The Prostitutes Collective says it's a tragedy five Christchurch sex workers have been killed in 15 years, including 34-year-old Bella Te Pania on New Year's Eve.
But Prostitutes Collective national coordinator Dame Catherine Healy wants the spotlight to be on the perpetrators ofviolence, rather than the victims.
An appeal to the residents of Bryndwr was made by police for them to check their property for the mobile or for any other discarded items.
Anyone with information is urged to call police on 105, quoting file number 191231/9680.
Meanwhile, a 42-year-old man charged with murder is due to reappear in the Christchurch High Court on February 7.
While the man awaited his court appearance, Healy said she had been hearing about how much Te Pania meant to her friends and her whānau.
"She was also a volunteer with our organisation a number of years ago so there are people in our organisation who are outreach workers who are very deeply affected," she said.
After Te Pania's death and those of other sex workers, the wider community also had shown an outpouring of respect and support, Healy said.
However, she said that support needed to go further.
"It needs to go beyond times like this ... we should be examining what's happening in our society that contributes. Sex workers are a part of society and often there aren't very good attitudes towards sex workers," she said.
Although it can't be assumed the killer was a client, Healy said, perpetrators of violence were very often left out of the discussion.
"Let's not forget ... this is someone who committed violence against a sex worker. I think we need to remember that we have very violent people with whom we really have to work to make sure extreme violence doesn't occur," she said.
