Policing One-woman Brothels in Hong Kong: An Informal Strategy(英文)
Asian Association of Police Studies
The 6th Annual Meeting
17-20 October 2005,
Policing One-woman Brothels in
An Informal Strategy
Dr
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology
The
E-mail: ykchu@hkucc.hku.hk
Miss Chan Cheuk Ying, Carlie
Research Assistant
Department of Sociology
The
E-mail: carliec@hkucc.hku.hk
5 September 2005
Abstract
‘One-woman brothels’ are actually small flats in residential buildings in
Faced with immense pressure from the community, the police may adopt informal strategies to reduce the number of one-woman brothels and keep them low profile in some black spot areas. The informal strategies include (1) visiting the sex worker; (2) harassing the client; (3) pressuring the door caretaker; and (4) advising the landlord. This research finds that the two most effective ways to combat one-woman brothels are visiting the sex worker and harassing the client. However, the price is that the police need to invest their manpower heavily on the above operations. In addition, these two strategies may create ‘displacement effect’. The sex workers may move to another area to continue their business. The data of this research mainly derive from local studies on this topic, official documents, media reports, a popular one-woman brothel website, field observations and interviews with 12 police officers who had experiences in dealing with one-woman brothels.
Contents
1. Introduction
2. The One-woman Brothel Industry
3. Problems of Policing One-woman Brothels
4. Visiting the Sex Worker
5. Harassing the Customer
6. Pressurising the Door Caretaker
7. Advising the Landlord
8. Discussions and Implications
9. Conclusion
Appendix: The One-woman Brothel Industry in
References
1. Introduction
Although public brothels do not exist in
In the last few years the problem of the one-woman brothel has become a serious concern to the public in some areas in
The aim of this paper is to investigate why it is so difficult for the police to combat one-woman brothels from a legal perspective and how the police are forced to employ different informal strategies to deal with this problem. The data of this research mainly derive from local studies on this topic, official documents, media reports, a popular one-woman brothel website, field observations and interviews with 12 police officers who had experience in dealing with one-woman brothels.
2. The One-woman Brothel Industry
Although one-woman brothels have become popular in
Traditionally one-woman brothel sex workers mainly advertise their business on Chinese newspapers and adult magazines. In the past few years the internet has become a popular medium for them to attract clients. The reasons may include: (1) Internet provides an immediate update of the available women in the sex market; (2) It allows clients to see photos or video clips of the sex worker prior their visit; (3) A larger number of potential clients can view the material in the internet at the same time and the photos and videos clips may enhance sales of sex service; (4) The materials can be in both English and Chinese and this may attract expatriate and foreign clients; (5) Clients can avoid embarrassment of buying adult magazines in shops; and (6) Internet advertisement is relatively cheap and convenient because specialist companies can provide full advertisement package to sex workers. For instance, Sex 141, a one-woman brothel online advertisement company, will charge an advertisement from HK$1,000 to HK$1,500. The company will arrange a photographer to take photos at the one-woman brothel (Next Magazine 25 November 2004).
In order to provide an outlook to the size and operation of the one-woman brothels in
Region | District | Number of Sex Workers |
Western District, Sheung Wan, Central, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Tin Hau, Fortress Hill, North Point, Sai Wan Ho, Shau Kei Wan | 149 | |
Cheung Sha Wan, Sham Shui Po, Prince Edward, Mong Kok, Yau Ma Tei, Jordan, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hung Hom, To Kwa Wan, Kwaun Tong, Kowloon City | 351 | |
New Territories | Yuen Long, Sheung Shui, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung, Tai | 46 |
According to the surveyed website, one-woman brothels concentrated in
Prices varied depending on the sex service provided and the quality of individual sex workers. A full-package sex service ranged from HK$250 to HK$1,000, with an average of HK$300-400. In
The age of the one-woman brothel sex workers is likely to be older. From the studied website, nevertheless, it is found that most of sex workers claimed to be 18 to 30, with 43.2% ranged from 18 to 22, 49.8% from 23 to 26, and the rest from 27 to 30. It is important to note that the age claimed by these sex workers on the internet may not be accurate since old age would probably discourage customers. Sex workers under the age of 18 should be very rare since they may not be able to manage the brothel financially and technically. In addition, they would be very susceptible to police inspection.
