Does legal prostitution really increase human trafficking in Germany?

In late May, leading German news magazine DER SPIEGEL published a cover story – now published in English – on the alleged failure of the German prostitution law, which rendered the State complicit in human trafficking. The deeply flawed report failed, however, to address numerous relevant aspects of human trafficking prevention and prosecution, including victim protection. It also failed to insert much needed factual evidence into the broader global debate on human trafficking, which is also about labor rights, migration, sustainable supply chains and human rights. DER SPIEGEL thus contributed to a very narrow debate on human trafficking and to the wrong debate around sex work.

Feminist Ire, “Not your fluffy feminism”, kindly published an article by Sonja Dolinsek and myself, which critically engages with the international community on the difficult relationship between trafficking and sex work. Please click here to read the article.

The above image (click to enlarge) is not an actual SPIEGEL cover. The red umbrella is the symbol of the sex workers’ rights movement. Click here for more information. Image: Matthias Lehmann

In support of Ye Haiyan

Postcard campaign in support of Ye Haiyan

Chinese activists have started a postcard campaign in support of sex worker activist Ye Haiyan, who was detained days after protesting against officials’ failure to tackle child abuse. To learn more about this story, please refer to the articles listed below.

Please support sex worker activist Ye Haiyan

To express your support or just send Haiyan a nice message, please participate in the campaign.

Here is how:

1. Find a postcard you like, e.g. one where you’re from.

2. Write your own text on the postcard: you can ask for the release of Ye Haiyan, write a message of support to Ye Haiyan, or anything else you want to say.

3. Please send the postcard to Bobai Detention Center at the below address.

4. When you mail the postcard, please take a picture of yourself at the post box or post office, holding the postcard. You can of course cover your face or choose to only display the postcard and post office.

You can also ask a passerby to take your photo. It’s a good occasion to let people know about Ye Haiyan’s case and about the international sex workers’ rights movement.

5. Please send the picture to jiazimaili[at]gmail.com. Activists will post the pictures to their Weibo accounts, a Chinese microblogging service akin to Twitter, to document the cards being sent to Bobai Detention Center.

Mailing address for postcards:

博白县拘留所 Bobai County Detention Center
广西壮族自治区玉林市博白县兴隆西路 Xinglong West Road, Bobai County,
Yulin City, Guangxi Province, China.
邮政编码：53769 Post code: 53769

The above text was mostly taken from the Facebook page of the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers.

Articles about Ye Haiyan’s detention

The Guardian | Chinese police refuse to release activist who campaigned against child abuse

According to Nicholas Bequelin, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “The whole thing looks like a set-up so they could detain her for 15 days.”  He added: “There is a history of using proxies to unlawfully assault human rights defenders. There is a long history of lawyers or activists being attacked by ‘thugs’ or ‘gangsters’ in fact acting at the behest of the government.  “She is the victim here: she was attacked and she documented what was happening. If police have convincing evidence showing otherwise they should come forward with it. The fact she is now detained seems to be a transparent ploy to silence her on the issue of sexual assault of school children.”

South China Morning Post | School sexual abuse protester Ye Haiyan beaten up in her own home

Gender rights activist Ye Haiyan was assaulted and detained by Guangxi public security officials yesterday after returning from Hainan province, where she had protested against the sexual abuse of schoolgirls. Ye appealed for help three times on her microblog around noon yesterday, saying her apartment had been raided by about 10 women and one man while she was alone with her daughter.

Two Beijing-based lawyers who joined Ye in the Hainan protest earlier this week said Ye was summoned for questioning by police in Guangxi’s Bobai county yesterday after she was accused of physical assault while fending off her attackers. Her supporters said they believed the attack was an attempt to silence Ye after she launched an online anti-child-abuse campaign that has received massive public support.

Shanghaiist | Sex-worker activist Ye Haiyan imprisoned after chasing off three intruders

Tang Jitian, a Beijing-based rights lawyer, said “[Ye] has also been seen as a thorn in the side of local authorities obsessed with maintaining social stability. This is not the first time she has been harassed.”

Photos accompanying the original article in Chinese can be found here.

