Story: Sex work

NZPC publications: first issue of Siren (2nd of 4)

NZPC publications: first issue of Siren

The New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective (NZPC) published the first issue of Siren in November 1988, the year after the collective was established. Siren stands for Sex Industry Rights and Education Network, and the magazine focused on workers' rights and safe sex. In this first issue, NZPC national coordinator Catherine Healy invited workers from different parts of the sex industry to contribute to the magazine, which received some funding from the Department of Health. Healy wrote that the government had recognised that safe-sex strategies were better advanced by volunteers within the sex industry than by 'salaried social workers who would be working from the outside'. The first issue was produced very cheaply by NZPC members, and black-and-white photocopies were distributed through sex-worker networks.

Using this item

New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective
Reference: Siren, November 1988

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page:

Jan Jordan, 'Sex work - New Zealand Prostitutes’ Collective', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/document/29377/nzpc-publications-first-issue-of-siren (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Jan Jordan, published 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 31 May 2018