Coronavirus: Pestering punters, sex workers soliciting during lockdown cause alarm
Thursday, 27 August 2020
A sex worker says a would-be client repeatedly pestered her to meet during Auckland’s alert level 3 lockdown and she’s worried such liaisons could jeopardise efforts to stop the coronavirus pandemic spreading.
And although many escorts have in alert level 3 switched to online-only services, such as selling content on paid websites, some in Auckland were still advertising for in-person meetings this week.
The New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective (NZPC) said enquiries from some highly annoying men seeking sex have continued through lockdown, despite lockdown rues forbidding clients from meeting escorts.
Stuff saw a slew of lurid messages in which someone claiming to originally be from Dubai suggested meeting for sex at an Auckland address.
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The Waikato sex worker who was contacted said she was concerned that customers who contracted Covid-19 would be unlikely to report symptoms, get tested for coronavirus, or tell other people.
The sex worker told the person who claimed to be seeking sex that it was illegal to take the appointment during lockdown.
Eventually, she told her correspondent she’d complained to police.
She also said the NZPC was not providing clear advice to workers about rules at different alert levels.
Police confirmed the complaint was reviewed and investigated but said the information provided could not be substantiated.
The NZPC on its website said sex workers operating from a home or apartment were not expected to have a QR code.
But it added: “In Auckland, at level 3, you should not be doing in-person sex work.”
Brothels and other businesses where sex work takes place must have the government QR code.
Dame Catherine Healy, NZPC national coordinator, said some customers continued contacting sex workers during all levels of lockdown wanting in-person intercourse.
“A tiny minority are [contacting] sex workers, who are responding usually with fantastic health promotions,” Healy added.
Most customers understood when told face-to-face meetings could not happen in alert levels 3 and 4, making the “Dubai” man an exception for his persistence.
”Sex workers feel annoyed and some are suspicious that they may be being set up,” Healy said.
During alert level 2, currently the alert level for all New Zealand outside Auckland, clients and sex workers are advised to wear masks.
Healy acknowledged this might not always be realistic but said she’d received feedback that customers and sex workers nationwide had improved hygiene standards since the pandemic’s arrival.
Some brothels and sex workers accessed the wage subsidy scheme but some were reluctant to seek Government help, Healy said.
Some sex workers might not keep detailed tax receipts when seeing clients who paid cash.
This could make some scared of being audited but Healy said in her experience, the Inland Revenue Department had a reasonable approach to this.
“We haven’t found them being petty and spiteful.”
Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker said Auckland only had a relatively narrow window, compared to the first lockdown, to crush the latest Covid-19 outbreak.
“This is quite a pivotal moment for New Zealand.”
The University of Otago public health expert said the much shorter, less severe, and localised current lockdown relied heavily on Aucklanders following the rules.
“It’s always concerning, if you have chains of transmission in marginalised populations who don't feel that they can come forward.”
During New Zealand’s national level 4 lockdown in May, police issued warnings to sex workers looking for customers on the streets.
On Monday, two people in Adelaide were fined after being caught breaching coronavirus restrictions by operating a suburban brothel.
Auckland will remain at alert level 3 until 11.59pm on Sunday, then move to alert level 2.