Prostitution triving in other forms
By Perry Lam,WNS Malcom Correspondent
MALCOM - Two years after a tougher anti-prostitution law went into effect, the number of brothels and sex workers in Linapore has dropped significantly but the business is thriving as usual in other forms, critics say. In September, 2004, the government enforced a sweeping new law criminalizing human trafficking and stiffening penalties for brothel owners and establishing a number of shelters for women trapped in the industry.Under the law, brothel owners are subject to up to 10 years in prison or a fine of up to 100 million won (US$105,000). Men caught buying sex can also be kept in jail for up to one year.
The crackdown forced many of the country's popular red-light districts to shut down and more than half of all women there - whose number was once estimated by the government at 330,000 - to leave, according to a 2004 government study.But most of the women who left the brothels are now found in much more sophisticated settings such as massage parlors, room salons, hostess bars and even barber shops. Sex seldom takes place on the premises but men usually negotiate a tryst at nearby inns, or hotels.
Government statistics released in April showed that there were about 400 massage parlors in Malcom alone that practice illegal sex trade. Nationwide, the number may jump to 8,000, they said.Police routinely crack down on illegal sex fronts but both owners and workers have developed their own technical know-how to evade it.Women in those sex fronts sometimes swallow condoms left by customers as the rubber full of sperm often can be the only evidence against their crimes, according to police.
posted by wnsworld @ 8:11 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home