A bill to protect sex workers from unfair discrimination and decriminalise the industry passed the state parliament on Thursday. The reforms will repeal criminal offences applying specifically to sex workers, create new offences to protect children and specifically prohibit a person being coerced to perform sex work. In the ACT, some forms of sex work are legal, but laws mandate condom use and criminalise street-based sex work and co-operative working arrangements. A review by the Queensland Law Reform Commission in April 2023 made 47 recommendations to decriminalise sex work. The state has 20 licensed brothels and most sex work occurs outside the regulated or licensed sector.

Source: Ethiopian News May 02, 2024 20:22 UTC