Prostitution in Hong Kong
Encyclopedia
Prostitution
in Hong Kong is itself legal, but organized prostitution is illegal, as there are laws against keeping a vice establishment (brothel
), causing or procuring another to be a prostitute, living on the prostitution of others, or public solicitation.
The most visible public venues for sex worker
s in Hong Kong, especially for tourists, are massage parlours and the so called "Japanese style night clubs". However, most of the commercial sex worker industry consists of women working in small, usually one room apartments, usually referred to as "one-woman brothels", the equivalent of the "walk-up brothel" in the United Kingdom
. They advertise for clients through the Internet
and local classifieds. Most popular mainstream newspapers will carry such classifieds with a brothel guides as an insert within racing form guides. Yellow neon advertising boxes were used to advertise sexual services to such an extent that "yellow" (黃) became synonymous with prostitution.
The laws of Hong Kong currently allow classified ads for prostitution and websites that allow clients to make appointments with prostitutes.
was legal and regulated, and prostitutes were required to register for licenses, pay tax
, and have regular health examination. Prostitution boomed in the districts of Sai Ying Pun
, Wan Chai
, Mong Kok
and Yau Ma Tei
. In 1930, Hong Kong
, with a population of 1.6 million, boasted 200 legal brothels with over 7,000 licensed prostitutes. But in 1932, the Hong Kong government issued a ban on prostitution and three years later licensed prostitution ended. From that time on, prostitution was permitted within strict limits while prohibiting a whole host of activities surrounding prostitution, such as soliciting for sex
and living off "immoral earnings" (working as a pimp
).
Although organized prostitution is illegal, the industry had always depended on gangsters (triads) to recruit economically disadvantaged women who otherwise would never enter the profession voluntarily. Until the 1980s, most Hong Kong underground sex establishments were run by gangsters. During the 1990s, however, Hong Kong saw a massive shift in the form of prostitution. There was an influx of "northern girls" from mainland China
who worked as prostitutes illegally in Hong Kong on their short tourist visas; local voluntary prostitutes also increased dramatically in number. As a result, gangsters could no longer make a profit by coercion and their controlling power declined.
Ordinary Chinese prostitutes were afraid of serving Westerners since they looked strange to them, while the Tanka prostitutes freely mingled with western men. The Tanka assisted the Europeans with supplies and providing them with prostitutes. Low class European men in Hong Kong easily formed relations with the Tanka prostitutes. The profession of prostitution among the Tanka women led to them being hated by the Chinese both because they had sex with westerners and them being racially Tanka.
The Tanka prostitutes were considered to be "low class", greedy for money, arrogant, and treating clients with a bad attitude, they were known for punching their clients or mocking them by calling them names. Though the Tanka prostitutes were considered low class, their brothels were still remarkably well kept and tidy. A famous fictional story which was written in the 1800s depicted western items decorating the rooms of Tanka prostitutes.
The stereotype among most Chinese in Canton that all Tanka women were prostitutes was common, leading the government during the Republican era to accidentally inflate the number of prostitutes when counting, due to all Tanka women being included. The Tanka women were viewed as such that their prostitution activities were considered part of the normal bustle of a commercial trading city. Sometimes the lowly regarded Tanka prostitutes managed to elevate themselves into higher forms of prostitution.
Tanka women were ostracized from the Cantonese community, and were nicknamed "salt water girls " (ham shui mui in Cantonese) for their servicesas prostitutes to foreigners in Hong Kong.
Tanka women who worked as prostitutes for foreigners also commonly kept a "nursery" Tanka girls specifically for exporting them for prostitution work to overseas Chinese communities such as in Australia or America, or to serve as a Chinese or foreigner's concubine.
A report called "Correspondence respecting the alleged existence of Chinese slavery in Hong Kong: presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty" was presented to the English Parliament in 1882 concerning the existene of slavery in Hong Kong, of which many were Tanka girls serving as prostitutes or mistresses to westerners.
Correspondence respecting the alleged existence of Chinese slavery in Hong Kong: presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty in 1882
district, catering mainly to Western businessmen and tourists. The sex workers operating in this area are predominantly Thai
(including transsexuals) and Filipino
. Many work on a freelance basis in Wan Chai bars and discothèques.
There are several NGOs that work closely with sex workers in Hong Kong; these include Ziteng and Aids Concern. Ziteng campaigns for changes in the law, in particular the overturn of ban on brothels with more than one prostitute, since this prevents sex workers banding together for protection.
