Untold Intimacies: A History of Sex Work in New Zealand, 1978-2008

Author Cheryl Ware
Rights Available World excl. NZ

In June 2003, New Zealand became the first country to decriminalise sex work. Through the lived experiences of 25 individuals who worked on the ships, the streets, in massage parlours and as private escorts, Untold Intimacies presents the first in-depth historical investigation into the lives of some of the first people in the world to experience the transition to decriminalisation – how they dealt with police, violence and health risks, and how they organised to change their world.

About the Author
Dr Cheryl Ware is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Humanities at The
University of Auckland and the author of HIV Survivors in Sydney: Memories of the Epidemic (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019).

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Description

Publisher
Auckland University Press

Extent
248pp

Format
210mm x 140mm

Binding
Paperback

Category
Non-Fiction

Genre
History, Social Science

Publication Date
July 2025

Rights Available:
World excl. NZ

Rights Agents:

World
Sam Elworthy
elworthy@auckland.ac.nz

Contact Auckland University Press
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“This is a great manuscript that straddles the fields of gender, sexuality, legal and social histories. The book could have significant international appeal as histories of sex work are few and far between. International scholars … will be able to look to this book as a key foundational reference.”

— Professor Noah Riseman, La Trobe University, author of Transgender Australia: A History Since 1910 (2023)

“Untold Intimacies will be a significant contribution to New Zealand historiography as well as the global literature on sex work. It is likely to attract an engaged audience and take its place as a significant intervention in the scholarship on the history of prostitution, sexuality, policing, violence, gender and women.”

— Professor Frank Bongiorno, Australian National University

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