Global Times | Police hold activist Ye Haiyan for 13 days, reject release request

Local police in Bobai county, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, have rejected an  application from women’s and sexual rights activist Ye Haiyan’s lawyers to suspend her 13-day administrative detention for intentional injury, her lawyer told the Global Times Sunday.  “The local police called me around noon to say the application was rejected, saying Ye should apply for the suspension herself, and there should be a guarantor. However, Ye’s daughter is only 13 years old, which means she can’t be a guarantor,” lawyer Wang Quanping said. He submitted the application at midday Saturday.

International Sex Workers’ Day

Whores don’t stand in the rain!

Sex workers demand their rights on International Whores’ Day in Berlin. To learn more about the origins of June 2nd, celebrated annually since 1976, please click here.

Please note: this video was shot upon request by Hydra and with permission of all appearing therein.

Sound Effects: Binaural Diaries “Rain on umbrella” (Creative Commons License)
Video © 2013 Research Project Korea

Click on the image below to view more photos on Facebook. (No Facebook account required.)

Working? Working!

More often than not, the ideas that people have about sex work result from the narratives created by the media or anti-prostitution activists and have little to do with reality. Therefore, it gives me great pleasure to present to you a photo series by Yeoni Kim, a South Korean sex worker and activist with Giant Girls, Network for Sex Workers’ Rights. I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to Ms Kim for kindly providing her photos and statement to bring people – in her own words – “closer to sex workers”.

Please note that the copyright for the photos and statement lies with Yeoni Kim and is not licensed under a Creative Commons License. Please share the link to this post with others but kindly refrain from downloading the photos and posting them out of context elsewhere. I would also like to ask bloggers to refrain from re-blogging this post. Should you wish to share Yeoni Kim’s work with your audience, please feel free to use the cover image and link to this post.

Artist’s Statement

The reality is that unless you are a client, sex worker or middleman, it is not easy to gain access to the working environment of sex workers.

성노동자들이 어떠한 환경에서 어떻게 일을 하고 있는지, 구매자나 성노동자, 중개업자가 아니면 우리는 쉽게 접근할 수가 없는 것이 현실이다.

The shop that granted us the permission to take these photos is classified as ‘Hyugetel’, which usually have signboards that read “College Girl Massage” or “Gentlemen’s Massage”.

사진 촬영을 허가한 이 업장은 ‘휴게텔’이라 분류되는 업장이며 보통 ‘여대생 마사지’, ‘남성전용 마사지’라는 간판을 달고 있다.

The process starts with washing the client, applying gel on the client’s body while being naked, and then rubbing against the slippery body. This is also known as “riding the body”. After “riding the body” is performed, you wash and towel-dry the client, and then lay the client down in bed. Caressing and petting starts from the neck to the knees, both in the front and the back of the client’s body.

손님을 씻기고, 알몸으로 손님의 몸에 젤을 발라 미끌미끌하게 부벼 주는 일명 ‘바디 타기’ 후, 다시 손님을 씻기고, 수건으로 닦아주고 침대에 뉘여 목부터 무릎까지 등판과 앞을 전부 애무한다.

Intercourse is the last stage. When the client ejaculates, you remove the condom, wash the client again, dress him and send him on his way. The photos sum up the process.

그 다음 섹스가 이루어지고, 사정 후 콘돔을 정리하고 손님을 다시 씻기고 옷을 입혀 내보내는 이 과정들을 몇몇의 사진들로 축약해 보았다.

A lot of the process has been omitted in the photos, since it was hard to modulate the level of exposure. The pictures were taken to let people understand that sex work is more than “lying down with your legs open”, and perhaps bring the audience closer to sex workers.

노출의 강조를 어떻게 해야 할 지 고민이 되어 일하는 모습들을 생략한 부분이 많지만, 이 사진들을 통해 아주 조금은 성노동자들과 가까워지고 그들의 노동이 단지 ‘다리 벌리고 누워있는 것’ 이상임을 이해할 수 있기를 바라는 마음으로 찍어보았다.

Yeoni Kim / 김연희

Please click on the cover image to view the photos as slide show. Press Escape to exit.

“Sex Crime” or “Sexual Self-Determination”?

