Sex Workers

Issue No : 33  December 1999 - February 2000

 

Comfort Women: Refuting the View of Being Licensed Prostitutes

People who disapprove of any further post-war compensation by Japan repeatedly claim that comfort women were licensed prostitutes. What they are saying is that comfort women legally practised prostitution under the state-regulated prostitution system, therefore no official apology or compensation is necessary. How could such a nonsensical argument be accepted by Japanese society? I would like to study what the claim is based on from the historical viewpoint.

 

LATIN AMERICAN SEX WORKERS

Latin American sex workers' organising attempts go back to 1982 when the Ecuadorian sex workers formed an organisation. Six years later they went on strike to resist police malpractice and exploitation within the brothels, and to gain attention for their demands for decent working conditions.

 

SEX WORK IN TAIWAN

Taiwanese governmental control over the sex industry (Government policies on the sex industry in Taiwan)The sex trade is partially legal in Taiwan. Legislation controls licensed sex workers but their number is limited. The Criminal Act and the Social Order Protection Law prohibit involvement in the sex trade except for clients; managing brothels is also illegal. While sex workers are fighting for the right to work, conservative women's organisations are campaigning to amend the law. The amendment aims to penalise both licensed prostitutes and clients. The targeted groups will also include all sex workers, brothel owners, people who provide premises (e.g. renters, hostel owners), and people providing transport. All parties involved in the sex industry will be covered.

 

SEX WORK IN SOUTH KOREA

Since prostitution is illegal, there are no official statistics on prostitution. However, according to surveys by civic organisations, there are over 300,000 establishments related to prostitution, in which the sale of sex takes a diversity of forms. 1.2 million women are believed to be involved in these establishments. This number constitutes 20 percent of all Korean women between the ages of 15-29. If we assume that the figures include women engaged in illegal establishments, this gives us a preliminary impression of the shameful situation in Korea. In addition, if we assume that one million men buy sex in a single night, it means one in every 30 men between ages 15-30. A news magazine in 1994 estimated that 43 billion won (about US$36,000) is spent every year in the prostitution business.

 

WORKING CONDITIONS OF JAPANESE SEX WORKERS:CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS

The biggest challenge to the sex industry in Japan is that it is difficult to identify problems. Due to discriminatory attitudes of national legislation and society against sex work, sex workers cannot obtain information and do not have adequate systems for dealing with problems.

 

CAMBODIA: SEX WORKERS' EXPERIENCES

I am a sex worker called Phally and I am 20. My father used to be a tricycle rider and my mother sells water lilies and piglets. Before I started sex work, I was studying at school in the morning. In the afternoon after school I sold hats in the streets to help my parents with the family's finances. But when my dad fell ill, the family's money was stretched more and more. I am the second child of four. My elder brother is married and must support his own family. Because I am the second daughter I am responsible for supporting my family. So we sold all our land but still couldn't pay my dad's medical expenses before his death.

 

SEX WORK IN CAMBODIA

Presented by Sam Vuthy, information from the Brief Information on the Prostitution Situation in Cambodia by Cambodian Women's Development Agency

 

A SEX WORKER FROM CHINA IN MACAU

I have five brothers and sisters. I attended school from seven years old until I was 19. Then I wanted to go to university, but my family had no money so I couldn't go.

 

SEX WORK IN CHINA

During the 1950s the government ran a terrorising campaign against prostitution, in effect eradicating the business in China's cities. China's Public Security Department says that there were 12,281 prostitution-related cases prosecuted in 1984. By 1995, in the five months from January to May the figure had exploded to 113,000, and the following year the government embarked on a crackdown known as the 'Intense Repression'.

 

SEX WORKERS' STORIES

I am a sex worker from Hong Kong. My name is Andy. I want to talk about how I became involved in the business and what my work is. My two colleagues will tell you about what they felt, while I will talk about what I was doing right after I entered the business.

 

AN INTERVIEW: SEX WORKERS ARE WORKERS

Ah Yim heads a non-governmental organisation called Zi Teng in Hong Kong. She founded the group in 1997 to research and represent Hong Kong's sex workers. Ah Yim's group uses the term 'sex worker' as opposed to 'prostitute' intentionally, because of the pejorative implications of the latter word; by using this term, there remains no doubt that Zi Teng regards prostitute women as workers, rather than lazy nymphomaniacs, a common perception promoted by mass media. ALU visited Ah Yim in her Prince Edward office and conducted the following interview.

 

SEX WORKERS NEED LABOUR PROTECTION

The issue of prostitution is generally swept under the carpet. Yet this is a growing business already worth billions of dollars and exists to some degree in all nations.