One-woman brothel sex workers should have a resident permit to stay in
Most sex workers working in self-operated one-woman brothels usually have previous experience in the sex industry in
3. Problems of Policing One-woman Brothels
There is no law that specifically stipulates that prostitution is illegal in
l Keeping a vice establishment (Crime Ordinance Chapter 200 Section 139)
l Control over persons for purpose of unlawful sexual intercourse or prostitution (Crime Ordinance Chapter 200 Section 130)
l Causing prostitution (Crime Ordinance Chapter 200 Section 131)
l Causing or encouraging prostitution, intercourse with, or indecent assault on, girl or boy under 16 (Crime Ordinance Chapter 200 Section 135)
l Trafficking in persons to or from
l Living on earnings of prostitution of others (Crime Ordinance Chapter 200 Section 137)
l Soliciting for an immoral purpose (Crime Ordinance Chapter 200 Section 147)
Therefore, the Hong Kong Police are able to use relevant laws to tackle street sex workers, call-girl services, and different vice establishments such as the villas (guest houses), massage parlours, nightclubs and karaoke bars which directly or indirectly provide sex services to their customers.
Interesting enough, a lone sex worker who sells her body for money inside an apartment (one-woman brothel) is not technically committing any of the above offences. For instance, the ‘keeping a vice establishment’ ordinance states clearly that ‘a person who on any occasion keeps any premises, vessel or place as a vice establishment; or manages or assists in the management, or is otherwise in charge or control, of any premises, vessel or place kept as a vice establishment shall be guilty of an offence’. Nevertheless, the police cannot use this law to charge one-woman brothel sex workers of keeping a vice establishment because the one-woman brothel cannot be legally defined as a vice establishment. According to laws, at least two females must be working as sex workers inside an apartment before it can be classified as a ‘vice establishment’. One-woman brothel sex workers are lone sex workers inside an apartment. Therefore, the apartment cannot be defined as a vice establishment.
Since one woman brothel sex workers work alone, there are no pimps who control the sex worker. The police cannot charge any persons of ‘trafficking in women’, ‘exercising control over a woman for the purposes of prostitution’, ‘causing or encouraging prostitution’ or ‘living on earnings of prostitution’. The Section 147 of Crime Ordinance Chapter 200 prohibits the solicitation in public place, which makes ‘a person who is in a public place or in view of the public solicits for any immoral purpose or loiters for the purpose of soliciting for any immoral purpose’ an offence. One-woman brothel sex workers usually stay in their flat to wait for customers. The ‘soliciting for an immoral purpose’ law is inapt to deal this kind of sex worker. Moreover, these sex workers are adults who choose to become sex workers voluntarily. Therefore, the Section 135 of Crime Ordinance Chapter 200 which makes it an offence to ‘cause or encourage prostitution of, intercourse with, or indecent assault on girl or boys under
The Section 41 of the Chapter 115 of the Immigration Ordinance prohibits any person to breach one’s conditions of stay. Although it is clear that most of one-woman brothel sex workers came from Mainland
It is clear that the one-woman brothel is operating through legal loopholes. The police have no sufficient legislative power to tackle the problem. Faced with immense pressure from the community, the police may adopt informal strategies to reduce the number of one-woman brothels and keep them low profile in some black spot areas. The informal strategies include visiting the sex worker; harassing the client; pressuring the door caretakers; and advising the landlord.
4. Visiting the Sex Worker
Although the police cannot charge the sex worker keeping a vice establishment, they can use different legislative powers to pay frequent visits to their targeted brothels and this will seriously interrupt their business. According to the Crime Ordinance (Chapter 200, Section 13), a Magistrate can grant a search warrant to authorise any police officer to enter and search a premise if there is sufficient evidence to suspect that an offence has been or is being committed in or in connection with the premise. Therefore, the police can apply for a warrant to investigate the one-women brothel if they suspect that there are trafficking of women, any persons living on the earning of sex workers or managing a vice establishment. To apply for a search warrant to enter a private premise, nevertheless, the police have to present sufficient evidence to the Magistrate. This method cannot be exercised often.
There are other laws that provide the police with legal power to enter a one-woman brothel without a search warrant from a Magistrate. For instance, the Commissioner of Police can authorise a police officer, above the rank of Sergeant, to enter a premise without notice under the Protection of Children and Juveniles Ordinance (Chapter 213, Section 16). The police officer is given the legal power to interrogate any persons therein to check missing girls or any girls under 16 who are working as a sex worker in the premise. In a situation where the sex worker refuses to open the door, the police officer can make a forced entry.
It is true that the police cannot enter and search a private premise without a warrant from a Magistrate, the authorisation by the Commissioner of Police, or the invitation of the occupier. The police still can use a number of excuses to pay frequent visits to their targeted one-woman brothels. As a police officer says: “In their busy hours or when we know that she is serving a client, we can knock on the door to make an enquiry about the crime situation in the neighbourhood or remind her to be cautious when a stranger visits her apartment. Even though the sex worker does not allow us to enter her apartment, our frequent visits like this kind will seriously interrupt her business. Sooner or later she will move out because she knows that we are targeting her.”
