Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Economic collapse of Queenstown looms, trade minister warns of over-reliance on China, and a must-read new edition of The Side-Eye. For a lead today, we’re going to focus on a part of the country that could end up wearing the Covid-19 downturn hardest. Before this, Queenstown … Read more
It’s time we called time on stigma and discrimination against sex workers in New Zealand, writes criminologist Lynzi Armstrong. Imagine you decide to start a business. You have an exciting idea and great people to collaborate with. You finish your business plan and are ready to embark on your new challenge. But when you go … Read more
Sex is a struggle for most people, but it can be doubly difficult for those living with a disability, writes Caroline Moratti for the Otago University student magazine Critic. Is sex a basic human right? Not for your parents hopefully, don’t picture that. To access sex remains a struggle that plagues most of our lives. … Read more
High profile escort Lisa Lewis has published an open letter denouncing the NZ Prostitutes’ Collective for its advocacy for migrant sex workers in New Zealand. A Wellington sex worker responds. I’ve been a sex worker in Wellington for the past two years, both as an independent operator and an agency escort, and I was prompted … Read more
The Spinoff is proud to debut our Frame documentary series produced by Wrestler and funded by NZ on Air. The first is The Hookers of Hawera, about life in and around a small-town brothel named ‘Shh…’. Co-director Kim Vinnell explains how she came to the story, and what she learned along the way. When I … Read more
How would you earn your living if you and your child had a severe disability? One mother shares how she has found a job that makes her life just a little easier. I’m young, Māori and a sex worker, and my life is harder than you can imagine, but not for the reasons you’re thinking. … Read more
From the 70s through the 90s, Auckland’s inner-city streets hosted a population of trans sex workers who were not only outside the protection of the law, but often at the mercy of those who enforce it. Those who survived that era tell Julie Hill about the sexual acts demanded by police, and how they made … Read more