Many migrant sex workers arrive on a short tourist visa and try to make as much as money as possible by prostituting illegally before leaving Hong Kong, some returning frequently. There are also "underground" organizations (such as Thai restaurants and escort bars) that arrange for foreign (usually Thai) and mainland girls to gain work in Hong Kong legally with an entertainment visa, but in fact they actually work in go-go bars
in Wan Chai
or other hostess clubs around Hong Kong.
. It is reported that with RMB10,000-20,000, mainland Chinese girls would normally secure a three-month visa. Other frequent or previously deported visitors might experience tight visa requirements and would normally obtain only seven-day visas. Owing to the short stays and other expensive costs (to pay for the travel arrangements and cover the high cost of renting apartments, advertising etc. in Hong Kong), sex workers would exert all their energy and work from morning till night during their seven-day stay. The necessity to make money quickly also means that the sex workers are more likely to take risks. Also if the sex workers are abused, they are less likely to seek redress from the relevant authorities.
Many mainland girls advertise their services on websites where they put their pictures, contact numbers and service charges. The youngest and most attractive may offer their services to customers at three- or four-star hotels and provide their services there; their own accommodation is less likely to be of this quality, but usually within a walk or short ride away from the main clusters of hotels, to which they are led to by their pimps, known locally as "grooms".
Older, less attractive girls will find themselves working in the one woman brothels as "phoenixes" (鳳), a term derived from the similarity of the Chinese word for prostitute to that of chicken (雞). Prices are lower than for girls who target the tourist hotels, variations in price being a product of location, with those working within the corridor formed by Nathan Road being on the whole higher than that found in the towns of the New Territories
.
might well be arrested even if seen smiling at a male passerby. Advertisement of sex services, including signboards, illuminated signs and posters, is also prohibited, and an offence may result in imprisonment for 12 months. In a test case in 2005 involving sex141.com – an internet site created by two programmers who tailored on-line advertisements for prostitutes, its two principals were convicted of one count each of "conspiring to live off the earnings of prostitution arising from the ads that appeared on their website". They were each fined $100,000 and given a suspended sentence of eight months in prison. TimeOut records it as the 36th most popular website in Hong Kong. As at November 2011, the site is active and ranks 47th most frequented site in Hong Kong.
Organized prostitution, in the form of directing "over another person for the purpose of... that person's prostitution", is forbidden by Section 130, and an offence may result in 14 years of imprisonment. Sections 131 and 137, which are aimed at pimps, stipulate a jail sentence of seven years as the maximum penalty for "procuring another person to become a prostitute" and "living on earnings of prostitution of others". Under Hong Kong law, it is also illegal to organize arrangement of sex deals for more than one woman; violators are subject to a HK$20,000 fine and seven years' imprisonment. Therefore, if two women are found serving customers in the same apartment, it is an illegal brothel. This gives rise to the so-called "one-woman brothel" where one woman receives customers in her apartment, which is restricted by Section 141, which prohibits young persons to engage in prostitution. This is the most common form of legal prostitution in Hong Kong.
establishments. Among the many forms of prostitution common in Hong Kong are "one for one" girls. To avoid the operation of an illegal brothel, triads will rent tiny apartments and allow girls to "sublet" them so they appear to be operating out of their own homes. The triads then advertise the girls' services on web sites or in local publications. Another avoidance strategy is to operate a karaoke establishment and provide girls as entertainment or companionship only; the girls then take customers to an hourly hotel in the same building and pay for the room separately. Informal, individual prostitution (mostly of Filipinas, Indonesians, Thais, and sometimes women from Latin America and the former Soviet Union) is almost always available at discos or hotel bars, especially in the Tsim Sha Tsui
and Wan Chai
districts (the latter famous as the setting for The World of Suzie Wong
). Occasionally the police raid the triad-run prostitution setups, but usually the only arrests made are for immigration violations. Women frequently enter Hong Kong from mainland China
for prostitution services. However, this travel is not forcible; most women working as prostitutes in Hong Kong are of age and are doing so voluntarily.
24 Nov 2010
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
in Hong Kong is itself legal, but organized prostitution is illegal, as there are laws against keeping a vice establishment (brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
), causing or procuring another to be a prostitute, living on the prostitution of others, or public solicitation.
The most visible public venues for sex worker
Sex worker
A sex worker is a person who works in the sex industry. The term is usually used in reference to those in the sex industry that actually provide such sexual services, as opposed to management and staff of such industries...
s in Hong Kong, especially for tourists, are massage parlours and the so called "Japanese style night clubs". However, most of the commercial sex worker industry consists of women working in small, usually one room apartments, usually referred to as "one-woman brothels", the equivalent of the "walk-up brothel" in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. They advertise for clients through the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and local classifieds. Most popular mainstream newspapers will carry such classifieds with a brothel guides as an insert within racing form guides. Yellow neon advertising boxes were used to advertise sexual services to such an extent that "yellow" (黃) became synonymous with prostitution.
