Issue No.9
Table of Content
My First TimeThe Concepts of Women, Men, Sexuality, Love and Eros vs Sex Work
Visitors
My Story
Work report
Conferences
Join Declaration
We have already moved.
Review and Future Plans
Ah Chang
This is the first time I am attending a conference in Mainland China and the theme is prostitution. The Chinese government on the one hand denies even the existence of prostitution and, on the other hand comes down heavily on those involved in it. I heard that till now there have been no sex workers participating in any conference on prostitution. This time, some of the participants are professionals like scholars, doctors, etc.; only I am a sex worker. I am not confident because I have little education and exposure. So I did not dare to express any opinion and just listened to the other participants.
The
participants shared the results of their investigations in different places.
To me, most of the results are not new. The working environment for prostitutes
in Mainland China is similar to ours. However, Honk Kong police do not go too
far, while public security in Mainland China can decide the life and death of
a prostitute.
A doctor reported on her investigations in Hainan province, Mainland China. She described that her work was very hard. She had to go to the brothel every day. The attitude of the boss there was not good and she felt unhappy. But I thought it was normal that the prostitutes felt unhappy since she had disturbed their work. Moreover, if there were many people coming and going, it would arouse the attention of the public security, and it might be dangerous for the prostitutes. I thought the researchers did not understand their roles, and they voluntarily went to visit the sex workers and no one forced them to do that. They started aerobic classes for the prostitutes, but they had not thought that those would not have any time or energy to spare for any class out of their long working hours. I doubt it. Other participants did not have much experience or contact with prostitutes, so they discussed things not so important.
When I introduced myself, the response of the participants was quite good. A male participant treated me very well. He appreciated that I was brave and thanked me for my contribution to other men. He also took a photo with me in an intimate pose but did not do so with others. I felt strange and thought, was it because I was a "prostitute" that he felt I was easy to any body touching? And did not mind his behavior? He appreciated that I fulfil the sexual needs of men. Did he really appreciate or disparage me? I had not thought of that kind of question. I also asked myself if they really did not mind my being a sex worker. These questions are very new to me. This conference is really new to me, but it is also new to the other participants. A sex worker sits among the participants and her very presence challenges their thoughts.
The Concepts of Women, Men, Sexuality, Love and Eros vs Sex Work
-Tinyi
Hong Kong mass media gave a lot of coverage to the members of district boards who visited the brothel in Mainland China. Their standards for judgement are marriage, integrity, honesty, etc. All ethical and moral standards they uphold are: monogamy, conjugal sexual intercourse, love before sex, good/bad men/women, right or wrong sexual relations, etc., and all are decrees of death for us.
The paradox is that in spite of these rules which seem so natural, unbeatable, and sacred, sex service is to relentlessly continue, from one millennium to another millennium, and it cannot not be removed by any noble persons, either in the East or West.
It seems that people are not content with the normative, "good" and "right" sexual rules. They are not willing to or cannot give up their deep-rooted desires, being infatuated with other ethical values and sexual concepts.
In the nineties of Hong Kong, discussions on sexual relations other than monogamy, heterosexual and conjugal relations, that is homosexuality, men/women sexuality, in/conjugal sex, and also sex worker have become active.
****
According
to the dominant discourse, sex service is the oldest industry because of its
function of solving sexual needs of men.
The hypotheses are that sexual drive and needs of men are basic instincts, heterosexuality is natural, and women are objects for fulfilling men's sexual needs. Thus, if male sexual desire is kind of nature driven, he has to fulfil it whenever he needs to.
In the patriarchal ethics, this desire has a certain rule that heterosexual intercourse should be conjugal and with love. "Good" man and "good" woman should follow the rule; if not, they will be condemned and despised by society.
Under the rule, sex service, to a large extent, protects women from being "stained", and also provides an outlet for married men who cannot fulfil their sexual needs in marriage. This leads to strengthening of the system of monogamy.
Of course, this relation is non-conjugal, monetary trade, without love; it should be suppressed and controlled. This is not good and should not be done. Anyone who provides this kind of service is immoral and should be condemned.
