Comments on: Dr. Basil Donovan: On the Frontline of Sexual Health

By: Julie Bates

Julie Bates — Sun, 23 May 2010 07:33:52 +0000

Good question. We, the sex workers of Australia with the support of people like Basil championed the right and need of sex workers for clients to accept the use of condoms. The mandatory use of condoms was not a government regulated move but a voluntary act that sex workers took on to save their own lives and in so doing probably saved thousands of othrs.

This was achieved by encouraing massage parlour opertors to promote safe sex in their establishments regardless of the legal impediments. At the time ealy 1980s, the sex industry right across Australia functioned under prohibition. Sex worker rights advoates and our supporters have been lobbying for law reform of the sex industry now for over 39 years. We have seen a few reforms but only in NSW have we achieved a largely decriminalised system. This came about in 1995 following the revelations before the Wood Inquiry into corrupt police. Sex services premises in NSW are now meant to be regulated like any othe use of land uner the Environment Planning & Asesment Act but there are stil major obstacles to local council embracing the ideal of the reforms – political expeiency and moral panel usually prevail when a development application for a SSP comes before them and it is thus refused. This leaves proponents scrambling to find thouands of dollars to fight the on via an appeal in the Land & Environmetn Court – unjust and unnecessary expenditure on the part of rate payers (council) and the proponents.

By: coffeewithjulie

coffeewithjulie — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:46:23 +0000

Hi Neimad – thanks for sharing your experience from Australia on this. I am sure there must be a personal toll taken by those who crusade and give of themselves in exchange for the larger good of a group of people … but then again, the toll is not likely as great as the satisfaction gained from “making a difference.” I doubt I will ever make such a difference in my life, I just hope to take a few small steps here and there in the right direction. But I deeply admire those who do.

By: Neimad

Neimad — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:20:55 +0000

I remember the disease emerging, I was a young boy in rural Aust and the National concern reached fever pitch in the coming years. It looked as though it was unstoppable at the time early 80’s. Having seen the Doc Rampant, It is apparent the unlikely coalition bore the brunt of the traggedy to protect the unknown masses. At what personal toll?

By: coffeewithjulie

coffeewithjulie — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:57:29 +0000

Good questions … Here are links that I think can answer your questions:

This article summarizes in a personal way his experience with Julie Bates as they tackled the brothel issue in the 80s:
http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/Reviews/bearup07/

This article notes that the different states in Australia have different laws for the legalization of brothels. It would seem that the state that Dr. Donovan lives in (NSW) has legalized brothels as of the 80s:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/238675,brothels-help-prostitutes-stay-healthy.html

And from this link you can actually view the video Rampant. I’d highly recommend it.
http://www.guba.com/watch/3000102436/Rampant-How-a-City-Stopped-a-Plague

Thanks for visiting and commenting Ads!

By: Ads

Ads — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:53:23 +0000

Great profile! Made me want to learn more about the advocacy Dr. Donovan performed 20 years ago. Was Dr. Donovan one of those who, “broke the law and offended everybody”?

I’m also curious – are brothels regulated somehow in Australia? How would they make condom use mandatory otherwise?

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:32:00 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by christopherholt: RT @lifeasahuman: New blog posting, Dr. Basil Donovan: On the Frontline of Sexual Health – http://tinyurl.com/yfmdrn4...