The laws of Hong Kong currently allow classified ads for prostitution and websites that allow clients to make appointments with prostitutes.
History
From 1879 to 1932, prostitutionProstitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
was legal and regulated, and prostitutes were required to register for licenses, pay tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
, and have regular health examination. Prostitution boomed in the districts of Sai Ying Pun
Sai Ying Pun
Sai Ying Pun is an area in Western District on the Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is part of Central and Western District in district administration....
, Wan Chai
Wan Chai
Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south. The area north of Gloucester Road is often called...
, Mong Kok
Mong Kok
Mong Kok , less often known as Argyle , is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District on Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong...
and Yau Ma Tei
Yau Ma Tei
Yau Ma Tei, also known as Waterloo , is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong.-Name:Yau Ma Tei is a phonetic transliteration of the name 油麻地 in Cantonese...
. In 1930, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, with a population of 1.6 million, boasted 200 legal brothels with over 7,000 licensed prostitutes. But in 1932, the Hong Kong government issued a ban on prostitution and three years later licensed prostitution ended. From that time on, prostitution was permitted within strict limits while prohibiting a whole host of activities surrounding prostitution, such as soliciting for sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
and living off "immoral earnings" (working as a pimp
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
).
Although organized prostitution is illegal, the industry had always depended on gangsters (triads) to recruit economically disadvantaged women who otherwise would never enter the profession voluntarily. Until the 1980s, most Hong Kong underground sex establishments were run by gangsters. During the 1990s, however, Hong Kong saw a massive shift in the form of prostitution. There was an influx of "northern girls" from mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
who worked as prostitutes illegally in Hong Kong on their short tourist visas; local voluntary prostitutes also increased dramatically in number. As a result, gangsters could no longer make a profit by coercion and their controlling power declined.
Tanka prostitutes
Elizabeth Wheeler Andrew (1845–1917) and Katharine Caroline Bushnell (February 5, 1856 January 26, 1946), who wrote extensively on the position of women in the British Empire, wrote about the Tanka inhabitants of Hong Kong and their position in the prostitution industry, catering towards foreign sailors. The Tanka did not marry with the Chinese, being descendants of the natives, they were restricted to the waterways. They supplied their women as prostitutes to British sailors and assisted the British in their military actions around Hong Kong The Tanka in Hong Kong were considered "outcasts" categorized low class.Ordinary Chinese prostitutes were afraid of serving Westerners since they looked strange to them, while the Tanka prostitutes freely mingled with western men. The Tanka assisted the Europeans with supplies and providing them with prostitutes. Low class European men in Hong Kong easily formed relations with the Tanka prostitutes. The profession of prostitution among the Tanka women led to them being hated by the Chinese both because they had sex with westerners and them being racially Tanka.
The Tanka prostitutes were considered to be "low class", greedy for money, arrogant, and treating clients with a bad attitude, they were known for punching their clients or mocking them by calling them names. Though the Tanka prostitutes were considered low class, their brothels were still remarkably well kept and tidy. A famous fictional story which was written in the 1800s depicted western items decorating the rooms of Tanka prostitutes.
The stereotype among most Chinese in Canton that all Tanka women were prostitutes was common, leading the government during the Republican era to accidentally inflate the number of prostitutes when counting, due to all Tanka women being included. The Tanka women were viewed as such that their prostitution activities were considered part of the normal bustle of a commercial trading city. Sometimes the lowly regarded Tanka prostitutes managed to elevate themselves into higher forms of prostitution.
Tanka women were ostracized from the Cantonese community, and were nicknamed "salt water girls " (ham shui mui in Cantonese) for their servicesas prostitutes to foreigners in Hong Kong.
Tanka women who worked as prostitutes for foreigners also commonly kept a "nursery" Tanka girls specifically for exporting them for prostitution work to overseas Chinese communities such as in Australia or America, or to serve as a Chinese or foreigner's concubine.
A report called "Correspondence respecting the alleged existence of Chinese slavery in Hong Kong: presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty" was presented to the English Parliament in 1882 concerning the existene of slavery in Hong Kong, of which many were Tanka girls serving as prostitutes or mistresses to westerners.
