that would swing wider, if it weren’t for the sunstrike that has me

blind.

?

A spectral shade

of surreal light,

trapped by my own shadowban.

?

I see right through everything you try to impress upon me.

My nose is already cut; off, my mask forever cast into the pantomime of the dead.

When I rise,

I won’t need you.

© Copyright 2020, Jezabel and Escort Jezabel. All Rights Reserved

The Peters & the Pauls: The Fight for Sex Work Decriminalisation in Queensland

Political Lobbying
Whore

Scarlet Alliance Red Umbrella protest on the steps of Parliament House in Adelaide 2016 

Decriminalisation is being fought for in Queensland right now, with a symposium in Parliament next week, 21st August. Respect Inc, Queensland’s sex worker organisation, is challenging government to replace existing sex work legislation, with complete decriminalisation of the sex industry as we know it in Queensland. I am absolutely ecstatic about this! As a sex worker who has worked in Queensland on and off over the past eight years, decriminalisation will impact me and my colleagues in an extremely positive way.

The current regulation of sex workers in Queensland is fraught with problems and dangers. Queensland can learn from New Zealand and New South Wales history of
decriminalisation, and improve on the legislation in those places. Northern Territory and South Australia governments are also considering decriminalisation of sex work. The lives of sex workers will not only be safer, we will have legal rights and recourse to address violence in the workplace, discrimination at the borders, discrimination in the real estate rental industry, health, banking and insurance industries and in the employment sector, in the same way that every other citizen enjoys.

Firstly, at the moment we are heavily regulated by police. This makes it extremely unlikely that sex workers will contact the police if they are abused, stalked, harrassed or threatened in the context of their work. We run the risk of being arrested ourselves, our immigration status potentially affected, our identity exposed and our choice of employment permanently placed in police and health records like a keloid scar that never heals. In the meantime, real criminals go unpunished and continue to target vulnerable sex workers in society. Police and government organisations can not adequately serve to protect us and then dob us in and prosecute us with their next breathe. This is a travesty of justice.

Early in the life of the current Queensland laws, Queensland police sought and had passed, an Amendment Bill (2011) to insert Clause 101 into the current legislation, which allowed police to continue to practice entrapment and ask sex workers for Natural (without a condom) sex services, in a supposed attempt to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STI’s). A wholly dubious practice that has been largely shunned by almost all democratic countries in the developed world! Entrapment deliberately sets a person up to break the law where they would not normally do so. Police actually have the power to pretend to be clients, go through with services and then charge a sex worker. How inappropriate is that! Conditions can be manipulated in order to justify an arrest.

Entrapment laws tend to only target our young people, street workers and migrant sex workers the most. Our most vulnerable. Sex workers who may be naiive, mentally challenged, itinerant or not so great at speaking or understanding English and whom are unfamiliar with the current laws. I consider myself an educated woman and even I have difficulty complying with the current laws around sex work.

It is not sex workers who are the cause of Australia’s burgeoning sexually transmitted infection (STI) statistics either. It is the general public, people who hold antiquated beliefs about wearing or carrying condoms and our young people who enter into the world of nightclubs and bars, become intoxicated and go on to have impromptu unprotected sex. I take full responsibility for providing safer sex practices as do my colleagues and as a result we have less risk of developing a sexually transmitted disease than the general public. Sex workers have been at the forefront of STI best practice for at least the last thirty years and safe sex is the industry standard.

Similarly in New Zealand, sex workers are taking “all reasonable steps to ensure a prophylactic sheath (condom) or other appropriate barrier is used” (Prostitution Reform Act 2003 cited in NZPC website). Perhaps a humourous state-wide advertising programme could be implemented to educate people on the risks of unsafe sex, targeting youth in order to reduce the stigma of using condoms and increase awareness? Perhaps government funded, free condom vending machines in every bar would be more cost effective? After all, 99% of sex workers comply with safe sex practices (Donovan, Harcourt, Egger, Fairley, 2010). 

Under the current regulatory framework, it is illegal for me to work or associate with another sex worker. This means that I am not able to let a colleague know where I am if I’m doing an outcall, what time and for how long the booking is or when I will be expected back home. I can be arrested for attempting to keep myself safe. I am not allowed to share accommodation with another sex worker to minimise costs or have anyone else on the premises while I work. This is considered to be running a brothel. I am not allowed to ask a colleague to work with me when a client requests two sex workers during the booking. This is considered to be procurement. Clients have to source additional sex workers themselves. How ridiculous!