The rule sounds simple.
****
Many researchers on sexuality point out that sexual needs and drives are socialized products varying according to different cultures, economics and politics.
Psychoanalyst Freud considers that the whole human body to be full of natural desires and drives, and erotic fulfillment is sexual pleasures desires from the five organs of sound, color, odor, taste and touch. Original desires include complexes with father, mother, brothers, sisters, oneself. These diverse desires exist since childhood, no matter whether you are male or female.
In other words, the original needs and drives not only belong to men, but also women., not only exist in heterosexuality, but also homosexuality, bisexuality and others. Sexual pleasure is not just the erection, insertion and ejection of penis, but hugging, caressing, bodily movement, expression and talking can also bring on excitement. However, in the process of civilization, under the dominant political and economic culture of capitalism and patriarchy, the affirmed and recognized sexuality and moral concept is only desire and behaviors of monogamy, heterosexuality, marriage, organ-oriented, and also of specific heterosexual relations.
****
Recent papers on women's sexuality and sexual excitement point out that women's sexual needs are autonomous and heterogeneous. Their sexual excitement not only comes from the insertion of penis, but the controversial G point, clitoris or here or there; some scholars say that women's sexual drive and needs have not been really recognized in the dominant discourse, nor has it even existed. Women's sexual organs are themselves self-contented, and they do not need an external object as complement. Actually, in the dominant discourse, men's bodies are also castrated.
Some scholars consider that according to western theories, the so-called lacking desire is definite higher inside men than women, and has its own specific object, but this desire theory cannot explain various sexual relations in society. Some scholars propose that desire is a kind of creation but does not lack complement, nor does it have any specific object, but pleasures spring from the interactions among bodies, between bodies and objects in different scenes.
Recent concepts of sexual ethics are only molded to comply with patriarchal culture and capitalist consumption ethics. Human sexual drive and excitement are basically heterogeneous and full of possibilities.
****
Why are women sexual desires not represented or posited in the dominant discourse? One saying is that women's sexual desire is limitless, so it should be controlled to comply with patriarchal capitalist ethic values: they are defined as men's supporters, and their sexual desires can only be fulfilled by men. They are father's "good" daughters----a virgin before getting married, marrying a good husband; they are husband's "good" wives----sexual partner, supporter to strengthen family, and also mother of children; and finally sex workers----to fulfil men's sexual desires. The former two are "good" women, while the latter play the role of "bad" women.
****
If the logic and hypothesis of "good/bad", "right/wrong", "natural/unnatural" behind the concepts of women, men, sexuality and morality are questioned and challenged, then the news about the members of the district board visiting a brothel in Mainland China, and also the good, bad, right, wrong, natural and unnatural sexual relations should have another interpretation.
1 December 1998
A minister of German Church and also committee member of EMW visited Ziteng and wanted to know about our work.
26 February 1999
The representative of Netherlands Church Fund Foundation Zending, Mr. Mook, visited Ziteng to understand the situation of sex workers in Hong Kong, our works, and to evaluate their continuation of supporting Ziteng.
14 April 1999
Students of Department of Policy, University of City Polytechnic, visited and collected information they needed.
May 1999
Billy of Action for Reach Out visited and wanted to understand Ziteng's recent activities, including nature of services, field of work, and objectives. At the same time, she explained the recent programs of Action for Reach Out, and hoped that two organizations would have opportunities of exchanges in the future.
18 May 1999
World Christian Women's Association visited Hong Kong and wanted to understand the situation of women minorities. Ziteng was invited to present the case of sex workers.
3 June 1999
Officers of District Office visited and wanted to understand Ziteng's activities.
8 June 1999
Members of New York HRC visited. Most of them were students and concerned about human rights. They read a paper on the response of a sex worker in the human report of Hong Kong NGOs, so they came.
15 July 1999 Concern Aids Association recently employed a staff responsible for educating clients of sex services, who visited Ziteng to understand the sex worker concern group and express hopes for future cooperation.
