【中文标题】中国的性工作者抗议镇压
【原文标题】Chinese sex workers protest against crackdown
【登载媒体】英国卫报
【原文作者】Tania Branigan
【原文链接】http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/03/china-prostitution-sex-workers-protest
湖北省的示威者呼吁卖淫合法化,并为女性犯罪嫌疑犯争取更好的待遇。
维权人士、性工作者叶海燕。
对中国迅速蔓延的性产业的打压遭到了反抗,性工作者示威,要求卖淫合法化,并呼吁给予女性犯罪嫌疑犯更好的待遇。
在湖北省武汉市发生的抗议事件被认为是这个国家发生的第一起类似事件。一小群女人请旁观者在一个请愿书上签字,呼吁停止歧视性工作者,废除反卖淫法律条款。
叶海燕在上周的示威活动中走在队伍的最前面,她说:“我们的社会中有很多问题都被公众忽略了,卖淫就是其中之一。扫黄行动吸引了很多媒体的关注,我认为这是一个示威的好时机,可以引起人们的关注,并且让人们了解妓女的生活状态。”
她说,因为参与示威,她被警察拘禁了几天。即使遭受频繁的打压,卖淫在中国依然无处不在、明目张胆,很多宾馆、发廊、按摩室和卡拉OK歌厅都几乎不掩饰这些违法行为。国际卫生组织估计中国有400万性工作者,但是专家认为数字应该没有这么高。
5月份,政府媒体报道警方在北京的高级会所中逮捕了1100名嫌疑人。但是那些笼罩在粉红色灯光中的发廊和按摩室似乎依然在正常运作,在首都、在其它地方都是如此。
叶的网名叫做“流氓燕”,她说警方的镇压行动危害了性工作者的健康。她组建了中国民间女权工作室,向武汉的妓院发放安全套和预防艾滋病的小册子。但是她说性从业者一般都不喜欢使用安全套,因为担心这会被用来作为卖淫的证据。
她在自己的网站上说,在亲眼看到被警察抓获的妇女遭受公开游街羞辱之后,她决定为这些人找回公道。
在接受卫报采访时,她说,卖淫合法化不但可以保护性工作者的健康和遏制性交易行为,还可以解决腐败问题。“妓院的消费并不低,大部分消费者通常都是有钱人,他们挥霍无度。那么这些钱是从哪里来的?如果卖淫合法,这些收入的来源也会更加透明。”
来自上海乐宜——一家支持女性性工作者的非政府组织——的郑煌说,这次扫黄行动是十年来最严厉的一次。她感觉妓女们都变得更加脆弱了,因为她们在跑来跑去地躲避警察。
他说:“性工作者仅仅希望要回自己应有的权力,并不想争得更多的权力。例如,很多妓女在遭遇抢劫后不敢报警,她们害怕因为自己的职业而被逮捕。”
律师和专家认为,在很多国家,反卖淫行动首当其冲的受害者都是妓女,而不是妓院的老板。
呼吁中国性改革的著名学者李银河说:“警察通常是现场罚款,然后就离开,就像收保护费一样。”今年的扫黄运动比以往更深入。中国警方在突袭了一家地下酒吧之后,把重庆希尔顿酒店关闭了几天。希尔顿全球总部宣称这家俱乐部与希尔顿无关。
上个月,广东警方突袭一家妓院之后,网络上出现了一些图片。一些女人在赤脚游街,她们戴着手铐,被捆在一根绳子上,这个场景激怒了中国的网络用户。
上星期,公安部下达命令,停止这种行为。
李说,调查显示公众对妓女不再持有审判性的态度。
一直关注扫黄运动的律师朱小丁说:“人们现在知道妓女大多来自农村贫困地区,她们只不过缺少其它谋生的技术和手段。”
原文:
Demonstrators in central Hubei province call for legalisation of prostitution and better treatment of women suspects
The activist and sex worker Ye Haiyan.
A crackdown on China's fast-growing sex industry has prompted a backlash, with sex workers demonstrating for the legalisation of prostitution and an outcry about the treatment of women suspects.
The protest in Wuhan, central Hubei province, is thought to have been the first of its kind in the country. The small group of women asked onlookers to sign a petition calling for an end to discrimination against sex workers and the scrapping of anti-prostitution laws.
"Our society has many problems that are neglected by the public and prostitution is one of them," Ye Haiyan, the activist and sex worker at the forefront of last week's demonstration, said today.
"Since the crackdown has drawn a lot of media attention, I thought it was a good opportunity for a demonstration to gain public attention so people can know more about the lives of prostitutes."
She said police had detained her for a few days for her part in the protest. Prostitution is widespread and blatant in China, despite frequent crackdowns. Many hotels, hairdressers, massage parlours and karaoke bars make little effort to disguise illicit activity. The World Health Organisation has estimated the country has 4 million sex workers, but academics have suggested the figure is higher.
In May, state media said police had arrested 1,100 suspects from "high-end" establishments in Beijing alone. But pink-lit hairdressers and massage facilities appear to be operating unhindered in the capital and elsewhere.
Ye, who tweets and blogs under the name Hooligan Sparrow, said the police campaign was harming the health of workers. She launched the Chinese Women's Rights Workshop, distributing condoms and Aids-prevention pamphlets to brothels in Wuhan. But she said that sex workers were now reluctant to use condoms for fear they would be used as evidence of prostitution.
On her website she said she also decided to speak out after seeing women publicly humiliated following police raids.
She told the Guardian that legalisation would not only help protect the health of sex workers and stem trafficking, but would also help tackle corruption.
"Brothels are not cheap places. Most consumers are quite rich and spend a lot usually. So where is the money coming from? If prostitution was legalised, such income could be more transparent," she said.
Zheng Huang, of Shanghai Leyi – an NGO supporting male sex workers – said the crackdown was the most significant for at least a decade. He believed prostitutes have become more vulnerable because they are moving around to avoid police.
He said: "Sex workers just need to regain the rights they are supposed to have rather than asking for more rights. For example, many prostitutes do not dare to call the police when they get robbed, because they are afraid of being arrested for their job."
Lawyers and academics suggest that, as in many countries, sex workers – rather than those who run the brothels – bear the brunt of anti-prostitution drives.
"Policemen usually impose a fine on the place then leave them in peace. It is like a protection fee," said Li Yinhe, a well-known academic who has campaigned for sexual reforms.This year's campaign has gone further than usual. Chinese police closed the Hilton hotel in Chongqing for several days in June after raiding a basement bar. Hilton Worldwide said the club was independently owned and operated.
There was anger last month when pictures of a raid on a brothel in Guangdong province emerged. The images of women barefoot on the street, handcuffed and tied to a rope, enraged internet users.
Last week the ministry of public security ordered police to stop such practices.
Li said her research showed the public were no longer so judgmental about prostitutes.
Zhu Xiaoding, a lawyer who has been following the anti-prostitution campaign, added: "Now people know prostitutes are mainly from poor areas in the countryside, with no skills and no other choice for making a living."
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