By Edie Wyatt

The Queensland government, ever keen to distract from its own corruption, has decided to erase women’s rights to privacy, dignity and safety in public spaces and facilities by deleting the connection between sex and bodies.

Our CEO Rachael Wong was on ABC Background Briefing discussing the Queensland Government’s bid to introduce regressive prostitution laws that will perpetuate the notion that women’s bodies are commodities to be bought and sold and that their sexual exploitation is both normal and acceptable (Rachael is on at 23:30).

It is clear from jurisdictions that have decriminalised prostitution, that doing so does very little to improve the working conditions of women caught up in the industry, including reducing stigma, harm and violence associated with the trade. Despite this evidence, the Queensland Government is nevertheless proceeding with the decriminalisation model, and has tasked the Queensland Law Reform Commission (“QLRC”) with recommending an appropriate legal framework. The QLRC is seeking feedback regarding a proposed legislative model for the state and has released a consultation paper.  

The link between the normalisation of sexual violence through pornography and actual violence against women has been borne out by the research for some time now: