Major cities crack down on sex trade
- Source: Global Times
- [01:58 June 08 2010]
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However, a host of pornographic websites were reportedly freely accessible in China recently. The sudden availability of online porn raises speculation that, with the recent spate of extreme violence carried out by middle-aged men at kindergartens and schools, the government might be allowing pornography as a pressure-release valve.
Rejecting that theory as ridiculous, Li Jiaming, director of the China Illegal Information Reporting Center, told the Global Times, "The authorities remain determined to erase Internet pornography, and the policy of the clampdown on illegal Internet content is consistent with the govt's policy."
Controlling the industry
The extensive crackdown on nightclubs recently and the ongoing strict monitoring of online pornography renewed discussion about how the sex industry, the so-called world's oldest profession, is managed in China, a society that has experienced dramatic social changes in last two decades.
Fang Gang, director of the Institute of Gender and Psychology at Beijing Forestry University, told the Global Times that the official crackdown on the sex industry in the country has been carried out in an on-and-off fashion and the latest nationwide moves were nothing new compared with previous campaigns.
"The sex industry can hardly be eliminated. Instead, it will eventually come back after a series of campaigns," he said.
Sixty years ago, when the People's Republic of China was founded, prostitution was virtually eliminated after the overwhelming central power destroyed the tacit mores and ethics by which society controlled and regulated the sex trade. However, in the last two decades, the sex industry regained its presence in large cities with an influx of migrant workers from villages and men with disposable income.
What needs to be done at the moment is to minimize the existing risks in the sex industry, which include HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), Fang added.
Xiao Dong, chief of Chaoyang Chinese AIDS Volunteer Group in Beijing, told the Global Times that, "The existence of the sex industry highlights the biggest failure in China's social welfare system."
"Instead of cracking down on the sex industry, the government needs to focus on providing vocational training and equal employment opportunities to sex workers, most of whom come from poor rural areas and use their income to support their families at home," he said.
A source at the Ministry of Public Security of China in Beijing told the Global Times that he personally advocated legalization for disorganized, petty prostitution offenses, but the police still has a duty to crack down on more exploitative prostitution with its links to organized crime.
Qiu Wei contributed to this story
