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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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Alias
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
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 Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 10:03 pm Post subject: Korea: Debts still haunt former sex workers |
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A 29-year-old woman identified as Lim, a sex worker since her youth, was kicked out of her "workplace" after the brothel was shut down as a result of a crackdown following last year's passage of an anti-prostitution law.
She ended up working again in a room salon in a red-light district to pay off debts owed to the former brothel owners because she had no other job skills. The anti-prostitution law went into effect on Sept. 23, 2004.
According to the National Police Agency (NPA), the number of brothels has been reduced by 36.8 percent from 1,679 before the law's implementation to 1,061 on Sept. 15.
The number of sex workers has decreased by 52.3 percent from 5,567 to 2,653 during the same period.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family provides about 400,000 won a month for six months to help support female sex workers who quit the sex trade.
However, mounting debts still haunt former sex workers even after they quit prostitution.
According to the Support Center for Victims of Sex Trafficking based in Seoul, 43.5 percent, or 2,666 women in the sex trade out of a total of 5,249 cases have debts resulting from advanced payment.
The center recently released the survey results based on the cases reported for the year since the anti-prostitution law took effect.
The survey shows that 26.2 percent of female sex trade workers have sought help regarding problems caused by quitting their job.
Sex workers have been found to suffer from threats, sexually transmitted diseases, family problems, violence and unwanted pregnancies after they get out of the sex industry, according to the survey.
The survey shows that 59.5 percent of ex-sex workers who report to the center have been found to solicit prostitution in Seoul, with the next highest percentage working in Kyonggi Province.
About 43.5 percent of prostitutes worked in such places as hostess bars in red-light districts, while 32.6 percent were found in brothels.
However, the number of sex traders working through cyberspace reported to the center sharply increased from 29 in the previous year to 60 since the crackdown.
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Full Article Here
Sad story. But I think it is best to for these women to get out of the industry while they are still young. It must be extremely difficult for those older women. I wonder how many have been disowned by their families? |
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Hater Depot
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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| When I read this article I couldn't help but wonder to whom they owe money. Surely a slavery debt to a convicted brothel owner isn't one the courts would enforce? Or would they, in Korea? |
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joe_doufu
Joined: 09 May 2005
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 11:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Hater Depot wrote: |
| When I read this article I couldn't help but wonder to whom they owe money. Surely a slavery debt to a convicted brothel owner isn't one the courts would enforce? Or would they, in Korea? |
I bet they would enforce it. Countries that import sex slaves (er, I mean, employ foreign sex workers) tend to blame the women for the problems that surround them - NOT see them as victims. That would require a level of self-awareness and self-criticism that Korea's culture is incapable of. These women are often trafficked to countries where they don't speak the language and therefore can't get help. They're forced to live in the brothels so that they never really learn where they are, how to navigate the cities, or how to get help. They are often tricked into thinking they're going to the country for a new job, like a nanny or housekeeping job, and the employers put up the money for the plane ticket (debt #1) to indenture them. They are told they must pay back the debt before they'll be released, but are only allowed a small portion of their revenue as personal pay, and are forced to pay steep "room and board" fees to their employer out of that. Then, they have to save money for a plane ticket home. Very likely the employer is trying to hook them on drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, and encourage habits like shopping, so that the girls can't achieve independence. The debts may be enforceable, but how would the girls find Korean lawyers and make their case, and what are the chances they would profit by doing so. I imagine the easiest ways for them to get freedom are to get a boyfriend to rescue them, or to steal money from the till and do a midnight run. |
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Hater Depot
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:20 am Post subject: |
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| I took a college course on modern slavery, so I'm at least a little familiar with the mechanisms of debt and trickery used ton trafficked women. But the first woman in the article was Korean and--not having been trafficked to another country--had been freed from a Korean brothel, the owner of which was subsequently convicted. Yet the courts enforced what I can only assume was an illegal debt? Bizarre and cruel. |
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joe_doufu
Joined: 09 May 2005
Location: Elsewhere
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 12:43 am Post subject: |
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| Hater Depot wrote: |
| I took a college course on modern slavery, so I'm at least a little familiar with the mechanisms of debt and trickery used ton trafficked women. But the first woman in the article was Korean and--not having been trafficked to another country--had been freed from a Korean brothel, the owner of which was subsequently convicted. Yet the courts enforced what I can only assume was an illegal debt? Bizarre and cruel. |
They probably separated the debt from the brothel. The debt was probably for something else... for instance, an apartment, or some clothes, or a vacation, or something. If it was for drugs it might have been through some kind of cover business, on the books as a hotel room rental or something. |
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billybrobby
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 6:59 am Post subject: |
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| this reminds me, i wonder if kiddirts is building his nest egg right now. |
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shakuhachi
Joined: 08 Feb 2003
Location: Sydney
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| Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2005 7:01 am Post subject: |
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| billybrobby wrote: |
| this reminds me, i wonder if kiddirts is building his nest egg right now. |
What happened with that (assuming you are talking about that deleted thread)? |
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