Aussie sex workers' group urges govt. to let in foreign prostitutes as 'skilled workers'

A sex worker organization in Australia has reportedly called for the Federal government to extend the visa rights to cover foreign prostitutes and escorts to enable them to work as 'skilled workers' on 457 visas.

The Australian Sex Workers' Association called the Scarlet Alliance maintains that sex workers are just as skilled as other workers who are allowed to travel to Australia on the four-year work visas, News.com.au reports.

The Scarlet Alliance migration program manager, Jules Kim said that the immigration department has excluded the sex workers from working in Australia as they do not consider sex work as a skilled occupation, adding that the exclusion means discrimination and the sex workers too need equal rights.

According to the report, although an immigration department spokesman said that sex work is not recognized as a trade qualification, the Scarlet Alliance asserted that it provides training for members through a Diploma in Community Education, adding that the sex workers are skilled at 'working with condoms and dams, negotiating prices and services, performing STI (sexually transmitted infection) checks, making risk assessments and establishing boundaries.'

Kim said that sex workers under 30 can use working holiday visas as there are very limited visa pathways for migrant sex workers and legalized migration pathways will make the sex workers less vulnerable to exploitation while the lack of 457 visas has made prostitutes 'susceptible to deception and trafficking.