Prostitutes Manukau City
The BORA-2005-Manukau-City-Council-Control-of-Street-Prostitution Bill was introduced to address growing concerns about visible street solicitation in specific areas. Its purpose was to authorize the Manukau City Council to create bylaws prohibiting street prostitution in designated zones, aiming to improve safety for residents and local businesses. The Manukau City Council (Regulation of Prostitution) Bill specifically targeted street solicitation in public spaces.
Legislative Efforts to Control Street Solicitation
Introduced on February 25, 2015, it represented the council’s latest effort to manage prostitution locally despite national decriminalization under the Prostitution Reform Act 2003. Prostitution in New Zealand operates within a decriminalized framework established in 2003. Yet, the Manukau City Council contended that street prostitution created significant public nuisance and safety hazards that required local intervention. The Manukau City Council (Regulation of Prostitution in Specified Places) Bill sought to empower the council to prohibit soliciting and related activities in targeted locations.
Community Impact and Ongoing Challenges
This local approach was promoted as necessary to address community-specific concerns unmet by national legislation. Reform advocates argued that such bylaws would push workers underground, increasing their vulnerability. The council took the prostitute dilemma to the top,
seeking authority it believed the national framework lacked. The bill was ultimately defeated on February 25, 2015. This continued a pattern of local authorities attempting to regulate prostitution despite decriminalization. George Hawkins championed the bylaw approach, arguing it was essential for neighborhood safety. The debate highlighted tension between community complaints about public solicitation and the rights of sex workers under New Zealand’s decriminalized model.
*TAGS* – Manukau prostitution bylaws, street solicitation prohibition, decriminalization tensions