Announcement

This Saturday, 23rd of March, I will give a presentation at a symposium at Humboldt University of Berlin. The presentation is titled “Sex Crime” or “Sexual Self-Determination”? and deals with prostitution discourses in South Korea and their negative impacts on sex workers.

My presentation will start at 12pm in a session titled “Autonomy and Heteronomy in Sex Work”. The second presenter in this session is Ms. Noémi Katona who will give a presentation titled “Coercion, Money, and Intimacy: Hungarian Sex Workers and their Pimps/Boyfriends at Kurfürstenstraße”. Podcasts of these and other presentations will be made available in April. Please note that all presentations will be held in German only.

Matthias Lehmann
“Sex Crime” or “Sexual Self-Determination”?
March 23rd, 2012 – 12.00pm
Festsaal der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Luisenstraße 56,  10117 Berlin

“Hurt Lives – Denied Rights. Human Trafficking in the 21st Century”

Despite heightened public attention to “human trafficking”, the definition of this phenomenon remains difficult and contested. On Friday, March 22nd, and Saturday, March 23rd 2013, the symposium “Hurt Lives – Denied Rights. Human Trafficking in the 21st Century” will take place at the ballroom of the Humboldt-Universität of Berlin at Luisenstraße 56 in Berlin-Mitte. Next to academic and field experts, young researchers will showcase their work in presentations and workshops. The symposium is intended both for a professional audience as well as everyone who is interested to learn more about this subject matter.

The symposium is sponsored by the Humboldt-Universitäts-Gesellschaft. Verein der Freunde, der Ehemaligen und der Förderer e.V. (Humboldt University‘s Association of Friends, Alumni and Sponsors)

Please click here to visit the website of the symposium. (German only)

March 3rd ☂ International Sex Workers’ Rights Day

Photo: NeonRights by Matt Lemon Photography*

March 3rd ☂ International Sex Workers’ Rights Day

March 3rd marks the annual International Sex Workers’ Rights Day. The day was founded in 2001 by the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), a sex worker collective in India. Over 25,000 sex workers gathered for that inaugural festival, and since then, participation the day is observed globally by sex workers and those showing solidarity to them.

“We felt strongly that that we should have a day what need to be observed by the sex workers community globally. Keeping in view the large mobilization of all types of global sexworkers [female, male, transgender], we proposed to observe 3rd March as the Sex Workers’ Rights Day.

Knowing the usual response of international bodies and views of academicians and intellectuals of the 1st world [many of them consider that sex workers of third world are different from 1st world and can't take their decision] a call coming from a third world country would be more appropriate at this juncture, we believe. It will be a great pleasure to us if all of you observe the day in your own countries, too. We need your inspiration and support to turn our dreams into reality.” – Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (2002)

There are several other days that aim to raise awareness for sex workers’ rights and highlight the stigma, discrimination and violence they are often faced with. Two of them are the Korean Sex Workers’ Day and the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.

June 29th ☂ Korean Sex Workers’ Day

On this day, the National Solidarity of Sex Workers Day was organised, after the Special Anti-Sex Trade Law [which includes a Prevention Act and a Punishment Act] was passed in 2004. Since then, the date is commemorated as Korean Sex Workers Day to honour all sex workers who have contributed to the struggle against discrimination over the years.

“I am not a hooker. I’m a sex worker!” (left)
“Don’t stigmatise us! Don’t oppress us!” (right)

December 17th ☂ International Day To End Violence against Sex Workers

“The International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers was originally developed by Dr. Annie Sprinkle and SWOP founder Robyn Few to shine a spotlight on the epidemic of violence against sex workers happening globally. SWOP-USA began commemorating the Day as a memorial and vigil for the victims of the Green River Killer in Seattle, Washington, who murdered at least 71 women, most of whom were sex workers from 1982 to 1998.

During the week of December 17th sex worker rights organizations around the world stage actions and vigils to raise awareness about violence that is commonly committed against sex workers. These events also often address issues relating to stigma and discrimination that allows violence against sex workers to occur with impunity. We seek to raise awareness about the barriers faced when attempting to report violence, and promote empowerment and change what has become an unacceptable status quo.” - Sex Workers Outreach Project USA

Quoted/Paraphrased with kind permission by Mistress of Mattresses’ blog post Proof of Feminst Women’s Violence Against Prostitutes.