I can finally go back home tomorrow. This time I can earn
some money to cover the school fees and living expenses for my two sons. Since
my husband failed in his business, our days were getting hard. Although he tried
his best to find a solution, it turned out be nothing. Whenever I saw his depressed
and worried face, I could not push him too much and so tried to find another
way by myself. Ah Fong, a neighbor of mine, told me that being a prostitute
in Hong Kong can earn money. Because of school fees and living expenses of my
sons, and other expenditure, I had no other choice but to give it a try. I thought
that I did not need to do it in our village and as I did not have any relative
in Hong Kong, my husband would not know about it. 
So,
I went with Ah Fong to the travel agency for necessary formalities and paid
$2,700 for my passport and visa. Two weeks later, I was informed I could leave.
The travel agency gave me an address in Hong Kong and asked me to go to there
by myself. I told my family that I as going to Hong Kong with smuggled goods
and would be back after two weeks. I had complicated feelings about this journey,
because I was going far away all by myself and scared of going to a strange
place, on other hand, it did not feel good to do that kind of job. No matter
you struggle or feel painful, I have no more word to say. I am afraid I will
forget this experience.
After I arrived in Hong Kong, it was like the old saying of "you are not familiar with a strange place; I did not have any companion, and had to rely on myself. I was so scared and frightened. Luckily, I called a taxi that took me straightly to my destination. The working environment is not so bad and the boss is nice. But the commission is quite high. The rent is $50 per day, the commission for one client is $30, and I can earn $170 to $200. I can serve how many clients I want but I have to find them in the street. So everything is quite well. For 14 days I worked hard and earned some money. The next time I was unlucky. The police always check for identity cards by pretending to be our client. I am used to being careful. The boss will secretly inform me if there is anything unusual, and ask me not to go down to the street but serve only familiar clients.
Last time, I met an old man who came from our village. He treated me so well and visited me so frequently. He not only bought me some jewels, but also gave me a lot of old clothes which belonged to his children. He said he would visit me again before I left. One day I planned not to work. I went to buy some food for breakfast, where I met one of my familiar clients who did not let me go. I told him I was not working that day but he was insistent. Finally, I said yes to him. After I took off my clothes, I heard the nephew of the boss saying the police had come for investigation. At that moment, I was so scared, and I did not know what to do. Just as I was going to wear on my clothes, the police entered the room. They were very fierce and shouted. I could not understand what they asked. I said I did not know to everything in confusion. Before I could finish my answer I heard sounds of slapping. At that moment, I felt my cheeks burning and it hurt so much that made me cry. Later, I was handcuffed and taken to the police car.
In the police station, I felt very frightened. There was only me in the big room and no one appeared. Suddenly, a man and a woman came. The man said the woman was my lawyer and she wanted to talk to me. I did not know what it was going on. The woman said she was Ms Lam, a lawyer from Ziteng, and she had come to help me. She asked me how the police had treated me. I asked her if she could help me to leave, when I could go home. She explained that I had breached the residential law, and I could not ask for bail, but she would appeal to the judge in court. I had never met her, and wondered why she was helping me. Is there any good person in the world? I really doubted. At that moment, the police came in for my statement, and Ms Lam sat beside me. The police finished recording the statements and asked me to sign it. Then Ms Lam left. She told me to be relax for she would go to the court the next day, and asked me again to consider letting her be my defense lawyer. I said I would consider, but had to ask my boss first and then phone her.
After Ms Lam left, the police asked me about her and whether
I had contacted with her before and also told me to be relax. He said, "There
is no big deal! If you plead guilty, you can leave." Then he told me to sign
a document. He explained that the statements he wrote before were so rough,
he needed to rewrite and have my signature. After several hours, they sent me
to the prison. I was locked up in a big room where there were so many people,
including sisters from our villages. Some of the sisters had experience. They
told me not to be worried, and if you plead guilty, you can leave. So it is
better to do so in order to avoid trouble. That night, I did not close my eyes
and hoped the sun would rise earlier. In the early morning, the police ordered
eight women to 
go
to court. Ms Lam appeared again and asked me if I needed her to be my lawyer.