To understand the social bearings of domestic servitude as it obtains in Hong Kong, it must be observed that although the Chinese residents of Hong Kong are under British rule and live in close proximity to English social life, there has always been an impassable gulf between respectable English and Chinese society in Hong Kong. The two forms of social life have exercised a certain influence upon each other, but the result now visible is, that while Chinese social life has remained exactly what it is on the mainland of China, the social life of many foreigners in Hong Kong has comparatively degenerated, and not on'y accommodated itself in certain respects to habits peculiar to the system of •patriarchalism, but caused a certain disrespectable but small class of Chinese to enter into a social alliance with foreigners, which, while detaching them from the restraining influence of the custom and public opinion of Chinese society, left them uninfluenced by the moral powers of foreign civilization.
This exceptional class of Chinese residents here in Hong Kong consists principally of the women known in Hong Kong by the popular nickname "ham-shui-mui" {lit. salt water girls), applied to these members of the so-called Tan-ka or boat population, the Pariahs of Cantonese society. These Tan-ka people of the Canton river are the descendants of a tribe of aborigines pushed by advancing Chinese civilization to live on boats on the Canton river, being for centuries forbidden by law to live on shore. The Emperor Yung Ching (A.D. 1730) allowed them to settle in villages in the immediate proximity of the river, but they were left by him, and remain to the present day excluded from competition for official honours, whilst custom forbids them to intermarry with the rest of the people. These Tan-ka people were the secret but trusty allies of foreigners from the time of the East India Company to the present day. They furnished pilots and supplies of provisions to British men-of-war and troop ships when doing so was by the Chinese Government declared treason, unsparingly visited with capital punishment. They invaded Hong Kong the moment the Colony was opened, and have ever since maintained here a monopoly, so to say, of the supply of Chinese pilots and ships' crews, of the fish trade, the cattle trade, and especially of the trade in women for the supply of foreigners and of brothels patronized by foreigners. Almost every so-called "protected woman," i.e. kept mistress of foreigners here, belongs to this Tan-ka tribe, looked down upon and kept at a distance by all the other Chinese classes. It is among these Tan-ka women, and especially under the protection of those "protected T;in-ka women, that private prostitution and the sale of girls for purposes of concubinage flourishes, being looked upon by them as their legitimate profession. Consequently, almost every "protected woman keeps a nursery of purchased children or a few servant girls who are being reared with a view to their eventual disposal, according to their personal qualifications, cither among foreigners here as kept women, or among Chinese residents as their concubines, or to be sold for export to Singapore, San Francisco, or Australia. Those protected women, moreover, generally act as protectors each to a few other Tan-ka women who live by sly prostitution. The latter, again, used to be preyed upon—till quite recently His Excellency Governor Hcnnessy stopped this fiendish practice—by informers paid with Government money, who would first debauch such women and then turn round against them charging them before the magistrate as keepers of unlicensed brothels, in which case a heavy fine would be inflicted, to pay which these women used to sell their own children, or sell themselves into bondage worse than slavery, to the keepers of the brothels licensed hy Government. Whenever a sly brothel was broken up these keepers would crowd the shroffs office of the police court or the visiting room ot the Government Lock Hospital to drive their heartless bargains, which were invariably enforced with the weighty support of the Inspectors of brothels appointed by Government under the Contagious Diseases Ordinance. The more this Ordinance was enforced the more of this buying and selling of human flesh went on at the very doors of Government offices.
It is amongst these outcasts of Chinese society that the worst abuses of the Chinese system of domestic servitude exist, because that system is here unrestraired by the powers of traditional custom or popular opinion. This class of people, mustering perhaps here in Hong Kong not more than 2,000 persons, are entirely beyond the argument of this essay. They form a class of their own, readily recognised at a glance. They are disowned by Chinese society, whilst they are but parasites on foreign society. The system of buying and selling female children and of domestic servitude with which they must be identified is so glaring an abuse of legitimate Chinese domestic servitude that it calls for corrective measures entirely apart from any considerations connected with the general body of Chinese society.
Correspondence respecting the alleged existence of Chinese slavery in Hong Kong: presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty in 1882
Types and venues
- Street prostitutes: They may sometimes be seen on the pavements of Yau Ma TeiYau Ma TeiYau Ma Tei, also known as Waterloo , is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong.-Name:Yau Ma Tei is a phonetic transliteration of the name 油麻地 in Cantonese...
, Sham Shui PoSham Shui PoSham Shui Po, or Shamshuipo, is an area of Sham Shui Po District, Hong Kong, situated in the northwestern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Tai Kok Tsui, east of Cheung Sha Wan and south of Shek Kip Mei. Sham Shui Po is known for its street market for electronic devices.-History:Sham Shui Po...
, Tsuen WanTsuen WanTsuen Wan is a bay in the Kowloon area of Hong Kong, opposite to Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. The market town of Tsuen Wan emerged for the surrounding villages and fleets of fishing boats in the area. The town is around the present-day Tsuen Wan Station of the MTR...
