Some Christchurch residents are dreading the summer as they expect street based sex workers to return to their neighbourhood. A sex worker on Manchester Street in Christchurch.
Residents in St Albans, a suburb just north of the central city, said, for the last six years, they had been abused, they had seen sex workers engaged sex acts in their backyards and they frequently saw condoms and needles littered across the driveways. Christchurch City Council had been grappling with how to deal with it, although last month it threw out a potential bylaw which would limit where sex workers could work, proposed by the residents and their lawyers. The council believed enforcement would not be practical - instead they opted for a community-led working group, backed by the police and the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective.
Mr Bonis and the other residents were already gathering pictures of condoms and needles in their gardens, video of sex workers shouting as well as pictures of business transactions taking place in front of their homes. Recently, he had seen fewer sex workers outside his house, which he credited to increased media exposure and intervention from former lawyer and new Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb, but as the weather got warmer, he expected the sex workers to return.
Sex workers in St Albans. Photo: Matt Bonis. Lisa is a solo mum, whose son is years-old, and said she worked as a sex worker on Manchester Street to support her family as health issues made it difficult for her to find a regular job. She said working on the street was not easy. Lisa said she stayed well away from St Albans, as she did not want to get involved in a dispute with its residents.
The problems began after the Christchurch earthquake, when the army blocked off the central city. That forced the sex workers out of their traditional red light district into St Albans. This was exacerbated by the closure of the quake-damaged parlours, whose working girls had to also work on the street.