*The Red Umbrella

The Red Umbrella was first used as a symbol for sex worker solidarity at the 49th Venice Biennale of Art in Italy in 2001. Italian sex workers marched through the streets of Venice with red umbrellas as part of the “Prostitute Pavilion” and CODE:RED art installation by Slovenian artist Tadej Pogacar. The red umbrella march drew attention to the bad work conditions and human rights abuses sex workers faced. Four years later the red umbrella was adopted by the International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE) where it became the emblem for resistance to discrimination. Since then the red umbrella has become the international icon for sex worker’s rights around the world. It symbolises protection from the abuse and intolerance faced by sex workers everywhere but it is also a symbol of their strength.

Related Posts

In Pictures: Korean Sex Workers’ Day

My Friend’s Rights are Human Rights!

Prostitution Law: No Increase in Forced Prostitution

“The assumption that liberal prostitution laws lead to an increase in human trafficking is refuted. On the contrary: ever since the liberalisation, there has been more police activity but notwithstanding, there are significantly less suspects, convicts and victims. That’s rather an indicator that the disentanglement of prostitution from criminal environments is increasingly successful.” – Volker Beck, MP

In early February, the German Greens submitted an enquiry to the federal government, concerning the impact of the German prostitution law on the trend of human trafficking. On February 22nd, the government issued a reply. The following are translated quotes. Below, you can download the enquiry and the answer of the federal government as pdf files. All documents are available in German only.

“In the year 2000, the National Situation Report about Trafficking in Human Beings registered altogether 926 victims. In the year 2011, there were 640. This equates to a decrease of just under 31 per cent. If one compares the figures of registered victims in 2003 [a year after the prostitution law was passed] and 2011, one sees a certifiable decline of just above 48 per cent.” It should be noted that this is despite “greater activities by the police”, a fact Volker Beck referred to in the above quote. [Page 7-8]

From a quantitative viewpoint, the risk potential of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Germany is “limited”. [Page 8]

“The annually compiled National Situation Report by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) shows no significant increase of victims that would indicate an expansion of the phenomenon as a result of the prostitution law taking effect.” [Page 10]

The reply by the German government thus refutes the claim by Neumayer, Cho and Dreher that legalised prostitution increases human trafficking.

Please click here for the enquiry by Volker Beck (Cologne), Monika Lazar, Ekin Deligöz, Britta Haßelmann, Ingrid Hönlinger, Memet Kilic, Dr. Konstantin von Notz, Tabea Rößner, Arfst Wagner (Schleswig) and the faction Bündnis 90/Die Grünen.

Please click here for the reply by the federal government. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the staff at Volker Beck’s office for immediately supplying me with this document.

You can view the full text of the German prostitution law (ProstG) on the website of the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.

Please click on the image below to access an article about the enquiry by the Central German Newspaper (English Translation via Google Translate).

Related Posts

“We still know very little.” – 10 Years Prostitution Law (ProstG) in Germany

Does the Legalisation of Sex Work increase Trafficking?

Less cases of forced prostitution registered since the liberalisation of the prostitution law in 2002

15,000 views and counting

I am glad to report that as of yesterday, Research Project Korea’s blog surpassed the threshold of 15,000 views. Visitors came from 121 countries, with the majority of them from North America (3,350), South Korea (3,070), Germany (1,929), the UK (729), India (671), and Australia (560), while altogether 480 users follow this project via Facebook and Twitter.

Among the most popular posts – with over 900 views alone – was A Letter from a South Korean Sex Worker, published in January 2013, followed by Sex, Lies, and Abolitionists, published last October. The latter sparked a lively debate with over 90 comments comments from prostitution abolitionist Rebecca Mott, veteran sex worker activist Norma Jean Almodovar, President of ISWFACE and COYOTE LA, Tracey Tully from the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), and researcher Wendy Lyon (Feminist Ire), to name but a few. Although the comment thread has now been dormant for several months, it still provides you with an interesting insight into this contested discourse, as does my response to Rhoda Grant’s consultation process, which I submitted in December under the heading A self-inflicted lack of information. Finally, I would like to direct your attention to the updated About section, which aims to provide answers to questions such as those posed by the Canadian sex worker organisation Maggie’s.