, Yuen LongYuen LongYuen Long , formerly Un Long, is an area and town located in the northwest of Hong Kong, on the Yuen Long Plain. To its west lie Hung Shui Kiu and Ha Tsuen, to the south Shap Pat Heung and Tai Tong, to the east Au Tau and Kam Tin, and to the north Nam Sang Wai.-Name:The Cantonese name Yuen Long 元朗...
and Tuen MunTuen MunTuen Mun is a town near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in Hong Kong which can be dated back to the Neolithic period. In the more recent past, it was home to many Tanka fishermen who gathered at the Castle...
. Usually pimpPimpA pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
s or gangsters are not involved and the prostitute will loiter in the street in search of customers. After a deal is struck, they would go to a love hotelLove hotelA love hotel is a type of short-stay hotel found around the world operated primarily for the purpose of allowing couples privacy for sexual activities...
. Before the Asian financial crisis in 1998, street prostitutes would offer a "set course" of services; after that, the set price dropped by half. Some girls will hang around the lobbies of hotels, and will even knock on the doors of the rooms of single men after being tipped off by the concierge. In more down-market accommodation the concierge may ask customers if they require company. Russian and other European prostitutes generally charge higher and are generally located in the business distrist of Central.
- One-woman brothel: (一樓一鳳 jat1 lau4 jat1 fung2 Yīlóu-yīfèng): By Hong Kong law it is illegal for two or more prostitutes to work in the same premises. As a result, the most common form of legal prostitution in Hong Kong is the so-called "one-woman brothel", where one woman receives customers in her apartment. The expense of the older centers of such activity has led to towns in the New TerritoriesNew TerritoriesNew Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory. Historically, it is the region described in The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory...
such as Yuen LongYuen LongYuen Long , formerly Un Long, is an area and town located in the northwest of Hong Kong, on the Yuen Long Plain. To its west lie Hung Shui Kiu and Ha Tsuen, to the south Shap Pat Heung and Tai Tong, to the east Au Tau and Kam Tin, and to the north Nam Sang Wai.-Name:The Cantonese name Yuen Long 元朗...
and Sheung ShuiSheung ShuiSheung Shui is an area in New Territories, Hong Kong. Sheung Shui Town, a part of this area, is part of the Fanling-Sheung Shui New Town in the North District of Hong Kong. Fanling Town is to its southeast.-History:...
. becoming centers for the one-woman brothel trade. This law however has little influence on the density of prostitute activity, the nature of Hong Kong housing meaning that entire floors of some buildings or even whole apartment blocks may consist of one woman brothels, with in some the letter of the law being adhered to by the subdivision of flats into multiple individual dwellings.
- SaunaSaunaA sauna is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these and auxiliary facilities....
s and massage parlours: Ostensibly these are regular saunas with the management turning a blind eye to other services the masseuses may offer. Usually the "menu" on offer will fall just short of vaginal intercourse, with manual stimulation with hands ("hand-job"), breasts ("milk-job" or "Russian") and oral sex ("BJ") being amongst the services available after negotiation.
- Night club workers: The term nightclubNightclubA nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
in Hong Kong is being driven from general use for being used as a euphemism for hostess clubs. Hostesses receive a basic retainer and commission for having customers buy expensive drinks, customers pay the club for the privilege of taking the girls out by buying out the girls "time", whatever comes after being a matter of negotiation between the customer and hostess. A similar format can be found at some karaoke loungeKaraoke BoxA is a common type of karaoke establishment commonly found in Japan. Karaoke boxes consist of multiple rooms containing karaoke equipment, usually rented out for time periods. A typical karaoke box establishment contains 10-20 such rooms as well as a main karaoke bar area in the front...
s with private rooms. Those that operate under the front of internet cafes have also existed but all were shut down in 2004.
- Freelance: The growth of the Internet has facilitated a practice similar to "compensated dating" with amateur prostitutes offering their services on message boards and forums. CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
(Asia) reported in 2009 that social workers had found "compensated dating" was growing among Hong Kong teenage girls, the caseload of girls engaging in this practice had doubled in two years, the girls engaging in this practice had cut across socioeconomic levels, and Hong Kong legal experts said the practice was a form of prostitution. CNN reported that students, often teenagers, sell sex so they can buy consumer goods such as cell phones and clothes. They are often victims of crimes. Hong Kong social worker Chiu Tak-Choi said that most girls who engage in compensated dating don't view themselves as prostitutes.
