Anti-Trafficking and Exploitation Policy

1. What Muse is

Muse Escorts is an advertising directory. Independent escorts and agencies place listings here, and clients browse them. That is the whole product, and it shapes what we can and cannot see.

• We never take a commission and never handle money between a client and an advertiser.
• We do not take bookings and do not relay messages. Contact goes straight to the advertiser's own phone through the WhatsApp, SMS and phone links on the listing.
• Advertisers set their own rates, hours, services and boundaries, and can take a listing down at any time.
• We do not ask for exclusivity. Anyone listed here is free to advertise anywhere else.

Because contact happens off the site, the checks below happen before and around a listing, not inside a booking. The other half of the picture is you: a client or a worker who notices something wrong and tells us.

2. What we check for independent advertisers

2.1 Identity and age

An independent advertiser who verifies goes through two steps:

• A verification photo, uploaded to us and held privately. It is seen by Muse admin only and is never shown on the site.
• An identity check run by a third-party provider: a government ID document plus a live selfie. The provider confirms the document shows a person aged 18 or over and matches the selfie to the portrait on the document.

We never receive or store the ID document itself. We keep the outcome, the match confidence, the issuing country and limited fraud signals.

2.2 Work rights

Under section 19 of the Prostitution Reform Act 2003, a person holding a temporary entry class visa may not provide commercial sexual services in New Zealand. Every advertiser declares that they have the right to do this work here. That is their own declaration. Muse does not and cannot verify immigration status, and no directory can. If you have real grounds to think a listing breaches section 19, tell us or Immigration New Zealand.

2.3 Review

An admin looks at every new profile before it goes live, usually within 24 hours, and at photos added afterwards. That review is a look, not an approval: the advertiser is responsible for their own content, and some things will get past us. It is one more chance to spot wording, photos or patterns that do not add up.

3. Agencies

Most listings on Muse are placed by agencies. One agency login manages many escort profiles, and the escorts it lists do not have their own logins. That is a normal way to run an agency, and it also means we set agencies clear conditions.

• The agency's phone number is verified at onboarding.
• For every escort it lists, the agency declares that she has consented to the listing, is 18 or over, and has the right to do this work in New Zealand. The agency is responsible for those declarations.
• Any escort listed by an agency can email support@museescorts.co.nz and have her profile removed. We do this without involving the agency, and we do not need the agency's agreement.
• We may contact an escort listed by an agency directly to confirm that she knows about and agrees to her listing.
• If coercion or trafficking is confirmed at an agency, the whole roster comes down, not just the one listing.

4. Red flags

An agency answering the phone, a shared incall, or an escort who has moved cities is not a red flag. Agencies run rosters and workers tour. The signs that matter are about control: whether the worker can speak for herself, keep her own money and leave.

• You are never able to reach the worker herself, on any channel, at any point.
• The agency refuses to let you speak to her directly when you ask, or answers every question on her behalf.
• Wording like "new arrival", "just landed", "fresh in town" or "here for a short time only", especially alongside no direct contact.
• Someone else holds her phone, takes the money, or decides what she will and will not do.
• She seems to owe a debt to whoever brought her here, or a temporary visa is being used as leverage over her.
• She does not seem to know where she is, cannot leave the premises, or appears frightened of the person managing her.
• Anything that suggests she is under 18.

You do not need to be sure. If something feels wrong, walk away and report it. We would rather look at ten reports that turn out fine than miss one.

5. Reporting

Report to us

• Report form: museescorts.co.nz/report (choose "Trafficking / Exploitation Concern" or "Underage Suspicion"). You can report anonymously.
• Email: support@museescorts.co.nz
• Include the listing number or link, what you saw or heard, and when. Screenshots help.
• If you are the person listed and you want your profile taken down, say so. We will do it without going through anyone else.

Report to the authorities

Emergency

111

NZ Police, non-emergency

105

Crimestoppers, anonymous

0800 555 111

Immigration New Zealand

0508 558 855

MBIE migrant exploitation

0800 200 088

Support for workers

New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective (NZPC)

04 382 8791, nzpc.org.nz

Shakti, for migrant and refugee women

0800 742 584

6. How we respond

Every report is looked at by a person, usually within 24 hours. Reports about minors or trafficking go to the front of the queue. From there:

• A genuine report that raises an immediate concern gets the listing suspended while admin looks into it. A vague or obviously malicious report does not.
• We compare the report against what we hold: verification outcomes, declarations, other listings from the same login, contact details and wording.
• Where we may, we contact the worker directly.
• Credible indicators of trafficking, coercion or an under-18 person are reported to New Zealand Police, and to Immigration New Zealand where a visa is involved.
• On confirmation, the listing is removed for good. If an agency is involved, its whole roster and login go with it.
• We answer valid requests for information from the Police and other New Zealand authorities and keep relevant records while an investigation is open.

If you leave an email address with your report we will tell you the outcome where we can. Anonymous reports are still read and acted on; we just have no way to reply.

7. The law in New Zealand

The Crimes Act 1961 makes slavery (section 98), dealing in people under 18 for sexual exploitation (section 98AA) and trafficking in persons (section 98D) serious offences. Since 2015, trafficking does not require a border crossing: moving or holding someone within New Zealand by coercion or deception counts.

The Prostitution Reform Act 2003 adds its own lines. Section 16 makes it an offence to induce or compel anyone to provide commercial sexual services, including by threat, debt or withholding documents. Section 19 bars a person holding a temporary entry class visa from providing commercial sexual services and makes it an offence to arrange or assist that. Sections 20 to 23 make it an offence to arrange, receive or profit from commercial sexual services from anyone under 18, with the liability on the adult, never the young person. The Immigration Act 2009, section 351, separately makes exploiting a temporary worker an offence.

None of this touches the right of a sex worker to refuse any client for any reason, which section 17 of the Prostitution Reform Act protects. Our house rules never override it.

8. Records

For each trafficking or exploitation report we keep the report, what we did and the dates, for as long as an investigation is open and for a reasonable period after. We never hold ID documents: the identity provider processes them and deletes its session data, and we keep only the outcome. Everything else follows our Data Retention and Deletion Policy. These records are accessed only for safety, for legal compliance or to answer a valid request from a New Zealand authority.

9. Contact

Muse Escorts admin, support@museescorts.co.nz. Report form: museescorts.co.nz/report.