Offering sanctuary to sex workers

18 December 2003

By SALLY BROWN

A Manukau schoolgirl had two front teeth knocked out while working as a
prostitute at Papatoetoe's Hunters Corner.

Mamatere Strickland says violence against prostitutes is increasing - not
only from clients but other sex workers.

Ms Strickland, a transsexual of Pacific and Maori descent, is co-founder of
Te Aronga Hou Inaianei, a Papatotetoe agency which helps prostitutes wanting
to leave the sex industry.

The organisation is run in conjunction with the Mangere East Family Service
Centre.

She believes the number of street walkers is growing, making the industry
much more competitive. In addition, she fears the age of prostitutes is
dropping with secondary school students working at night and going to school
by day.

Ms Strickland totally opposed the Prostitution Reform Act which became law
in June, legalising brothel keeping, pimping and soliciting.

She says the law doesn't fix the social issues for many Maori and Pacific
people, who take up prostitution out of desperation rather than choice.

"Many young girls are being sent to work by their boyfriends or even
fathers, as a way of making money for the family," Ms Strickland says.

She says the act doesn't require brothels to hire every prostitute, so some
young people, who thought they could work professionally, are turning to the
streets.

Ms Strickland spends many nights on the streets, introducing herself to
prostitutes and telling them Te Aronga Hou Inaianei is there to help.

"You can't tell me the years on the streets doesn't take its toll on these
women. They need healing emotionally and spiritually," she says.

"Many girls end up on a heap after turning to alcohol or drugs as an escape
from their job. So by the time they come to us they need a lot of
assistance."

Ms Strickland was sexually abused as a child and, by the time she was 11,
she felt as if she was 25. As soon as she had enough money for a bus ticket
to Auckland City, she left her Otara home.

At the age of 12, Ms Strickland was "instantly attracted" to the drag queens
on Karangahape Rd.

"I was drawn like a magnet and the queens took me in and showed me the
ropes," she says.

Ms Strickland was often arrested and taken to government-run boys' homes,
where she was mocked for wearing women's clothing. She would inevitably run
away.

After 25 years in the industry, she finally had enough of seeing her friends
become addicted to various substances and dying. She decided to stop working
as a prostitute.

She joined a culture group where she learnt about her heritage and reached a
greater understanding of herself.

"Many street workers have never been given the chance to learn their full
heritage, which is a key way to assist them to find their way."

© Fairfax New Zealand Limited 2003.