Thailand and Philippines
Another major aspect of this trade is migrant sex workers. These sex workers are particularly visible in the Wan ChaiWan Chai
Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south. The area north of Gloucester Road is often called...
district, catering mainly to Western businessmen and tourists. The sex workers operating in this area are predominantly Thai
Thai people
The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...
(including transsexuals) and Filipino
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
. Many work on a freelance basis in Wan Chai bars and discothèques.
There are several NGOs that work closely with sex workers in Hong Kong; these include Ziteng and Aids Concern. Ziteng campaigns for changes in the law, in particular the overturn of ban on brothels with more than one prostitute, since this prevents sex workers banding together for protection.
Many migrant sex workers arrive on a short tourist visa and try to make as much as money as possible by prostituting illegally before leaving Hong Kong, some returning frequently. There are also "underground" organizations (such as Thai restaurants and escort bars) that arrange for foreign (usually Thai) and mainland girls to gain work in Hong Kong legally with an entertainment visa, but in fact they actually work in go-go bars
Strip club
A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style....
in Wan Chai
Wan Chai
Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south. The area north of Gloucester Road is often called...
or other hostess clubs around Hong Kong.
Mainland China
Despite the more visible presence of Thai and Filipino sex workers in Hong Kong, the majority of migrant sex workers who come to Hong Kong are from mainland ChinaMainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
. It is reported that with RMB10,000-20,000, mainland Chinese girls would normally secure a three-month visa. Other frequent or previously deported visitors might experience tight visa requirements and would normally obtain only seven-day visas. Owing to the short stays and other expensive costs (to pay for the travel arrangements and cover the high cost of renting apartments, advertising etc. in Hong Kong), sex workers would exert all their energy and work from morning till night during their seven-day stay. The necessity to make money quickly also means that the sex workers are more likely to take risks. Also if the sex workers are abused, they are less likely to seek redress from the relevant authorities.
Many mainland girls advertise their services on websites where they put their pictures, contact numbers and service charges. The youngest and most attractive may offer their services to customers at three- or four-star hotels and provide their services there; their own accommodation is less likely to be of this quality, but usually within a walk or short ride away from the main clusters of hotels, to which they are led to by their pimps, known locally as "grooms".
Older, less attractive girls will find themselves working in the one woman brothels as "phoenixes" (鳳), a term derived from the similarity of the Chinese word for prostitute to that of chicken (雞). Prices are lower than for girls who target the tourist hotels, variations in price being a product of location, with those working within the corridor formed by Nathan Road being on the whole higher than that found in the towns of the New Territories
New Territories
New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory. Historically, it is the region described in The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory...
.
Legal issues
Prostitution in Hong Kong is legal, but subject to various restrictions, mainly intended to keep it away from the public eye. These restrictions are manifested in the form of prohibiting a whole host of activities surrounding prostitution, including soliciting and advertising for sex, working as pimps, running brothels and organized prostitution. For instance, by the Hong Kong legal code Chapter 200 Section 147, any person who "solicits for any immoral purpose" in a public place may receive a maximum penalty of HK$ 10,000 and six months' imprisonment. In practice, a woman on the street in certain areas well known for streetwalkers such as Sham Shui PoSham Shui Po
Sham Shui Po, or Shamshuipo, is an area of Sham Shui Po District, Hong Kong, situated in the northwestern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Tai Kok Tsui, east of Cheung Sha Wan and south of Shek Kip Mei. Sham Shui Po is known for its street market for electronic devices.-History:Sham Shui Po...
might well be arrested even if seen smiling at a male passerby. Advertisement of sex services, including signboards, illuminated signs and posters, is also prohibited, and an offence may result in imprisonment for 12 months. In a test case in 2005 involving sex141.com – an internet site created by two programmers who tailored on-line advertisements for prostitutes, its two principals were convicted of one count each of "conspiring to live off the earnings of prostitution arising from the ads that appeared on their website". They were each fined $100,000 and given a suspended sentence of eight months in prison. TimeOut records it as the 36th most popular website in Hong Kong. As at November 2011, the site is active and ranks 47th most frequented site in Hong Kong.
Organized prostitution, in the form of directing "over another person for the purpose of... that person's prostitution", is forbidden by Section 130, and an offence may result in 14 years of imprisonment. Sections 131 and 137, which are aimed at pimps, stipulate a jail sentence of seven years as the maximum penalty for "procuring another person to become a prostitute" and "living on earnings of prostitution of others". Under Hong Kong law, it is also illegal to organize arrangement of sex deals for more than one woman; violators are subject to a HK$20,000 fine and seven years' imprisonment. Therefore, if two women are found serving customers in the same apartment, it is an illegal brothel. This gives rise to the so-called "one-woman brothel" where one woman receives customers in her apartment, which is restricted by Section 141, which prohibits young persons to engage in prostitution. This is the most common form of legal prostitution in Hong Kong.
