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Column: NZPC

Cherida Fraser

Words by: Cherida Fraser (she/her)


Myth and misinformation about sex work is endless, and everybody’s lived experience is unique. So what you may have learnt from family, friends, or films will possibly be inaccurate, and what one sex worker says will differ from another. We are not all cut from the same cloth. I was a talker, my colleague isn’t keen on chatting to her clients at all. Some like taking their time getting to know clients, some prefer getting straight down to business. Some prefer longer bookings and fewer clients, others a series of 20 minute quickies. Generally though, what most sex workers can agree on is that you should always get the money first, no one realises how much time full service workers spend doing laundry, and stigma remains the biggest issue in our lives. 


NZPC: Aotearoa New Zealand Sex Workers Collective is a peer organisation with broad lived experience–peers who have worked on the street, in brothels, and independently; peers who are trans, NB, and cis; peers of all ages and different cultures; peers who are sugarbabies, full service workers, strippers, content creators, sensual masseuses, dommes, and so on.


Our kaupapa at NZPC is to support the health, safety, rights, and wellbeing of all sex workers. We have a team of passionate, compassionate and informed sex workers (past and present) to sort your free condoms, book you in for clinic, and talk through questions like what to expect from your first booking, why lube is so important, and how to use a dental dam. We will happily sit down for a cup of tea and a natter about anything sex work related; whether you are brand new, still thinking it through, or a veteran. 


We are here to share our collective, community, and lived experience that has informed us for over 35 years. We don’t need to know your name and are not here to judge. We are not the sex work police and won’t tell you how to do your job. We are simply here to make sure sex workers have all the information they need to work safely and have their rights upheld.


And our mahi goes beyond safer sex. We know that hauora can thrive when people are treated with respect and have their rights upheld. That’s why we take a holistic approach. Our mahi is macro and micro and everything in-between. On any given day you might find one of us educating medical students or training detectives, while another is standing with a sex worker to ensure they get their MSD entitlements or supporting someone through a mediation. Decriminalisation of sex work in 2003 means sex workers have rights like anybody else*  


And at NZPC you never have to worry about stigma or discrimination when disclosing your sex work, because as a sex worker you already belong here.  Welcome!


 

*There are still imperfections in our legislation, in particular Section 19 which prohibits people on temporary visas from doing sex work. We also could make improvements to our laws around conditional consent, discrimination of occupation, hate speech/hate crimes, contractor rights and collective bargaining etc. 

Follow our Instagram page @_nzpc 


Cherida Fraser

Community Liaison

NZPC: Te Waka Kaimahi Kairau o Aotearoa

Aotearoa New Zealand Sex Workers’ Collective


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