A person displays his phone with prostitution-related advertising in Beijing, China, Mar. In China, prostitution has continued to thrive behind the facade of hair salons and karaoke bars despite a government ban and frequent police crackdowns. The year-old single mother has been working as a prostitute for nine years in Beijing to support her two children and elderly parents. Later she opened a "hair salon" in the outskirts of the city, that served as a front for a brothel that she ran with the other women.
Although there are clients who are ready to pay more to have sex without protection, I urge them to always use them," she said. According to Chinese law, possession of condoms is sufficient proof to arrest women and charge them with prostitution, which has led many sex workers choosing not to use protection, increasing their risk of contracting HIV. Hong is currently enrolled in a makeup academy, and while she is not planning to change her profession, she wants to get the degree as last year the police shut down her business because it was "very obvious" that it was not a hair salon.
Prostitution continues to be a taboo subject in China, but "visiting cards" of sex workers are handed out on Beijing streets or kept on bedside tables in hotels. Some are clients," Hong said. Thanks to these contacts, she generally manages to get out with a fine that ranges from , yuan, or a light sentence of five to 15 days in custody.
Under the "custody and education system," Chinese authorities can also send the detainees - without a warrant - to centers where they are "reeducated through work.
The stigma and police violence faced by the sex workers has been researched by Chinese author Zhang Lijia for her novel "Lotus," which focuses on prostitution in the country. When arrested, they can easily wriggle out by paying a small fine or sometimes not even that. It is much more difficult for the sex workers," the author told EFE in an interview.