Presently, different Australian states have different degree’s of decriminalisation and regulation and it is an absolute nightmare for touring sex workers who frequently travel interstate. New South Wales is the the only state where decriminalisation exists in Australia. Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia are all expected to follow suit. In Queensland, sex workers do not need to be registered if they are working as independents, however are required to undergo mandatory testing if they are working from a brothel.  Brothel’s are completely illegal in Tasmania with no sign of decriminalisation on the horizon, although local law enforcement and the media continue to turn a blind eye to the numerous advertisements that are in the local papers and online. The double standards are very real. Private sex workers working alone or in pairs is decriminalised in Tasmania.

Secondly, we are monitored by the Prostitution Licensing Authority (PLA) whom serve as a kind of watchdog for anything to do with our advertising platforms. We are heavily regulated in what we can say about our services and what sort of images we promote. For example, we are unable to show our nipples or genitals or any images of ourselves. They only recently started to let us depict BDSM practices such as whips, canes and paddles. The problem of regulating, is that you only have to type in ‘sex’ on the internet and your browser will show a million different sites and services showing naked, pornographic images and acts. It is an impossible task. I am reminded of the days of the Truth, where the page three girls were often depicted semi naked, bearing their breasts for all those readers to see. We still have public titty bars in operation in Queensland which provides some free eye candy for our hardworking tradies.

Obviously, there are many double standards with monitoring these sorts of things and in my mind, the PLA is nothing more than a paper-shuffling organisation set up to appease right wing christian lobbyists influencing government, like the Australian Christian Lobby. Religion has no place in government! There are too many Peter’s and Paul’s and I am the wrong kind of Mary. I don’t want to see any more public and political attacks on sex workers just because we are an affront to their conflated moral’s and beliefs! Remember GK and her eviction from Ma and Pa Kettle’s motel in Moranbah? The then Queensland Attorney-General Mr Jarrod Bleijie, began a successful smear campaign to change the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 to allow legal discrimination to occur in Queensland. Sex workers across Australia have had enough! We don’t want any more exploitation for politicial gain (often accompanied with dodgy donations) to keep the dangerous status quo! More athiests exist in Australia than God fearing citizens and so the time has come for the rights and lives of sex workers to be respected.

Thirdly, I want to be able to enjoy the freedom of being able to work safely in the sex industry in Queensland without fear of persecution. As with any marginalised group, I live with stigma and discrimination on a daily basis. Lyon asserts that health outcomes of sex workers are directly affected by stigmatisation and marginalisation and that “It is described as the single biggest issue facing sex workers – even those who operate legally” (Lyon, 2011: 2.3.1, 45). I am at risk of being blackmailed, harrassed, stalked, threatened and outed by police, real estate agents, employers, disgruntled ex partners/husbands, friends, family and even from my own colleagues, whom for a variety of reasons choose to act or react with ignorance and a sense of entitlement that justifies their violence. Violence comes in many different guises.

My own personal story involves an ex husband who rang my landlord and outed me, just because I was leaving him and his abuse, only for him to attack my only source of income and ruin my career. I was left penniless, unable to access Centrelink because I am a Kiwi who came to Australia post 911 and when significant political changes to immigration laws occurred in 2001 (New Zealanders are now considered Permanent Temporary Residents), which meant I had no access to financial support when I fell on hard times. I am not alone in wanting to create the life I choose in the sex industry. I have hopes, dreams and aspirations and I hope to one day become a dual citizen of Australia and New Zealand. Sex workers are everywhere in society, and most of the time you don’t even know we’re there because we are so discreet.

Lastly to recap, licensing slash regulation of the sex industry in Queensland, has not worked. Licensing, as opposed to decriminalisation, makes illegal operations more attractive because the legal sector is often kept smaller than the number of sex workers available to work (Lyon, 2011:10). This kind of defeats the purpose doesn’t it? Current licensing has created an impossible framework for sex workers to work within and one that often sets us up to fail by having to break laws in order to survive and work safely. Research by Respect Inc found that the mental health issues were rife in licensed brothels due to bad working conditions. Decriminalisation is a vital part of addressing the stress, bad work conditions, rights and welfare of all sex workers in Queensland.