Strategies to avoid the prohibition on brothels
Brothels are illegal, prostitution in private however is legal. To avoid this prohibition, in practice much of the prostitution is controlled by triad societies or as informal additions to otherwise nonsexual services such as massage parlors, bars and karaokeKaraoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
establishments. Among the many forms of prostitution common in Hong Kong are "one for one" girls. To avoid the operation of an illegal brothel, triads will rent tiny apartments and allow girls to "sublet" them so they appear to be operating out of their own homes. The triads then advertise the girls' services on web sites or in local publications. Another avoidance strategy is to operate a karaoke establishment and provide girls as entertainment or companionship only; the girls then take customers to an hourly hotel in the same building and pay for the room separately. Informal, individual prostitution (mostly of Filipinas, Indonesians, Thais, and sometimes women from Latin America and the former Soviet Union) is almost always available at discos or hotel bars, especially in the Tsim Sha Tsui
Tsim Sha Tsui
Tsim Sha Tsui , often abbreviated as TST, is an urbanized area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hung Hom Bay now east of Tsim Sha Tsui...
and Wan Chai
Wan Chai
Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south. The area north of Gloucester Road is often called...
districts (the latter famous as the setting for The World of Suzie Wong
The World of Suzie Wong
The World of Suzie Wong is a 1957 novel written by Richard Mason. The main characters are Robert Lomax, a young British artist living in Hong Kong, and Suzie Wong, the title character, a Chinese woman who works as a prostitute...
). Occasionally the police raid the triad-run prostitution setups, but usually the only arrests made are for immigration violations. Women frequently enter Hong Kong from mainland China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
for prostitution services. However, this travel is not forcible; most women working as prostitutes in Hong Kong are of age and are doing so voluntarily.
Movies about prostitution in Hong Kong
- The World of Suzie WongThe World of Suzie Wong (film)The World of Suzie Wong is a 1960 British-American romantic drama film directed by Richard Quine. The screenplay by John Patrick was adapted from the stage play by Paul Osborn, which was based on the novel of the same title by Richard Mason...
(1961) - Girls Without TomorrowGirls Without TomorrowGirls Without Tomorrow aka. Call Girl '88 is a 1988 Hong Kong film directed by David Lam Tak Luk and Wong Chi.It was followed by a sequel in 1992: Girls Without Tomorrow 1992.-Cast and roles:* Elsie Chan - Ling-Yu...
aka. Call Girl 1988 (應召女郎一九八八) - Hong Kong Gigolo (香港舞男) (1990), starring Simon YamSimon YamSimon Yam Tat-Wah , born March 19, 1955, is a Hong Kong actor and film producer.-Background:The son of a former police officer of Shangdong heritage, his father was a Hong Kong Royal Police ship captain who was murdered by his colleague....
- Queen of Temple StreetQueen of Temple StreetQueen of Temple Street is a 1990 Hong Kong film directed by Lawrence Ah Mon. It has a Category III rating in Hong Kong.-Cast and roles:* Sylvia Chang - Big Sis Wah* Carol Cheng * Ha Ping - Older Woman* Josephine Koo - Venus...
(廟街皇后) (1990), directed by Lawrence Ah MonLawrence Ah MonLawrence Ah Mon or Lawrence Lau Kwok Cheong is a Hong Kong film director. His films are famous for exploring youth problems in Hong Kong, such as Gangs , Spacked Out , Gimme Gimme and City Without Baseball... - Girls Without Tomorrow 1992Girls Without Tomorrow 1992Girls Without Tomorrow 1992 is a 1992 Hong Kong film directed by David Lam Tak Luk and Wong Chi. It is a sequel to the 1988 film Girls Without Tomorrow.-Cast and roles:* Pauline Chan - Eva...
(現代應召女郎, 92應召女郎) (1992), starring Vivian ChowVivian ChowVivian Chow is a Hong Kong based Cantopop singer and actress. She is well known for her ladylike stage image as well as her charity works for animal rights and breast cancer awareness.... - Call Girls '94 (94應召女郎) (1994)
- Durian DurianDurian DurianDurian Durian is a 2000 Hong Kong film directed by Fruit Chan. The film portrays the experiences of a young girl and her sex worker neighbour in Hong Kong.-Plot:...
