Who We Are
Wahine Toa Rising is Survivor Led & Supports Wahine Toa (Warrior Women) & Tamariki (Children) who have & are being Exploited in the Sex Trade in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
Because Only Together We Can
Exploited women & children are overrepresented in the sex trade IN Oceania.
Wahine Toa Rising is their voice.
What We Do
— Providing A Voice
Commercial sexual exploitation silences women. Wahine Toa Rising gifts survivors a safe supported space to speak about their lived experience. We support women with aroha to share what they know about the trade and the impact it has had on their lives.
— Building Connections
Commercial sexual exploitation damages solidarity and connection between women. We are building a survivor sisterhood within Aotearoa, Australia and the Pacific Islands .
Survivors Speak
Chelsea worked for many years in legal brothels.
This is not consent, this is coercion. This is not sex work, this is rape. This is economic exploitation. This is women’s oppression. Decriminalisation of johns and pimps has not improved our safety or lives.
Siobhan was in prostitution between the ages of 18 and 30.
I would cry on my way into the brothel, but by then I felt trapped in the work and felt I had to make something of my life with the money before I could quit, to make it all worthwhile.
News
Queenstown
In-person submission to Queenstown Lakes District Council on Opposition to Queenstown’s Massive Brothel Expansion
I urge the Council to listen to these concerns and act to protect vulnerable women and young people, especially those from indigenous and minoritized ethnicities, ...
News & Media
UN Special Rapporteur urges global action to recognise and combat prostitution
UN Special Rapporteur urges global action to recognise and combat prostitution as a system of violence against women and girls Reem Alsalem, the Special Rapporteur ...
Male violence
Sex Trade Survivors Oppose Queenstown’s Massive Brothel Expansion
The QLDC must refuse to facilitate the expansion of sex trafficking and sex tourism in Wanaka and Queenstown. We oppose the large-scale brothel expansion.