It has been 30 years since the 1989 Fitzgerald Inquiry exposed the heinous corruption, extortion and exploitation of sex workers by Police that was occurring during the Joe Bjelke-Peterson days. In response, the Prostitution Act 1999 (Qld) introduced a brothel licensing system, but left the 1899 Criminal Code unchanged. Sadly, 80% of sex workers continue to be subject to police regulation and monitoring as a result. Essentially, we are seen as second class citizens in the state of Queensland, deemed unworthy of receiving even the most basic human rights and protections that our friends, family and communities are afforded. It is about time that numerous evidence-based research in favour of decriminalisation, is taken seriously and fully implemented by our Queensland government representatives.

Decriminalisation of the sex industry is the only way forward and is championed by many international human rights groups including the United Nations. Since the UN made a press release advocating for complete decriminalisation of the sex industry worldwide, we have witnessed several countries, their sex workers and supporters, collectively rise up in the hope that they will see history in the making. We are watching activists and governments work side by side to raise awareness for others and pave the way for the removal of harmful Draconian laws. Activists and governments are working tirelessly to navigate their way down this path to freedom not only for sex workers but for the community as a whole. Decriminalisation will bring about so many positive changes for sex workers, that our voices will finally have been heard and included in a modern society.

The benefits of decriminalisation far outweigh anything that we have seen to date. Police will finally be able to focus on real crime and stop wasting taxpayer money chasing after ghosts. Decriminalisation of the sex industry is the only way to move forward on the issue of human trafficking, sex slavery and violent crime against sex workers in Australia.  It is the only accepted course of action that the United Nations advocates globally because it recognises the overall positive impact on human rights, health and safety and addresses issues of harm minimisation in the area of disease prevention, violence and illegal activity (UNAIDS, 2009).

There is nothing wrong with offering or paying for sex services by consenting adults. I think there has been a general taboo about talking about or doing anything sexual for far too long. Slut shaming is a very real thing and begins from an early age. There is still time to make a difference and jump on the second wave of the sexual revolution bandwagon and advocate for complete decriminalisation for sex workers in Queensland. Lobby your local MP’s, write emails and letters in support even if you aren’t a provider, just because it’s the right thing to do. Let your friends and family know that you are in support of sex worker rights and tell them why. All we want is a safer work place, the ability to ask for help and to receive support when it is needed. A win/win for everyone in my book! 

 

© Copyright 2019, Jezabel, escortjezabel.com. All Rights Reserved

 

Published by the AIM Network 21st August 2019

 

Decrim Qld on Twitter: "Huge thanks to everyone for ...

 

REFERENCES 

Criminal Code (Qld) 1899

The 1989 Fitzgerald Inquiry

The Prostitution Act (Qld) 1999

Abel, G., Fitzgerald, L., & Brunton, C., (2007). The Impact of the Prostitution Law Reform Act on the Health and Safety Practices of Sex Workers: Report to the Prostitution Law Review Committee. Christchurch: Otago University

Abel, G., Fitzgerald, L., & Brunton, C., (2009). The impact of decriminalisation on the number of sex workers in New Zealand. Journal of Social Policy 38(3) 515-31, 526, 528.

Basil Donovan, C Harcourt, S Egger, C Fairley,  (2010), ‘Improving the Health of Sex Workers in NSW: Maintaining Success’, NSW Public Health Bulletin 21(3-4) 74–7.

Basil Donovan, C Harcourt, S Egger, L Watchirs Smith, K Schneider, JM Kaldor, MY Chen, CK Fairley, S Tabrizi, The Sex Industry in New South Wales: A Report to the NSW Government, Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2012,http://www.kirby.unsw.edu.au/sites/hiv.cms.med.unsw.edu.au/files/hiv/attachment/NSWSexIndustryReportV4.pdf. |

Bennachie, C. (2010).  Decriminalising Sex Work in New Zealand – What it means to sex workers.  Paper presented at the International AIDS Conference, Vienna, July 2010.

Christine Harcourt, S Egger, B Donovan (2005), ‘Sex Work and the Law’, Sexual Heath 2(3) 121–8.