I refused because the sisters said it was better to avoid trouble and I just
wanted to go home quickly. The police called me to go out. Then I saw a man
sitting high on a chair, my boss and my client! I also saw Ms Lam and some strangers.
I was still scared. A lady asked me if I knew Cantonese. At that time, I was
so scared that I answered I knew only dialect of Yanping. The man who sat higher
on a chair told me that if I did not know Cantonese, my case would be closed
and opened after four or five days for arranging a translator. I feared going
back to prison and wanted to leave earlier, so I said I knew Cantonese. Actually,
it made no difference whether you knew Cantonese or not. If you plead guilty,
you can leave. They said a lot of things I did not understand so well. I just
wanted to leave. I said yes or no in confusion because I really did not understand.
The man who sat higher on the chair asked me how much money I had, I said $5000.
He said he would fine me and my name would be on record. Later, I went to a
room to wait for being sent back to the prison. In the whole process I did not
know what I had done. I just knew that many people came and went, many voices
were raised, but I seemingly did not understand. The next day, they sent some
people to the border and then Shenzhen, then locked them in a big room to wait
for calling and payment. They stayed there until the evening.
This time I was really unlucky. I not only could not earn money but I was also in jail. I am 40 something and have never broken the law. This is the first time I am in the court and in jail. I felt wronged and did not dare to tell my husband. He will lose his face if he knows I work as a prostitute in Hong Kong. My boss sent my things to Shenzhen. He blamed me for being stupid and not asking Ms Lam for help. I said I did not know her and was not sure if there would be any trouble. He explained that Ms Lam came from Ziteng to help prostitutes. Ziteng is a group for helping prostitutes. I am afraid it will not happen in the near future for it is really a terrible experience!
1. Purposes of Researches on Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau
Ziteng hopes that, through the process of interview and research, it can further understand and articulate the working conditions of sex workers, who come from Mainland China, to Hong Kong and Macau, the reasons for their migrating from the rural areas to the urban cities and being sex workers and the routes from Mainland China to Hong Kong and Macau. With actual understanding, Ziteng can consider what kinds of support it can provide, and in what ways it can provide that support and services.
In addition, we hope that in the process of contact and interview, we can introduce Ziteng and its works to sex workers. We also hope that they can continue to contact with us even when they leave Hong Kong and join our activities in the future. For example, a conference of sex workers from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau is scheduled to be held in early 2000.
2. Children Program
The purpose of this program is to provide an opportunity for the children of sex workers to share and understand their mothers' stories, and find ways of getting along with the mothers and other people.
The program for summer vacation has already taken place in July. The activities included a visit to Manchester United Football Team's practices, day camp, volunteer training and sharing. Six children between 7 and 18 years of age coming from three families took part in it.
3. Volunteer Training
Volunteer training for Ambassador of Health was completed in June. There were 20 participants. Most of them were university students and workers. About 90% of participants could finish the whole course and some of them will support the next training.
4. Court Investigation
The report has already been completed and sent to professionals for correction and advice. It is in the process of editing. We plan to set up a concern group as follow-up.
5. Publication
The articles for "Sex is Butter and Bread"(temporary title) are ready and now is in the process of layout and art. It is expected to be published in October.
6. Chi Ma Wan
Three months' Beauty Class was completed in September. There were eighteen participants. The response was quite good. The next class will be arranged by the wealth officer of prison.
* Beijing
Between 16-20 June, Yin Yuet Lin and Chang Shiu Lin were invited to attend a sharing with sex workers. Participants included Assistant Professor Liao Susu, Teaching and Research Department of Infections, University of Beijing Xiehe Hospital, who introduced health education program for sex workers in Hainandao; Wang Jinling, a postgraduate doing research on Hangzhou women, shared the results of investigations to women's educational and correctional institutions in Hangzhou. Ziteng also shared the conditions of sex workers in Hong Kong, Zhang Shiu Lin as a sex worker shared the feelings about her work. Other participants were Liu Guanhua, a teacher of Guanghua Girls' College, and also leader of Aids Action, Wan Tinghai and Mou Aping.