Frequent visits are an effective police tactic to force the sex worker to move out of the apartment. For instance, in 2001 it was reported that a one-woman brothel was raided by the police 3 or 4 times a day, especially during her ‘busy hours’. Her client eventually went away since they were often interrupted and annoyed by sudden visits of the police (Ming Pao 5 September 2001). A study on sex workers of one-woman brothels conducted by Kong and Zi Teng (2003)found that visiting from the police (48.4%) is the second largest factor affecting their business.
In some cases the police can exploit other laws to force the sex worker to move out. For instance, in 2001 it was reported that an over 50 year-old local domestic worker was hired by a sex worker to clean up his apartment. During the raid, the police officer threatened that the premise has to be closed because it is a vice establishment – two females working as sex workers inside the apartment (Apple Daily 17 October 2001).
5. Harassing the Client
Since prostitution is not criminalized in
There are 3 main forms of informal strategies reducing the number of men buying sex services from one-woman brothels. The first strategy is to park a police vehicle in an area where one-woman brothels are densely populated. Clients interpret the presence of police vehicle as a sign that ‘the police are carrying out an anti-vice operation’. Most of the clients fear that they will be interrupted during their visit to the one-woman brothels. Hence, they will avoid visiting the one-woman brothels during that period. A police officer puts it bluntly: “The clients are afraid of seeing us. They don’t want to have any trouble. The repeated presence of our patrol vehicle outside the building does scare them off visiting the brothels.”
The second strategy is to assign a Police Constable to station at the main entrance of the building where one-woman brothels are concentrated. The police officer can act as a good deterrent to prevent clients from entering the building. Under the Immigration Ordinance (Chapter 115 Section
The last strategy is to arrange a patrol record book temporarily outside the target building. Since the patrol officer will come to the building regularly to sign the book, this will deter the clients from visiting the building. When the sex workers working in the block find that the police are targeting them, they know that they cannot continue to do business in this building because their clients dare not to visit them. They will move out soon.
6. Pressurizing the Door Caretaker
One-woman brothels represent the lower strata in the
Since old residential blocks without door caretakers have become less in
One of the informal strategies is that the police pressurise the door caretaker to interrogate strangers who enter the building (Singtao 26 November 2004). Since most clients do not wish to be known for buying sex service, they would not tell the door caretaker that they are visiting the one-woman brothel. To avoid embarrassment, they would pretend that they ‘got the wrong place’ and then leave the building immediately. According to the police interviewees, this is an effective way to drive potential clients away. A police officer explains: “Many men find the one-woman brothel a convenient way to buy sex services. If they are being asked many questions by the door caretakers before they can enter the building, they will hesitate to visit the brothel.”
In order to make sure that the door caretakers are performing their duty well, the police will send undercover agents to see whether the door caretaker will stop and check strangers to enter the building. The failure to do so may result in the police issuing a warning letter to their employer. The police may use the Security and Guarding Services Ordinance to revoke the door caretaker’s permit who repeatedly neglect his duty.
7. Advising the Landlord
In
Indeed, a recent case clearly demonstrates the importance of the cooperation between the police and the Incorporated Owners to tackle the one-woman brothel problem in the building. In 2001 the police in Mongkok received complaints from the Incorporated Owners of a mixed commercial/residential building about its one-woman brothel problems. The police advised and assisted the Incorporated Owners in gathering sufficient evidence about the one-woman brothel activities. In
The police’s full support and back-up are essential for the success of this approach to the one-woman brothel problem. Members of the Incorporated Owners may be threatened by the landlords who rent flats to the sex workers when they attempt to take legal actions against the one-woman brothels. Therefore, the police have to reassure members of the Incorporated Owner’s safety during the operation. Sex workers tend to rent a flat in the building without Incorporated Owners. Also even if the building has Incorporated Owners, it may not be organised enough to take actions against one-woman brothels in their building. Therefore, this type of informal strategy is not commonly adopted.
8. Discussions and Implications
According to different interviewees, the most effective ways to combat one-woman brothels are ‘visiting the sex workers’ and ‘harassing the client’. It should be noted that the purpose of operating one-woman brothels is to make profit. The main characteristic of the one-woman brothel is that a lone sex worker provides direct, fast and convenient sex services to her client in an apartment. Since the brothel is run by a single sex worker who has limited capital, she cannot sustain a long-term deficit. Although sex workers know clearly that their business is not illegal, they will choose to move out of the building if they find that they have become the target of the police.