Christine Harcourt, J O’Connor, S Egger, C Fairly, H Wand, M Chen, L Marshall, J Kaldor, B Donovan, (2010), ‘The Decriminalisation of Prostitution is Associated with Better Coverage of Health Promotion Programs for Sex Workers’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 34:5 at 482.

http://www.pla.qld.gov.au/

http://www.cdc.gov/std/health-disparities/age.htm

http://www.respectqld.org.au/

Lyon, W., (2011). Prohibitory Prostitution Laws and the Human Right to Health, Research Dissertation presented for partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of LLM in International Human Rights Law (Nottingham Trent University/HETAC), Law School, Griffith college, Dublin. pg 10

New Zealand Prostitutes Collective, http://www.nzpc.org.nz/page.php?page_name=Law

https://respectqld.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Documents/Regulating-Bodies-BWNA-2017.pdf.

O’Connor, C., Berry, G., Rohrsheim, R. and Donovan, B. (1996), ‘Sexual health and use of condoms among local and international sex workers in Sydney’, Genitourinary Medicine, 72: 1, 47–51.

QCAT,   GK v Dovedeen Pty Ltd & Anor (No 3)  [2011] QCAT 509 (10/ADL134) Brisb Ann Fitzpatrick, Member 25/10/2011 [available at:  http://www.sclqld.org.au/qjudgment/2011/QCAT/509

QCAT, GK v Dovedeen Pty Ltd and Anor (No 2)  [2011] QCAT 445 (10/ADL134) Brisb C Endicott, Senior Member 15/09/2011 [available at:  http://www.sclqld.org.au/qjudgment/2011/QCAT/445

QCATA, GK v Dovedeen Pty Ltd and Anor  [2012] QCATA 128 (11/APL416) Brisb PJ Roney SC, Presiding Member Dr B Cullen, Member 31/07/2012  [available at:
http://www.sclqld.org.au/qjudgment/2012/QCATA/128

http://www.respectqld.org.au

UNAIDS, Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS Guidance Note on HIV and Sex Work, Geneva, 2009, http://www.unaids.org/en/media/unaids/contentassets/documents/unaidspublication/2009/JC2306_UNAIDS-guidance-note-HIV-sex-work_en.pdf.

 

Cairns Cyber Siren

Reflections of Bohemia

 

I am a cyber siren.  I was chatting with a companion of mine Lindsay, that I have known for more than 14 years this morning and he asked me what I was doing with my day. 

While I wait for potential clients to ring, or the next booking to arrive, I often sit at my computer and refine my SEO configurations (Search Engine Optimisation) for my website, so I can generate more traffic to my blog. I made a joke that I was like a kind of ‘cyber siren’, and its true!

Those of you who are mariner’s will understand the sea legends of seductive siren’s and mermaids that would lure unsuspecting sailors to their watery graves. While no one is going to die from pleasure on my sexy watch, you may feel like you’re dying to drown in my delightfully juicy juices and that would be my SEO tugging ever-so-gently, at your rather large blue balls!

My alluring cyber siren call is loaded with keywords and phrases, designed to have you salivating at the mere thought of my delightful company, yearning to be inside me and wanting to suck and caress my sexy toes. Sure, a siren of the sea has no tail or toes to merit a mention but I do have a rather lovely derriere that loves to be spanked every once in a while. A funny thing happens when my ass is lovingly man handled…

My lovelies, I am the most exquisite, super sexy cyber siren there is in Cairns and Port Douglas. Not only do I have a wonderful tail, I also have the most luscious set of round bouncy DD breasts that would love to be dangling in your face, as we ride those waves of pleasure to the end’s of the earth and back! Consider your cyber siren’s needs thoroughly, while contemplating your own and we will be well on our way to having a wonderfully, splashy time!

It sounds so bloody cheesy doesn’t it? But it works! Now all you have to do, is make a booking with me and find out what all the screaming is about! Jx

 

Jezabel Cairns

 

© Copyright 2019, Jezabel Cairns ‘escortjezabel.com’. All Rights Reserved

Mermaid:The Body Found

Sexy Cairns & Port Douglas Adventures

Reflections of Bohemia

Sexy Cairns Escort

 

Hi all you sexy far north Queensland local’s and visitor’s! I am now available in Cairns and Port Douglas permanently. I have set up a beautiful, luxurious apartment in the Cairns CBD to share with you. I also offer a Deluxe Holiday Stay package to those desiring exclusivity, at a very reasonable fee.

I am available for short or long term sightseeing excursions as well as lunch or dinner dates. My favourite restaurants are Ochre, Coco’s, Mondo’s and the Port Douglas Yacht Club.

