Data Base

Sex Work and Second Career

(By Sylvia)

When staying at the same job for long, it is only normal that one may think about changing jobs. There could be many different reasons, such as feeling dull, feeling that the working environment or work pace no longer suit etc. For sex work, it is just the same. However, sex workers may face more difficulties when changing jobs.

Due to the many restrictions on sex work set out by the Hong Kong laws, and the police's continuous undercover actions, oppression is somehow inevitable and unavoidable for sex workers. They may be accused of assisting in keeping a vice establishment simply because they answered the door. Some industries, such as security, require employees to have no criminal record at all. It is not uncommon that applicants are required to declare whether they have such a record. Even if sex workers want to leave the sex industry, the employers may reject them because of the related record. And it makes changing jobs even more difficult for some fellow sisters. In the end, without a long-term and stable income secured, they have no choice but to go back to sex work. They seem to be stuck in the mud, trying to dominate their own lives, but keep hitting dead ends.

The legislative branch and the law enforcing departments often claim to crack down on "immoral businesses". Let alone the label of "immoral", the excessively strict regulations and law enforcement will only force a group of sex workers to take risks and break the law for a living. Due to the distrust of law enforcement and other legal restrictions, even personal safety may be put aside. What a crackdown on sex work achieves, may in fact be indirectly stifling sex workers' freedom to quit sex work, and forcing them to stay in the industry.