Beyond Decriminalization: Sex-work, Human Rights and a New ...

BEYOND DECRIMINALIZATION: Sex Work, Human Rights and a New Framework for Law ReformUnderstandably, many sex workers expressed apprehension about revealing their highly stigmatizedline of work:A. See that’s – that’s one of the issues that comes up. Is that in order to access a lot of this,you do have to out yourself. Like, to get worker’s compensation, you have to make aclaim, then they investigate the claim, and in investigating the claim they go throughyour medical records, they go through everything that happened. They interview allpotential witnesses.- female off-street out-call sex workerAnother project participant described her anxiety at the prospect of being labelled a sex worker:A. Well just the label. I am just wondering how they will label it once you put it on yourincome tax . . . And that once you have been a sex worker, you are a sex worker forthe rest of your life. You just carry it around like an anchor – I was 20 years old andI worked as a sex worker – woahhhhhhhhhh, it said it on your income tax, little girl.Meanwhile you are 60. So that’s just my issue.- female off-street out-call sex workerHowever, provisions within the WCA make it clear that the Board should treat claim files as confidential,and not accessible to third parties upon their request. 73 Similarly, medical reports should not bedisclosed, except for the purposes of administering the WCA and regulations. 74Occupational Health and Safety RegulationsThe WCA has an associated set of regulations, the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 75 (the“OHSR”), which sets out the minimum requirements for health and safety standards in industriescovered by the WCA. 76Under the New Zealand PRA all sex workers, regardless of their employment or contractual status,are under a duty to follow health and safety standards.The WCA 77 and the OHSR sets out general duties for employers to ensure the health and safety ofall workers and others in the workplace by remedying unsafe conditions, informing workers of theirrights, and ensuring that employers provide and maintain proper protective equipment. Also, theWCA requires employers to establish an occupational health and safety program. Generally, such aprogram would place responsibilities on employers and workers to ensure that all work is carried outwithout undue risk of occupational disease or injury to any person. 78 Duties include regular inspectionsof the workplace and work practices, instruction and supervisions of workers, investigations intoany unsafe occurrences, and the maintenance of records, all with an eye to preventing the developmentof unsafe working conditions. 79 Under the OHSR, employers are accountable to the Board, andthe Board maintains the authority to enact health and safety regulations as it sees fit. 80The majority of sex workers stated that they would support the application of the OHSR to sexwork, and the resulting increased obligations for employers to ensure workplace health and safety.One massage parlour owner explained that the onus should fall on the employer because sex workersare often not in a position where they are able to protect their health and safety:73 Ibid., s. 95.74 Ibid., s. 156(1)(a).75 OHSR, supra note 7.76 Ibid., s. 2.1.77 WCA, supra note 6, s. 115.78 OHSR, supra note 7, s. 2.2.79 Ibid., s. 3.3.80 WCA, supra note 6, s. 225.121