Sex Workers can take clients to their hotel room in Australia, according to a court's rule.
Hotel owners are in shock after hearing this news and are worried about their hotels terms and policies. The hotel owners are also worried about the reputation of their hotel which can be affected with the enforcement of the new ruling.
The issue came into the limelight when a prostitute approached the court alleging discrimination of being a sex worker and not been treated as a normal customer.
The owner of Drovers Rest Motel in the coal mining town of Moranbah in Queensland banned her from visiting the hotel after he realized the woman brought clients to her hotel room.
The sex worker reportedly identified only as GK, lost her anti-discrimination case last year, but appealed last month and won after her lawyer successfully argued that a bed is also a hotel property, which is same as a telephone or internet used by the customers for their business.
"Not everyone would choose to do the job I do, but it's not right that they can treat me like as second-class citizen," she told The Australian. "They wanted me to go away, but I am a tenacious little terrier, and I would not give up."
The sex worker is also seeking for a claim against the damages from the hotel owner. The result of that case has yet to be declared.
The motel's lawyer, David Edwards, confirmed the sex worker is seeking damages, and if she won, the hotel would be forced to pay $31,674, The Australian reported Wednesday.
Richard Munro, chief executive of the Accommodation Association of Australia, a tourism industry lobby group, said the Queensland and Australian governments should consider changing laws to ensure that hotel and motel owners get the choice of deciding which kind of guests are allowed and what kind of business can be operated by the customers inside the property premises.
"It's absolutely illogical," Munro told reporters. "If a hairdresser decided to set up shop in the motel and started inviting people in to get their hair cut, I think the motel owner would have the right to say, 'Hang on, that's a different business operating out of my business'. If a prostitute decided to start working out of a shopping mall, the owners would have something to say about it. There is some protection for the rights of the motel owner here."
According to Janelle Fawkes, chief executive of the Scarlet Alliance, Australian Sex Workers Association, "Accommodation discrimination is a major issue for sex workers, but it is not by any means the only form of systemic discrimination that sex workers experience."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
