Sex Work - A Labor Issue?
This is the second of three articles about "Women and Work" in Thailand written for the Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women's foreign correspondent programme for 1995-6.
When I first told friends and acquaintances in Australia that I was going to Thailand to
work on women's issues, the reaction, spoken or unspoken, among both men and women
was universal: "women" and "Thailand" equals prostitution. It was an equation of which
I was certainly aware, but it was surprising that everyone I spoke to immediately
made this conclusion,
When considering the topic of my second article on "women and work", I was thus
hesitant to write about sex workers in Thailand for fear of further entrenching the
stereotype, yet I think it is important to reconsider this issue. It is a topic which has
traditionally been approached from a moral angle, prostitution is an absolute evil which of
course must be stamped out, if possible. This is the approach which is taken formally by Thai law and the majority of Asian-Pacific countries.
There are many, many sex workers in Thailand. Government figures suggest that at the
beginning of 1994 there were about 70,000 prostitutes employed in the sex industry, while
non-government estimates have risen as high as 200,000. Whatever the true figure, there
is no doubt that many, many Thai women, and foreign women living in Thailand, are
employed as sex workers (a term which is often preferred because it lacks the negative bias
of "prostitute") There are also many people employed in the industry who do not work
directly as sex workers; such as, bar staff, security people, cleaners, etc.
There are those who claim the sex industry is a product of the tourist boom of the 1980s
and '90. Certainly there are sectors of the industry which cater to farangs (men of
European appearance) and men from other Asian nations, but a large part of the sex
industry in Thailand also caters to local men. I live on a fairly ordinary street in Bangkok,
and within a kilometer or so of my home there are perhaps a dozen businesses without
foreign language signs in which at least some of the employees are engaged in sex work.
In every society throughout time, prostitution has existed. Ideally, there should be no
prostitution, and women should be able to adequately support themselves, and often their
families by other means. However, neither of these conditions appears likely to be
achieved any time soon in any society of which I am aware, either in the developed or the
developing world.
Perhaps, it would be better to abandon any sort of moral approach, and consider the
situation of these women from merely a labor perspective. Certainly, I am not talking
about children - any sex work for children (under 18) is totally unacceptable, nor about
women who have been coerced, forced or deceived into becoming sex workers.
Sex workers in Western countries, including in my own Australia, have in recent years
become more vocal in standing up for their rights. They argue that if they chose this
course, for whatever reason, they should be able to stand up for their working rights in the
same way as a factory or clerical worker and their choice should be accepted and respected
by women's organizations.
Instead of simply self-righteously condemning sex work, and often by implication the sex
workers, a better approach would be to work to fulfill three conditions: only workers who
have been fairly informed about the conditions, risks and financial rewards should enter the
industry. Workers should be provided with full information and assistance to protect
themselves. And finally they should receive a fair return for their work, i.e. not see the
bulk of the money transferred to pimps, madams or others making unreasonable profits
from their efforts.
In modern Thailand and most other nations of the world, if these conditions were to be fulfilled, there would certainly be women who would chose, for a number of reasons, to
engage in sex work. That I would argue is their right, and they deserve the full protection
of women's organizations in their choice.
Of course, we are still a long way from the three conditions discussed above, and many
women have entered the sex industry without being informed about the conditions under
which they would be working, becoming virtually enslaved by unreasonable financial
arrangements.
The answer for these women is to offer them education and training - to allow them to
leave the industry if they wish, or otherwise to enable them to assert their rights from
within it. The fact which many programs fail to realize is that many of them will choose
to stay within sex work - for reasons which may appear strange or "wrong" to an outside
observer. But ultimately, if we are going to treat them as adults, they must be allowed to
make their own choice. And we must also recognize the sad fact that if these women leave,
others, younger, more vulnerable and less informed, will take their place.
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