I see discerning ladies, gentlemen and couples who desire some additional fun, passion and humour in the boudoir. I am sometimes available for dessert at short notice, but advanced bookings would be preferred!

Mention that you read this introductory escort diary and receive an additional half an hour. I hope you are enjoying your day or night in the tropical far north and I hope to see you very soon. Jx

Tinders Cora Pearl

Poetry

Tinder dating.

Balancing on that tight rope between modern meat markets, vintage marriage proposals and a continuum of taffeta excuses for those with no idea about couture.

Coffee date number two,

torn between a Trelise Trelise Cooper bustle or Collette Dinnigan trousers, opting for mid length K-mart culottes and flat shoes – quite sensible really.

Then he makes a move, casually stroking her genius arm while he takes a business call leaning back on his wing.

It’s an affront to Cora’s touch-starved senses; Georgette raised speed bumps, bristle with expectations.

Its awkward for a moment –

deciding weather to pirouette or sashay onto the dancefloor with some spurious home truths.

Ta da!

‘I used to be a sex worker’,

she crowed, sipping on a nonchalant eyelash latte on the verge of treason

‘and if I decide to go back, you can’t stop me’.

Silence.

Ms Pearl takes another sip, the onslaught of ignorance threatening to tighten her whale bone corset breath, now held in contempt.

A standing ovation or white knuckled finale taking the bias edge out of contention, taking it all in.

See, she can’t see the point of another round of ruffles and rouge.

/

Spontaneous attraction hides in the shadows

of a cloak and dagger past life, frightened

by a mere unorthodox interlude.

 

 

© Copyright 2019, Jezabel Cairns ‘escortjezabel.com’. All Rights Reserved

To Grey or Not to Grey

Reflections of Bohemia

Jezabel July 2019

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I’ve written an escort blog post.

Firstly, I’ve been away from the sex industry for about 4-5 years (since Feb 2014 there about’s) and I’ve had a rather long hiatus and two failed relationships. I am also renovating my house pretty much from scratch. 

Secondly, I have run out of money, therefore I am going back to work to finish what I’ve started. Basically, there is no rest for the wicked!

Lastly, I have moved into a beautiful apartment in the Cairns CBD. I am on the 6th floor, with wonderful views of the city and Great Dividing Range! Off street parking is available for those choosing to stay with me, with my Deluxe Holiday Stay package.  AND I have a spa bath!

As you can imagine, a lot has changed. I am greyer! I actually don’t mind going grey or white actually. I want to let my natural silver come through – the problem is growing out my dyed hair.

I have had several professional attempts to try to blend my hair to a silver/grey colour, and they have all failed. I’ve been left with a fried natural belayage (my own darker roots, bleached lighter ends) and I don’t like it. So now, I have no choice but to go through the painfully slow process of growing it out. It truly is a heinous process. Luckily, grey is the new hot cougar colour, so there’s never been a better time to bite the bullet!

These selfie pics were taken a few weeks ago and the light captures my struggling grey’s quite nicely. So, please bear with me and embrace my courageous attempt at going natural with me, although I’m sure most of you are not really interested in the hair on my head (giggles), but you get my drift.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I hope I will see you all in Cairns or Port Douglas again, soon. I’m sure I’m not the only one whose ageing disgracefully!

© Copyright 2019, Jezabel Cairns ‘escortjezabel.com’. All Rights Reserved

Whore

Poetry

 

Clock app, I chime well.

The sheets are slithery crevices

Satin-lined, with serpent tongue poised to strike,

It is a meeting of the soul,

 

A shaft of light

Through cathedrals of stained glass.

Where you are safe,

There are no family heirlooms,

 

No dinner on the table, no lies.

Suave virile hips, the smirk of men

Glaze at her smoke

And I, in my honeyed plume,

 

Milk a gallon of amphibian seed.

To release

The roar of angst I swallow toads ~

Meat and three vege, a staple,

 

The ‘Elixir of Life’.

My mouth gags,

The mouth of Mary

When my accelerator touches the pan.

 

The giggle of my

Plastic features, my way of arching

John’s to rigors of trapeze

Lays on the charm, a gasp.

 

And it goes on and on, and on.

I shall remain a nymph. Old muscles

Strain like a bough and I

Blush like Betty Boop

 

Satisfied,

All the sighs of winter, fall

Offering up last seasons rosella

Tea to read.

