AFRO

Sex Work Q&A

Is visiting a sex worker a social problem?

Sex work and sex trades are adults' voluntary sex options. And as an adult citizen's right to choose services, it is fundamentally not a social problem. Sex work related societal problems stem from the discrimination and prejudices towards sex workers...
Why do sex workers enter the profession?

Their stories (1): Wonder Women

Their stories (2): Why do you work? Because of love or responsibility?
Why is the pink light always on outside the sex workplace?

Due to the current laws and legal regulations, sex work is different from other industries and cannot be advertised. What they rely on is the tiny pink light bulb, placed in front of the window or outside the door, to attract the attention of potential clients...
Why is CCTV installed outside the door?

In Hong Kong, which is supposed to be one of the most secure cities in the world, there is a group of people who have to totally rely on themselves to ensure their personal safety at work...

CCTV is a good helper for sex workers to secure and give them a safer working environment, for example, screen their guests, protect their privacy and physical health etc...
What is a pimp? Is it a big problem that someone work as an agent for sex workers?

Generally speaking, a pimp refers to a person who manages and arranges the work of sex workers. What is the image of a pimp in your mind? A man? A potty mouth? Tattooed? A mafia member?...
What kind of risks do sex workers face when facing customers?

When sex workers provide sexual services, they are often exposed to varying degrees of violence because of the highly private work environment. In fact, even if before entering the private space, some sex workers may also be subjected to different types of violence...

Candid photos (non-consensual) are one of the risks that sex workers are facing nowadays. The act of taking candid photos is not psychopathic, but a state of addiction. The motives are more than sexual desire as the secretly filmed images may bring different aspects of consequences...
Are sex workers expected to fulfill all the requirement during the sex trade?

Sex work=selling their bodies?...

Regardless of the identities of the two parties, whether they are husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, casual sex partners, or sex workers and clients, they need to obtain the sexual consent of each other before they can have sex. At the same time, both parties can withdraw sexual consent in the process. And a sexual consent is not given once and for all, a one-time consent cannot be mistaken as permanently valid...

The fact that the client pays does not give him the right to do whatever he wants. Throughout the transaction, the client has never had the right to own, manipulate or consume the body of the sex worker. If the client does not behave properly, the sex worker has the absolute right to speak up...
Are sex workers supposed to be sexually harassed?

Sexual harassment can be physical, verbal and also mental. The Internet, advertisement, and mobile/telephone can be useful for fellow sisters to do business, but because of these tools, they are more exposed to the risk of sexual harassment/violence. For business, they need to leave certain personal information in such public spaces. What they get instead could be harassing calls, insulting words, men who used their numbers for phone sex...
Have sex workers ever thought about changing careers?

Sex work is not a lifelong career. Will sex workers change careers? Are they ready for the change?...

Is it easy for sex workers to change job? It may be far more difficult than we could ever imagine...
When will sex workers retire?

Retirement means different things to different people. For civil servants, the statutory retirement age is 60. For athletes, 30s is probably the best retirement age. As for sex workers, is there any retirement age?...

The cost of living in Hong Kong is known to be high. For a lot of people, even dealing with daily living expenses is not easy, not to mention saving for retirement. Unlike other workers, sex workers do not participate in the MPF scheme. So, what is their retirement plan?...
Why do the overseas sex worker organisation use the red umbrella symbol?

Umbrellas are usually used for protection against the rain or the sun. However, in recent protests demanding political reforms, civilians used umbrellas to block the pepper spray from the police. Umbrellas have become a symbol of restraint and non-violent way to fight for democracy in Hong Kong. In the United States, umbrella is symbolised to commemorate the dozens of sex workers murdered by the same serial killer, and to call on the international community to pay attention to and to end the violence against sex workers...
Any advantages of decriminalising sex work?

Open Society Foundations provides ten reasons why decriminalising sex work is the best policy for promoting health and human rights of sex workers, their families, and communities...
What is "Swedish model"?

In 1999, Sweden was the first to amend its laws to criminalise the purchase of sexual services, the provision of intermediaries for sexual services, and the operation of brothels, while the provision of sexual services is not illegal. This practice was generally understood as the "Swedish model". However, the idea behind criminalising the buyers of sexual services is basically nothing more than treating clients' purchasing sexual services as the exploitation of sex workers...
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