I would like to thank everyone for having read, ‘liked’, re-posted and commented on the updates here, on Facebook and on Twitter. If you joined my page just recently, why not browse through some of the previous posts.

I would be glad if you kept on reading, sharing and responding to my updates in the future.

Best Regards from Berlin,
Matthias Lehmann

Left: Brandenburg Gate in Berlin | Right: Sungnyemun (Gate of Exalted Ceremonies) in Seoul

Should we accept sex work?

The above video is an excerpt from the South Korean talk show WITH, which discusses social and economic issues from the perspectives of women. The topic of this issue was the constitutional review of South Korea’s Anti-Sex Trade Law. [1] The moderator is Seung Yeon Oh, a professor at Korea University. In this video, she is speaking with Yeoni Kim, a sex worker activist with Giant Girls, Network for Sex Workers’ Rights. To allow a wider audience to learn first-hand about the situation of sex workers in South Korea, Research Project Korea provides you with an English translation of this video with kind permission by Yeoni Kim.

Title: ‘Is the Anti-Sex Trade Law unconstitutional?’

Panellist: Yeoni Kim, Sex Worker Activist at Giant Girls, Network for Sex Workers’ Rights Link
Moderator: Seung Yeon Oh, Professor at Korea University
TV Station: MBC; Air Date: January 21st, 2013

Seung Yeon Oh: Could you explain to us why you started working as a sex worker?

Yeoni Kim: I left home before I finished high school and I started working while I was a university student. The usual part time jobs that college students can take required too many working hours and paid too little and it was impossible for me to continue working and studying at the same time. I looked for a job with more flexible hours and a higher income and that is why I started to work at the Miari Texas red light district. As time went on, I began to like working as a sex worker, and it gave me some kind of pride. Then I quit college and started working as a sex worker full-time.

Oh: The term ‘sex worker’ sounds foreign to the general public. Is there a particular reason why you refer to yourself using the term ‘sex worker’?

Kim: It may seem strange to others, but the change in the term is important to me. The word [2] was first used in Korea in 2005 during a sex workers’ convention. Sex workers wanted to change the terminology in use. I first came across the term ‘sex worker’ in 2010. Before that, I actually stigmatised myself by using terms that referred to me as a second-class human being. Now I feel proud of myself and I am content with what I do, and the only reason I am covering my face with a mask when I’m on TV is to protect the people who are close to me. Usually, I show my face in public when I give lectures or participate in protests.

Oh: So the word ‘prostitution’ stigmatises people?

Kim: We are trying to change all the words that carry social stigma.

Oh: To what degree do you think sex workers are being discriminated in the society?

Kim: One example are bank loans. Banks ask for your occupation when they process one’s loan application, and when you reply, “I am a sex worker.”, you will be asked to explain what that means. If you explain that sex work is selling sex to earn money, the application will be refused even if your credit history is excellent. The same goes for insurances. Sex work is seen as a highly hazardous occupation, and so sex workers are denied insurance coverage.

Oh: What do you think about the constitutional appeal?

Kim: I think of it as a first step. Gradually, the clients of sex workers and brothel owners should be decriminalized, too. There are many concerns surrounding this matter. Male and transgender sex workers should be included in the discussion.

Oh: Thank you for your time.

Footnotes

[1] At the time of this publication, South Korea’s Anti-Sex Trade Law is under constitutional revision. For further details, please refer to the following articles.

Korea’s sex trade in legal limbo | Asian Correspondent Link
Appeal on anti-prostitution law filed with Korea`s top court | Donga Ilbo Link

[2] Refers to ‘seongnodongja’, the Korean term for ‘sex worker’.

Updates in your Inbox

Update #6 is now available! If you wish to be on my mailing list, please leave a comment below or send me an email to yongsagisa [at] gmail.com. I rarely send emails, since for the most part you can follow the project online.

Update #6 ist jetzt erhältlich! Wenn Sie gerne auf meiner Verteilerliste sein möchten, hinterlassen Sie bitte einen Kommentar oder senden mir eine Email an yongsagisa [at] gmail.com. Ich kontaktiere Sie nur selten, da Sie dem Projekt größtenteils online folgen können.