 

 

© Copyright 2019, Jezabel Jodine. ‘escortjezabel.com’. All Rights Reserved

Visible Woman

Poetry

Escorts Jezabel

I’m a whore.
A hooker for all
Intents & purposes

I fuck

Men, women or both
If they show me
Respect & pay my fee

How they treat
Me is how I screen;
They peep through key
Holes in my web,
Mobile phone or face
Book

Leave me clues
I peruse at my leisure.

On my unpaid time,
Weeding
Always pulling
Out roots & bare
Back, barking mad
Messages

Cutting into my family!

My family time
Intrigues you & yours –

Watching how we
Balance on that edge,
While I swing my leg
Over, hold on
Tight & tiptoe
Around the giant
Dildo in the room

But we do

Those Bill’s
Just don’t stop coming!

*

I work hard for the money
I work hard for family
I work hard
Pulling my weight where it counts
To make ends meet;
Reconciling differences
Underneath

I bleed red & my shit still
Stinks but that doesn’t make me
Invisible, unless you’re
Anti

Anti this, anti that
Why should it matter
What I do to support my
Self or my family?

I should ram my fist right up
Your arse, to my elbows
(I’d like to – bend you over) &
Piss all over your pride & prejudice!

Your mind is already made up.
Stuck up, to the eyeballs
In condescending lies pandering
To unpopular beliefs;
Nothing like countering ‘prostitution
Narratives’ in the belly
Of the beast

I am a very tall poppy.
I am not so uneloquently on display
I am not a victim
I am not coerced
I am not a survivor
I am not damaged
I am not suffering any
More than anyone else

I don’t buy into
Negative, stereotypically ignorant
Profit driven victimisation
Either!

I choose to be the
Architect of my own life
Doing my bit,
Arousing your awareness
So that those who are
Tarred with the same brush
Can find support
Not rescue

It’s called autonomy.
Something I have more of than
Some, but you are not one

Tomorrow I’m going to wake up
Turn on my phone
Answer messages
Boil the jug & light up a dart,
Considering all my options
Before heading back in to sex work

It makes me stark raving
Mad, to think you could
Possibly be offended!

*

For what it’s worth,
I feel sorry for you

© Copyright 2016, Jezabel Jodine. ‘escortjezabel.com. All Rights Reserved

Written in protest of the ‘World’s Oldest Oppression’ Conference in Melbourne, Victoria 2016

The Online Protest

Pieces of Meat

Sound of Silencing Sex Workers

Online Pocket Guide to Dealing with Antis

Sex Work & Violence

About Sex Work, Sex Work & Violence

pink1

On Sunday night, the 17th of February 2013, I got a distressed call from a young sex worker in Cairns. For the purpose of this Blog her name shall be Gemma.

Gemma had taken an enquiry from a man calling himself Will. He seemed warm, polite and friendly. They agreed on a price, time and place for a 1 hour outcall at an upmarket hotel in Cairns along the Esplanade. She took her time getting ready, making the effort to look and feel her best. She chose light make-up, a lovely but casual dress and 3 inch heels. Her supplies of condoms and lube were tucked away in an evening bag. She headed out the door…

Gemma arrived on time and made her way up to the third floor. A well dressed man in his late 20’s, early 30’s opened the door, smiled and let her in. She looked around the room and noticed empty beer bottles and pizza boxes. She made the comment “Oh is this your bachelor pad?” laughing and gesturing toward the mess in a friendly manner to break the ice. He laughed and said “something like that”. Then another male of around the same age came out of a side room. Then another and another and another. Five in total were in the room and making smiles and lewd gestures toward her.

Gemma asked to speak with Will, looking at the guy who opened the door for her. He replied that Will wasn’t there, that they had borrowed his phone and that they wanted to ‘party’ with her. Right about now she realised she was in her worst nightmare. She stated firmly and calmly that she had made an hour booking with Will and that there was no mention of anyone else being involved. They offered her more money and encouraged her to sit down. Gemma declined. One of them pushed a chair in behind her knee’s to force her to sit down but she remained standing. They had been drinking.

