Crimson Coalition "Police Move On Powers Submission" Feb 2009

Crimson Coalition is very concerned about the way in which the current legislation is framed. We wonder why sex workers are singled out for mention in a separate clause of the legislation (s46[5]), above all other categories of persons in society who may be subjected to a move-on order. This is this extremely discriminatory and transgresses the civil rights of sex workers. By including section 46(5) the police minister has created a mechanism by which street based sex workers may be controlled without the police having to prove that prostitution is occurring. All that is needed is for police to reasonably suspect ‘because of the person’s behaviour’ that the person is soliciting. There is no detail or example to define what sort of behaviour may be included or whether it needs to be behaviour occurring at the time. We fear that police would interpret this to include situations in which persons known to the police (because of previous contact with police for prostitution offences, other offences, or due to conversations with informants etc.) are moved on because of assumptions that the police may make about what they are doing in the area.

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Scarlet Alliance

Crimson Coalition "Police Move On Powers Submission" Feb 2009