February, 2008

An Unfortunate Truth: Abuse of Police Power and
Prejudice Against Sex Workers

Celeste Baldassare

(Ms Celeste Baldassare is an intern in Ziteng. She is now studying Cultural Studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong.)

On June 14th 2005, the Hong Kong Police Force arrested and detained a group of over 80 women suspected of being illegal sex workers. The women were detained in a dirty, cramped iron cage located in the car park of the local police station. There was garbage on the floor of the cage, no shade from the sun and heat emitting from the surrounding air conditioners. The women remained packed together for 13 hours while passersby stared at and even photographed them. Instead of doing their jobs and processing the suspects in a timely manner, the police chose to unnecessarily humiliate these women. This incident of police abuse is only one of many about which Ziteng has received complaints.

Although sex work is legal in Hong Kong, sex workers have been the victims of police abuse for years, with little reparation. These men and women have been subject to false arrest, unnecessary strip searches, denied legal representation and assaulted verbally, physically and sexually. As in the case of Li Yuen Yee, a young woman who experienced particularly severe harassment from the police, the situation was so bad that she felt the only way out was through suicide. Even after her death, the police guilty of the abuse have yet to be reprimanded. In most cases, really, the police guilty of abuse are not penalized in any way.

Structural Factors to Police Abuse Against Sex Workers

The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) has created a system that enables them to abuse their power in two ways. The first is in their code of practice. When working undercover to investigate the workplaces of sex workers, sexual interactions (such as oral sex and sexual intercourse) are not allowed. However, the HKPF has deemed some touching as necessary in order to collect “sufficient” evidence, which includes masturbation (hand jobs) under the code of practice. Police officers often take advantage of the sex workers, sometimes forcing them to give oral sex or sexual intercourse, even though it is not allowed under their code of practice. The second way in which the police have protected themselves from being penalized for harassing sex workers is through the office which receives complaints of police abuse, CAPO (Complaints Against Police Office). Since CAPO is part of the Police Force the sex workers are putting the case to the same authority of which the officer committed the abuse. The police can protect each other, and continue to abuse the power they have over sex workers.

Another indirect reason why the police have been able to get away with sex worker discrimination for so long is, in reality, a much larger problem. Society as a whole has a negative view of sex workers because of the controversial nature of their work and many sex workers have been victims of robbery, discrimination and assault from civilians as well as police. Many people believe that because they do not agree with or approve of what sex workers do, it is allright to discriminate against and treat them inhumanely. We are taught to have social tolerance for those of other religions, races, nationalities, mental or physical abilities, sexual orientation, as well as any other differences. Why, then, should the society continue to arbitrarily harass, humiliate and marginalize sex workers? One cannot truly foster social tolerance and acceptance without acknowledging lifestyles that may be different from one’s own. You do not have to agree to what a person chooses to do with his or her life, but that does not give you the right to treat them like second-class citizens.

Ziteng is an organization that works with and for sex workers, provide health care, social services, legal resources and other services for their empowerment and channel their own voices. We also train social workers and health service providers to strengthen supports and services for sex workers in China. We have also built up a support network among different groups and organizations to provide better assistance and support for the trafficked women and migrant sex workers, who travel and work in different countries.

Provisions to Prevent Abuse of Police Power

For the past several years, Ziteng has been working hard to get sex workers the rights they deserve, working with different social groups to help change the societal opinions of sex workers and to get the police to stop the abuse. In public education campaign we help promote acceptance of sex workers from the society, for their basic human rights that have been denied. Therefore, we advocate for two provisions:

Prejudice Against Sex Workers

The unfortunate truth is that the society looks down upon sex workers, and hence it is acceptable to abuse their power. In actuality, those who work as sex workers deserve the same rights as everyone else. The role of the police is to protect the citizen, so to single out one group of people and abuse them is contradictory to their duty. If the police single out one religious, social, or ethnic group, people would be outraged; shouldn’t this group of people get the same kind of attention? What these men and women are prohibited by law; therefore, aren’t they entitled to the same rights as any other citizen?

To tackle this problem, we need to start with ourselves. It is not a question of whose lifestyle is right, because that is a personal decision. This is a matter of belief in equality despite our differences. As long as society as a whole continues to believe that it is acceptable to discriminate against sex workers, then there will be no end to it. If people begin to realize, however, that everyone deserves the same rights because we are all equal, then the prejudice will be changed, and so do people’s（including the police）deeds towards the sex workers.