Queensland police last week raided an alleged illegal escort agency on the Gold Coast and charged 25 people with prostitution offences.
They included owner Shawn Moy whose home was raided before he was charged with knowingly carrying on the business of providing unlawful prostitution. Queensland currently has something akin to a licensing model that regulates the state's 20 licensed brothels, but escort agencies, massage parlours and other sex industry business models are effectively criminalised.
Sex workers like Stephanie are able to work lawfully outside of licensed brothels provided they don't use safety strategies , for which they can be arrested and charged. All of Stephanie's safety strategies are criminalised: "Messaging other workers when my clients leave or arrive", "booking into hotels that other workers are booked into so I know there is someone close by", "using drivers that other workers use".
In May, BuzzFeed News spoke to Brisbane sex worker Nikki who successfully brought aggravated sexual assault charges against a client. She said if sex work was decriminalised in Queensland she could have had a receptionist, or made it clear someone else was in the house on the day of her assault.
Stephanie said fear of arrest discourages sex workers from reporting violence or robbery to the police. Her lawyer told Seven News she had initially signed up as a night driver. Another arrested sex worker, interviewed with her face turned away from the camera , said she repeatedly asked whether what they were doing was "legal" and was told "yes yes yes".
