Outside it is cold, but over a large iced coffee the year-old says she believes in what she does and that it helps people. She asked that only her nickname be used to protect her privacy. Through her business, she says she makes enough money to comfortably support herself and her disabled, year-old mother for whom she is the primary caregiver.
While Honey has to be careful who she tells, she says close friends and family know about her work and all have been incredibly supportive. Asked how she got started in the industry, Honey says it was the same as any sector, as she had friends who were sex workers. She is quick to reject stereotypes. I have never been assaulted by a client. I have never been degraded by a client.
I have never been arrested. Of them all, New South Wales is the most liberal and the only Australian state to entirely decriminalise the industry.
While most other states have legalised sex work over the last few decades, allowing some regulatory control, South Australia stands out as the state with some of the most repressive laws still on the books.
But that may change. There it was announced that a reform bill would be reintroduced to state parliament in the coming weeks, representing the latest salvo in a decades-long fight for reform. Over the past 20 years, there have been 12 attempts at reform, with only seven making it to a vote in parliament. The other five, including a bill introduced last year by Labor backbencher Steph Key, were stalled by parliamentary procedure and never debated.