The first two days of the conference devoted to exchange of experiences, and the next two days were about a program for training the teachers of Guanghua Girls' College how to start to work and techniques of organizing.
* India
Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women (GAATW) and Asian Women's Human Rights Council (AWHRC) cooperated to hold a conference about sex work like trafficking and prostitution in India. Participants included sex workers and associations from Taiwan, China, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Bangladesh and India. They shared the conditions of the sex industry in different places, and also discussed the question of free choice for sex workers.
Yim Yuet Lin, Chang Sau Lin and Yim Kit Sum, as representatives of Ziteng, attended the conference.
* Protest against the Red Cross discriminating against the minorities
In the "Rules for Blood Donors", the Red Cross states that anyone who provides sex services, or has sexual intercourse with prostitute or male prostitute is not allowed to donate blood.
Ziteng and other anti-discrimination groups wrote letters to request the Red Cross to wipe out this discriminating sentence.
* Right Abode in Hong Kong
For the question of right abode, Hong Kong government overthrew the verdict made by the Final Court and requested the National People's Congress to interrupt the Basic Law. Several Christian groups signed a joint declaration, protesting to the government damaging Hong Kong's juridical system and human rights.
Our new address is: Block A, 5/F, 375 Portland Street, Mongkok, Hong Kong.
Telephone: 2332 7182
Fax: 2390 4628
Open Hours:
Monday to Friday 10 am----10 pm
Saturday 10 am----2 pm
Sunday Closed
Ziteng was set up three years. In the temporary Executive Committee of July, we reviewed its works in detail, and also discussed future plans and the position of Ziteng.
After discussions, we agreed that Ziteng is positioned as a sex worker concern group. Our aim is to push sex workers to set up their own organization, encourage and help them to fight for their rights. Ziteng will continue its policy of advocacy, consciousness-raising, and public education.
Furthermore, we plan to gradually establish a system of membership. From this issue of the newsletter, we openly recruit anyone who supports the rights of sex workers (including sex workers and non-sex workers) as members. The first general assembly will be held in January 2000 to elect executive members for the next year.
Directions of Future Works
I. Fighting for legal changes
(i) Edit the data from the court investigation and provide constructive suggestions
(ii) Introduce and discuss related laws with sex workers outside the office and follow-up cases
(iii) Arrange lawyers to provide free legal consultation in the areas where sex workers operate
(iv) Arrange for sex workers to visit the related councilors.
II. Consciousness Raising
We affirm that sex work is a kind of work and a sex worker has a right to work.
We also address the unfair treatment meted out to sex workers now.
(i.) outward work
(ii) to publish a newsletter for sex workers
(iii) to publish Ziteng's newsletter and pamphlet for public education
(iv) to recruit volunteers
(v) to hold seminars to encourage discussions among organizations and promote education for the public
III. Organizing sex workers
(i) To add the element of "empowerment" in the outward works and followed-up cases
(ii) To let sex workers understand the related law and the role of Ziteng through personal contact, newsletter and questionnaire, in order to encourage them to express their opinions and ideas on our activities and then strengthen their participation
VI. Organizing people concerned about sex work
(i) to set up a system of membership and openly recruit member
(ii) to link up with women's groups, promote and deepen discussion about sex work and sexuality
Recruitment of Members
Any woman who supports and practices our aims can choose to be a basic member or contact member of Ziteng.
1. Basic member
Basic member has rights and duties, a right of vote in the general assembly, right of nomination and election
2. Contact member
Contact member has only rights and duties of being member, but no rights of vote, nomination and election.
Rights of members
A member has the following rights:
(1) She can join all activities of Ziteng
(2) She can use our services, resources and data bank
(3) She can take part in deciding the works, activities and direction of Ziteng
Duties of member
A member has the duty of paying the membership fee (the annual fee for basic member is $100, for contact member $50), and also follow our regulations and attend and promote our activities.
