Data Base

Be an Expert in Your Chosen Field

(By Sylvia)

Today we paid visits to one-sex worker-apartments. We knocked on the door and once it was opened, before we had the chance to introduce ourselves, Yan (the girl inside) couldn't wait to ask, "Can you teach me English?"

When we go outreach, fellow sisters sometimes invite us to enter their units to talk about various topics. Some may be bored while waiting for customers and would like to just chat with someone. Some may have problems in work, relationships or health but have no one to turn to. They then take the opportunity to talk to us and see if we can you give them a hand.

We chatted with Yan and found that she usually received many foreign guests. However, because of the family's financial problems, Yan dropped out of school when she was only in Grade 2. She therefore didn't know much English. She learnt some single words online but she was not completely sure about the usage or meaning. Yan's room was full of different items: uniforms, skirts, notice of service charges etc. The notice was written in Chinese, below that there was English translation apparently done by some online translation tool.

Yan pointed to various items and asked us whether the English that she wrote was correct. She also asked us to translate some sentences for her, such as "Condom for Blowjob" and "Pay double for overtime", for reminders that she posted in her room for self-protection. Yan said she wanted to learn some more English so as to make the communication between her and the foreign guests easier. Some minor communication problems may not cause harm, can even be funny. But poor communication can also be used as an excuse by the guest for taking advantages. Or the sex worker may even not know how to ask the guest to put on a condom, and thus put health and safety at risk.

Many people say that most people who engage in sex work do not have any life or work skills, and they do not want to suffer hardships. In fact, sex work also requires skills. In addition to knowing how to meet the needs of their guests, fellow sisters must also have communication skills. Some of their guests have few people to talk to in their lives, and they will try to seek comfort from sex workers. Fellow sisters need to know how to listen to respond. In some other cases, fellow sisters need to communicate with foreign guests. They need to learn, and know how to adapt to the ever changing environments and protect themselves from risks. When they find that they lack certain knowledge, they need to study and make themselves stay competitive at work.

After helping Yan translate her price list and reminders, we taught her a few practical sentences and introduced to her the simple English class that would be held by our centre. I hope that the work we have done can make a little contribution to resolving the difficulties that Yan encountered at work.