Have your say ! - Council calls for comment on prostitution issues
Submissions closed 13th November
Prostitution Issues Questionnaire
The Christchurch City Council invites you to complete the following
questionnaire on issues relating to the new Prostitution
Reform Act.
The questionnaire is part of a consultation process
to decide whether the Council needs further control measures for prostitution related activities.
When the Prostitution Reform Act came into being
on Saturday 28 June, a number of activities became
lawful that were previously unlawful including keeping a brothel*;
living on the earnings of prostitution; procuring a person for prostitution; and soliciting
for the purpose of prostitution.
It is now legal to own and operate a brothel. Inspectors
from Community and Public Health have the power to
enter and inspect a prostitution business in relation to health
and safety matters. The police are responsible for
enforcing the Act’s
new operator certificates and prosecuting people buying sexual services from prostitutes, younger
than 18 years of age.
Under the Act, the Council has limited new powers, relating to
businesses of prostitution.
These powers are for regulating the location of
brothels and controlling signage advertising commercial
sexual services. The Act contains no new bylaw making powers in
relation to soliciting on streets.
From past experience and recent consultation, it
is believed that over-regulation of prostitutes working
on the streets can make it harder for health workers to reach them
and simply shift rather than remove the area of nuisance.
There are laws in place to stop individuals behaving in an offensive or disorderly manner.
The Council’s timetable means that should
it decide to take any regulatory action, that would occur
in the first half of next year. If it decided to pass any bylaws
regulating the location of brothels and signage, these may be applied to existing brothels
and signage.
Thank you for completing this questionnaire. Your
opinion is greatly valued. When answering the questions,
please remember that the Council does not have the power to make
bylaws, which would ban brothels, soliciting or prostitution in general.
The Council will carefully consider the views it
has received before making its decisions.
*A brothel is a building kept or habitually used for prostitution.
For further information:
Top of page
|
