The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has congratulated the Albanese government for their strong and swift response to revelations of continuing sexual exploitation through human trafficking for the purpose of prostitution in Australia.
Following media reports detailing repulsive abuse of migrant women through prostitution, the Labor government convened an urgent meeting of the Australian Border Force, Home Affairs, and the Australian Federal Police to plan a way forward to address these serious human rights abuses in an urgent manner.
ACL’s National Director of Politics, Wendy Francis, said, “These reports are highlighting a broader issue facing women caught in prostitution in our country. Prostitution is a prime example of inequality between the sexes. Abuse is a common theme in the lives of prostituted people, and many are recruited by force, fraud or coercion.
“There are currently Members of Parliament in South Australia and Queensland who support complete deregulation of the prostitution industry. In light of the systemic abuse which occurs in prostitution becoming clear, this is not only irresponsible, it is absolute madness.”
The Australian Christian Lobby urges all State and Territory governments to consider the Nordic, or Equality, Model of Prostitution legislation which focuses on women’s rights and has been adopted across the world including the below nations:
- 1999 in Sweden as part of the Violence Against Women Act
- 2009 in Norway
- 2009 in Iceland,
- 2014 in Canada as part of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act,
- 2015 in Northern Ireland,
- 2016 in France,
- 2017 in Ireland as part of the Sexual Offences Act,
- 2018 in Israel. The Prohibition of Consumption of Prostitution Services Act
- There is a Bill before the UK Parliament.
ENDS