By this time Gemma is trying to reposition herself away from the men crowding around her, to move closer to the door. As she was trying to extricate herself, repeatedly stating that she was not going ahead with the booking, one of the five stated “Prostitution is illegal in Australia and you have to fuck us!”. Another started yelling at her “get in the fucking bedroom!”. She managed to manoeuvre herself in to the kitchen before making a dash for the exit, deliberately knocking everything she could off the kitchen bench onto the floor. She made it out of the door and down to reception. shaken and in shock. She phoned her boyfriend who came over immediately to pick her up outside the hotel. He told reception what Gemma had told him.

Gemma is a 24 year old woman. She lives alone with her pet dog and Goldfish. She has a boyfriend whom works away for a couple of weeks at a time and who is supportive of her choice of work in the interim. They both have goals and aspirations for their future together.

Like a lot of sex workers, Gemma entered into the sex industry to ease social and economic pressures. A cash income meant she could begin to create an independent life for herself and pool her resources into savings, learning and up-skilling, ultimately to improve her chances of competing in a modern society. A global financial crisis resulting in fewer job opportunities, and tighter budget constraints combined with poor leadership and cowardly politicians like Queensland’s Attorney-General, Honourable? Jarrad Bleijie and Mr Premier Campbell-Newman pissing all over human rights, targeting our most vulnerable in society, leaves little hope for our young people to see any kind of future.

This scenario could have been much worse. Gemma was a very lucky young woman to have escaped from those lowlife scum who dared to call themselves men. Could her risk be lowered? You bet; yet under current Queensland law it is still illegal for two sex workers to work together to provide back up to each other and this immediately increases the risk of further abuses being perpetrated against us. Who is more aware of our particular safety needs than another sex worker? In my mind, current regulation is actually perpetrating gross negligence and causing undue harm which violates our basic human rights.

Queensland law does actually allow sex workers to hire a fully qualified bodyguard slash driver whenever we feel there is a need. But lets face it, could Gemma have foreseen what was planned for her that night? The answer is NO. However, when isn’t there a potential risk for sex workers when we have a government that doesn’t support their basic human rights in general and a public who knows this and an element of depravity in some people who will continue to be violent by nature? In Gemma’s case it is unrealistic to expect her to hire a bodyguard slash driver to serve as a chaperone on every single job, she accepts. The cost alone puts this service way out of reach for most sex workers. Where is this fictitious pool of bodyguard slash drivers on standby 24/7?

What about the Police? Gemma chose not to report this incident. That is her right. When I asked her what made her think twice, she said she rang them anonymously and they couldn’t do anything unless she made a statement. She didn’t want to make a statement. She wanted the Police to go around and scare them to make them at least think twice about doing it again to another unsuspecting sex worker. This was not to be. She could not see that making a statement to Police would enable them to visit the men and force them to at least tell their side of the story. The only thing she could see, was that nothing would happen to them and she would become a known sex worker to Police. This made her feel uncomfortable. Sad isn’t it.

I referred Gemma to her local sex worker organisation for support immediately after the incident. Respect Inc have drop in and outreach centres on the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Townsville (Head Office) and Cairns. She was able to debrief over the phone with a peer in Cairns, was given information about her rights and the opportunity to have the respect Peer Educator with her if she chose to make a statement with Police. What an invaluable service! Severely under resourced and very lucky to have escaped the heinous community funding cuts that surged though Queensland last year like a fiscal enema.

What happened to Gemma could happen to any one of us at any time. It has happened to a lot of us. Is this a deterrent? No it is not. We cling to what little support we have within society and lean on each other and pick up the pieces and move on with our lives – and continue to sex work. Men, women and transgender alike have been making the best of difficult situations for centuries. Sex work is not a new phenomenon. It is known as the oldest profession in the world for damn good reason! Historically, it was not always an illegal or heavily regulated profession either.

Australia needs to make a National change uniting the States and follow in the huge footsteps of New South Wales and New Zealand who lead the way with complete Decriminalisation of the sex industry. Draconian laws and heavy-handed, often purely misguided moralistic regulations do nothing but make the lives of sex workers fraught with danger, ripe for exploitation and reek of political potato chips. How many more stories like Gemma’s do you have to hear before you realise that she is a person just like yourself, with a family and friends, neighbours, work colleagues and a guy that comes around to mow the lawn every 2nd Wednesday. A person who deserves to have laws in place to protect her human rights to live and work free from harrassment.