(榴槤飄飄, 榴槤飄香) (2000), directed by Fruit ChanFruit ChanFruit Chan Gor is an independent Hong Kong Second Wave screenwriter, filmmaker and producer, who is best known for his style of film reflecting the everyday life of Hong Kong people. He is well known for using amateur actors in his films... - Hollywood Hong-Kong (香港有個荷里活) (2001), directed by Fruit Chan
- Public ToiletPublic Toilet (film)Public Toilet is a 2002 movie by Hong Kong director Fruit Chan, his first in digital format. The story talks about a Beijing man, "Dong-dong", who was born in a toilet...
(人民公廁) (2002), directed by Fruit Chan - Golden ChickenGolden ChickenGolden Chicken is a 2002 Hong Kong film directed by Samson Chiu starring Sandra Ng and involving cameo appearances from Andy Lau and Eric Tsang.It was followed by a sequel: Golden Chicken 2 in 2003.-Synopsis:...
(金雞) (2002), starring Sandra NgSandra NgSandra Ng Kwan-yu is a Hong Kong film and television actress.-Biography:The daughter of Ng Kam-chuen, Ng was born in Hong Kong, where she attended St. Stephen's Girls' College. Encouraged by her parents, she began her entertainment career at the age of 16. She is most known through her comic... - Golden Chicken 2Golden Chicken 2Golden Chicken 2 is a 2003 Hong Kong film directed by Samson Chiu. It is a sequel to the 2002 Golden Chicken.-Cast and roles:* Sandra Ng - Kam* Bing - Granny B in the queue* Cha Man-Wet - Mainland businessman A...
(金雞2) (2004), starring Sandra Ng - Whispers and MoansWhispers and Moans (film)Whispers and Moans is a 2007 Hong Kong film directed by Herman Yau. It is based on the 2006 book Whispers and Moans by Yeeshan Yang, investigating the Hong Kong sex trade...
(性工作者十日談) (2007) a film by Herman YauHerman YauHerman Yau Lai-To , born 1961 in Hong Kong is a film director, actor, cinematographer, scriptwriter and film producer.-Background:A Chiuchow by origin, Yau studied film at The Department of Communications, Hong Kong Baptist College from 1981 to 1984 where he spent much of his early days hanging out...
based on the book of the same name starring Athena ChuAthena ChuAthena Chu is a Hong Kong actress and singer.-Biography:Chu attended The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts from 1990 to 1992, during which time she hosted children's shows on the television station TVB. After graduating in 1992, she started working on films. Her roles with Chow kick-started...
, and Mandy ChiangMandy ChiangMandy Nga-man Chiang is a Hong Kong singer signed to the Emperor Entertainment Group, Music Icon Rocords. Her music career first began in 2002 when she was partnered with Yumiko Cheng and Maggie Lau to form the female group 3T. The group released one EP and separated shortly after... - True Women For SaleTrue Women For SaleTrue Women For Sale is a 2008 drama film directed by Herman Yau and starring Prudence Liew and Anthony Wong Chau Sang.-Plot:...
(性工作者2: 我不賣身．我賣子宮) (2008), directed by Herman Yau - Girl$ (囡囡) (2010), directed by Kenneth BiKenneth BiKenneth Bi has written, directed, and acted in Canada and Hong Kong in numerous theatre and film productions.-Biography:Kenneth Bi is the son of legendary movie star from the Shaw Brothers Studio, Ivy Ling Po and Chin Han. They have both starred in numerous films and also had a cameo on Kenneth...
Non Fiction Books about prostitution in Hong Kong
- Whispers and Moans: Interviews with the men and women of Hong Kong's sex industry by Yeeshan Yang (Blacksmith Books, 2006)
Fiction Books about prostitution in Hong Kong
- The World of Suzie WongThe World of Suzie WongThe World of Suzie Wong is a 1957 novel written by Richard Mason. The main characters are Robert Lomax, a young British artist living in Hong Kong, and Suzie Wong, the title character, a Chinese woman who works as a prostitute...
Richard Mason (1951) - Suzie (2010)
See also
- Prostitution in the People's Republic of ChinaProstitution in the People's Republic of ChinaShortly after taking power in 1949, the Communist Party of China embarked upon a series of campaigns that purportedly eradicated prostitution from mainland China by the early 1960s. Since the loosening of government controls over society in the early 1980s, prostitution in mainland China not only...
- Woman's Christian Temperance UnionWoman's Christian Temperance UnionThe Woman's Christian Temperance Union was the first mass organization among women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far-reaching reform strategies based on applied Christianity." Originally organized on December 23, 1873, in...
External links
- Wan Chai Bar Girls
- Whispers and Moans by Yeeshan Yang
- 性工作也是工作 RTHK documentary (Cantonese)
- "HK's gigolo scene" TimeOut,
24 Nov 2010