However, all police interviewees indicate that it is very costly to adopt the above informal strategies to combat one-woman brothels. The police need to invest their manpower heavily for a certain period so that sex workers are pressurised to move out. Since operating the one-woman brothel is not an offence, the police normally will not put it as their top operational priority unless they are under immense public pressure or the business has become out of control in the neighbourhood. Even the police decide to take actions against one-woman brothels, they can only focus on dealing with the notorious buildings with a large number of one-woman brothels. It is rather difficult for the police to invest large quantity of human resources to combat scattered one-woman brothels suited in different buildings.
It is true that ‘visiting the sex workers’ and ‘harassing the client’ are the two most effective police strategies to tackle the one-woman brothel problem, but the effect will not last very long and displacement may occur. Under the police pressure, the sex workers may move out of the building but this does not mean that they will terminate their business. They may move to another location in the same district or simply continue their business in another district. A police officer says: “Our aim is to drive them out of our district. We do not care where they will move!” Due to insufficient human resources, the police are not able to deploy their officers for a long period to combat the one-woman brothel which is not a crime. Some sex workers may move back to the original buildings to continue their business after a series of police operations. Therefore, police actions may be effective in reducing the number of the one-woman brothel for a short time but the problem cannot be eradicated.
In the long run the police should consider making use of community resources to combat the one-woman brothel problem such as ‘pressuring the door caretakers’ and‘advising the landlord’. In doing so, the police can save resources and put the problem back to the community. As a community problem, the police can adopt a mulit-agency approach to mobilise community resources to tackle the problem. The limitation is that one-woman brothels are usually located in residential buildings with loosely organised Incorporate Owners and poor quality of door caretakers. The police may not be able to rely on them to combat the one-woman brothel problem.
The Hong Kong Police are facing a strong dilemma when dealing with one-woman brothels. The current situation is that one-woman brothels are operated ‘legally’ and ‘openly’ in
9. Conclusion
The aim of this paper is to investigate the difficulties for the Hong Kong Policein combating one-woman brothels from a legal perspective and how the police are forced to employ different informal strategies to deal with this problem. This study finds that although there is no law that specifically stipulates that prostitution is illegal in
This research finds that the most effective ways to combat one-woman brothels are ‘visiting the sex workers’ and ‘harassing the client’. However, the price is high because the police need to invest their manpower heavily on the above operations. In addition, these two strategies may create ‘displacement effect’. The sex workers may move to another area to continue their business. Therefore, the police are not able to root out the problem. In fact it is not fair to require law enforcement agencies to combat the one-woman brothel problem as it is not an office according to the current laws in
Appendix: The One-woman Brothel Industry in
District | No of Prostitutes | Age | Nationality | Price** | Remarks | ||||
18-22 | 23-26 | 27-30 | PRC | HK | Others* | ||||
Yuen Long | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 250-380 | |||
Sheung Shui | 6 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 250-350 | |||
Tsuen Wan | 27 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 250-350 | |
Kwai Chung | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 300-380 | ||
Tai | 1 | 1 | 1 | 300 | |||||
Cheung Sha Wan | 16 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 250-380 | 1500(overnight) |
Sham Shui Po | 21 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 150(HJ)-450 | |
Prince Edwards | 13 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 98(HJ)-300 | |||
Mong Kok | 29 | 3 | 2 | 22 | 6 | 1 | 200-350 | ||
Yau Ma Tei | 10 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 250-360 | |||
82 | 33 | 14 | 4 | 62 | 18 | 2 | 100(HJ)-1000 | 1 Japanese 1 Taiwanese | |
Tsim Sha Tsui | 129 | 64 | 26 | 1 | 86 | 27 | 16 | 300-1000 | 6 mixed, 2French, 2 Korean, 2 Japanese,and 2 others |
Hung Hom | 10 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 350 | ||||
To Ka Wan | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 180-300 | ||||
Kwun Tong | 27 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 12 | 5 | 250-360 | ||
10 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 300-400 | |||
Western | 20 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 300-350 | |||
Sheung Wan | 12 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 200(HJ)-400 | |||
Central | 1 | 1 | 300(HJ)-500 | ||||||
Wan Chai | 8 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 300-400 | |||
58 | 12 | 34 | 2 | 33 | 21 | 4 | 300-480 | 1 Taiwanese | |
Tin Hau | 15 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 300-400 | ||
Fortress Hill | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 300-500 | ||||
Sai Wan Ho | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 300-320 | |||
Sau Ki Wan | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 300 | |||
North Point | 24 | 2 | 12 | 4 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 300-500 |
* Others includes mixed,
** Price varies depending on services provided
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