Why is Federal Australia still turning a blind eye to screeds of evidence-based research stating how decriminalising sex work removes so much unwanted paper work for bureaucrats, free’s up resources for Police to actually focus on real crimes, empowers people to make better choices, makes would be criminals think twice, and more importantly begins to improves negative stigma and discrimination which in turn raises self esteem and a feeling of belonging in society for a vulnerable minority group? Perhaps we need to invest our hard earned tax payer dollars into buying a pair of thick lens glasses so that each and every Member of Parliament can begin to read the not so small print in front of them.

Finally, I have one last statement to make. Sex workers are here to stay. Sex workers are uniting and growing stronger every single day. Sex workers will not tolerate abuse of any kind. There should be ZERO TOLERANCE against violence full stop! To those of you who are foolish enough to try to hurt or belittle us, remember we are watching you with eye’s in the back of our heads. We are becoming organised and united. These men were exposed to the hotel reception staff who also took great offence and I have no doubt they would have been uncomfortable attempting to explain it away. Be prepared to be questioned, stood up to, refused, denied and exposed as the low-life scourge of society that you are. We are the majority. You are merely that 1% of the population that resembles a sharp prick we encounter occasionally when pulling out the weeds.

Jx

Published by the Aim Network

Published by Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP)

Stop Legal Discrimination in Australia

Political Lobbying

SIGN THE PETITION HERE

The Queensland Attorney-General, Mr Jarrod Bleijie has successfully campaigned to change the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 to allow legal discrimination to occur in Queensland.  Section 106C was passed to specifically target sex workers in the area of accommodation.  It effectively removes the ‘Lawful Sexual Activity’ part of the Act which has protected sex workers from discrimination by hoteliers/moteliers, landlords and body corporates to date.  Our basic human right to live and work in peace, free from harassment and vilification have been compromised.

Supporting ‘legal’ discrimination is an oxymoron and against the United Nations ‘Universal Human Rights Constitution’.  The Prostitution Act 2000 made sex work legitimate work within Queensland and sex workers are protected under the provision of ‘Lawful Sexual Activity’. Despite other area’s of law which currently still protect hoteliers/moteliers, landlord’s and Body Corporates from noisy guests, legal discrimination puts sex workers, their partners, children, friends and family directly into danger and at risk of abuse and corruption all over Australia.

On 21 November 2012, the Senate referred Exposure Draft legislation for the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012 (Exposure Draft Bill) to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee (committee) for inquiry and report.  The Exposure Draft Bill seeks to consolidate existing Commonwealth anti-discrimination law into a single Act, replacing the Age Discrimination Act 2004, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986.

The Exposure Draft Bill proposes a number of reforms to Commonwealth anti-discrimination law, including:

·         introduction of a single, simplified, test for discrimination applying to all protected attributes;

·         coverage of additional protected attributes including sexual orientation and gender identity;

·        coverage of discrimination and sexual harassment in any area of public life;

·         a streamlined approach to exceptions, including a new general exception for justifiable conduct;

·         additional measures to assist and promote voluntary compliance;

·         improvements to the complaints process to improve access to justice; and

·      some adjustments to the functions of the Australian Human Rights Commission.

The committee is due to report on 18 February 2013, and has invited written submissions to its inquiry by 21 December 2012.

We must ensure that sex workers human rights are included in the above recommendations.  You can contribute actively by making a submission recommending this and why.  The Exposure Draft Bill, explanatory notes and associated materials may be accessed from the committee’s website at www.aph.gov.au/senate_legalcon.

There appears to be widespread discrimination against sex workers in general throughout Australia. Discrimination, that also violates the basic Human Rights of sex workers. Lyon asserts that health outcomes of sex workers are directly affected by stigmatisation and marginalisation and that “It is described as the single biggest issue facing sex workers – even those who operate legally” (Lyon, 2011: 2.3.1, 45).

There has to be a shift away from the pre-existing moralistic viewpoint, to one that supports a public health and human rights approach such as New Zealand and New South Wales. It is apparent that there needs to be more constructive discussion and debate between sex workers, the government, lawmakers and about public opinion in Australia.

In Queensland, it was found that sex workers who were working legally (i.e. service providers in licensed brothels, legal sole traders) had better mental health than those in illegal settings (Seib et al 2009). Harcourt et al (2005) suggested that decriminalization seemed to provide the best outcomes for sex workers health and welfare and that this is a desirable outcome that affects the community as a whole.

Jodine

SIGN THE PETITION HERE.