Untold Intimacies: A History of Sex Work in Aotearoa
Sex workers: in their own words
24th July 2025
Trailblazers, activists and educators shine bright in an enlightened history of sex work in Aotearoa.
By Sky Idrianna
The history of sex work in Aotearoa is so often left in the dark – or when it is told, it’s usually recounted by people who didn’t live it. Cheryl Ware’s Untold Intimacies strays from that. Through the priceless contribution of 25 sex worker voices, this book offers an honest, in-depth account of sex work in Aotearoa and the trailblazing journey toward decriminalisation.
Drawing directly from the words of sex workers themselves, Untold Intimacies explores the partially criminalised sex industry before 2003 and the frustration, danger, and resistance that shaped it. Many contributors speak to the harm caused by criminalisation, and how these conditions led to the formation of NZPC (now Aotearoa New Zealand Sex Workers’ Collective).
The book also traces the crucial role sex workers played in public health during the HIV/AIDS crisis of the late ’80s and ’90s – becoming frontline educators and advocates at a time when fear and stigma were rampant. It details the long, often exhausting, fight for decriminalisation, culminating in the passing of the Prostitution Reform Act on June 25, 2003 – world-first legislation that made history.
But Ware doesn’t stop there. She shows how, even after legal reform, sex workers and NZPC continued to face opposition from SWERFs (sex work exclusionary radical feminists) and lobbyists determined to roll back those hard-won rights.
Whether you’re a person interested in political history, activism or you just saw the term ‘sex work’ in this review and had your curiosity piqued, Untold Intimacies will deepen your understanding – and might even challenge a thing or two you thought you knew about sex workers.
The true power of the book lies in its oral histories: stories that humanise a community too often buried beneath stigma. We hear from politically-driven leaders, Māori and Pacifica (‘Queens’) Whakawahine workers whose presence was foundational to NZPC and the sex worker rights movement, workers who were arrested by police, those who worked before and after decriminalisation and LGBTQ+ workers who fought for the right to work safely, and who continue to face layered discrimination. All these workers, including street-based workers and long-time veterans share their truths, showing sex work’s complexity, resilience, and humanity.
Untold Intimacies isn’t just a history book. It’s a collective act of remembrance and resistance. Cheryl Ware, alongside the sex workers who entrusted her with their stories, has helped memorialise a movement that too many try to erase. For sex workers today, it’s a powerful reminder: our stories are not just valid – they are vital. And for those on the outside looking in, it’s a lesson in humanity: sex workers are people who deserve respect, safety and laws that allow us to live with dignity.
