"But what is of greatest concern is the toll taken on vulnerable women including young women, and other sex sellers who’ve been caught up in the trade," says Ritchie. "Decriminalising prostitution has simply strengthened and emboldened misogynistic attitudes amongst New Zealand sex buyers", writes one survivor. Stop Demand argues that stigma is rightly fitting for a trade that, despite being state-sanctioned, irreparably damages lives, far too many. Stop Demand believes the million dollar tax-payer funded NZPC lobby has beguiled many with sanitising gloss and cognitive dissonance. The marking of twenty years, says Stop Demand, should be a time of lament, not celebration.

Source: New Zealand Herald June 26, 2023 00:25 UTC