This essay originally comes from Ye Haiyan’s blog; the director and founder of the Grassroots Rights Center. She’s apparently very well known online as an advocate of women’s rights, particularly as they relate to sex workers. I’ve been trying to provide various types of support for their efforts, my own interest stemming from her incredible story, and a broader interest in gender dynamics as they relate to planned birth policies resulting in nationwide gender imbalances.

I have extremely conflicted feelings about legalization of prostitution in any context and don’t know what the answer is. Legal or not, much of the Center’s work centers around removing social stigmas that are attached to sex work, such that those involved can seek medical and legal help. Translation mine, original Chinese below:

Sex Workers or Brothelgoers: which are more contemptible?
Ye Haiyan

The strongest part of human nature requires that there be ’sex workers’ and ‘brothelgoers.’ For life to go on, it requires passion. If one day men and women remove all sexual desire, men no longer lust after women, women will look upon men and be completely disgusted, it’s very possible that the value of life will slowly degenerate into nothing.

In order to give humans the highest probability of spreading, the Creator made it that men would spare no effort in sowing their seed. Only through sexual exploits will life flourish.

Pregnancy is an extremely fortunate event; the providence of miracles. Life cannot entrust its hopes to a single male and a single female. Therefore, life makes every man and every women pursue sex with numerous partners, as a way to assure the best chance of reproduction, the only way that life can flourish.

If humans were like animals, and only sought the perfect love, perfect chastity, it wouldn’t be long before disaster. Furthermore, the reason that humanity is so widespread and vigorous is due to human’s sex drive as being equally as vigorous.

In order to satisfy sexual urges, men will often become brothel patrons, an instance of moral corruption. Life essence swells within, and must be released to spread more life. Men and women both have a duty to support the continuation of new life, and originally this was a pure and beautiful thing; however, human civilization has caused people to become greedy and selfish, and turn sex into an immoral and illegal act, which causes this original, beautiful thing to become filthy, repulsive. These serve as moral shackles, restraining the most basic instincts, the most fundamental source of life.

Sex workers are a disadvantaged group simply trying to find a means to provide themselves with sustenance. If someone is so poor that they don’t even have the means to live, in order to continue living, she is capable of doing anything. Just as people once began using money to make exchanges, she will use the sole valuable skill she has to earn a living. Prostitution is just a means to live. No matter if someone is a brothel patron or a sex worker, their actions are all for the sake of living, or satisfying life’s needs.

Also, this is in line with respecting the status of life. Just as the Buddha said, “All living creatures are equal.” The life of an ant, and the life of a human are the same in terms of nobility, all go through the miraculous fission of cells to be born. Therefore, all animate things go through the same process. We should treasure and revere them; we should not belittle them; even more importantly, we should not harm them.

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The Women’s Rights Workshop also conducts a variety of surveys, since part of their mission is to change attitudes towards sex workers, and hopefully mitigate many of the negative prejudices that exist and hopefully improve conditions. Due to the language barrier I can’t really comment on the framing of the questions / survey design, given that there seem to be some discrepancies within the answers. As I’ve written before, the degree of double-standards that apply to relationship taboos / infidelity, particularly as these relate to the sex trade, exist everywhere but seem especially crass within China. Interesting still. Link here, translation below:

2009 Results of Survey regarding stopping violence against sex workers

A. Do you feel that [we as a] society should be concerned with sex workers? Y 94, N 6

B. Do you think that sex work is illegal? Y 97, N 3

C. Do you think that sex workers should have their own relationships and marriages? Y 98, N 2

D. If someone was physically abusing a sex worker, would you stop them? Y 71, N 29

E. Do you endorse the legalization of sex work? Y 39, N 61

F. Do you acknowledge that sex work is also a type of profession and career? Y 65, N 35

Survey conducted in Wuhan, interviewees consisted of municipal residents. 100 interviews were conducted.

2009终止对性工作者的暴力日问卷调查结果报

问题	赞**数	反对人数
A、您认为社会应该关心性工作者吗？	94	6
B、您认为**性工作者违法吗？	97	3
C、您认为性工作者应该有自已的爱情和婚姻吗？	98	2
D、如果有人伤害性工作者，您会出面制止吗？	71	29
E、您赞成**易合法化吗？	39	61
F、您可以接受性工作也是一种职业，一种工作吗？	65	35

调查地点：武汉   调查对象：普通路人，基层百姓   有效问卷：100份

The China Grassroots Women’s Rights Workshop in Wuhan conducts a number of demonstrations, which involve loudspeakers and placards trying to publicize various issues relating to sex workers. This report describes one on December 17 that called for a stop to different types of violence perpetrated against sex workers. The purpose of a lot of these activities is to educate normal residents – who consist of the majority of customers for low end sex workers – in an effort to promote social justice.

Report on efforts to stop violence against sex workers in Mainland China

On December 17th, 2009, Chinese Grassroots Women’s Rights Workshop, with 19 volunteers, holding red umbrellas [went to] a busy section in Wuhan and held the first ever civic activity to stop violence against sex workers. Volunteers held up five large poster-boards that described the five major types of violence that sex workers experience. These five types include, verbal abuse, privacy and reputational abuse, emotional abuse, legal mistreatment, and physical abuse. The activity drew the attention of countless onlookers, and was the first time in China that a civic activity called for standing up for sex workers. Of city residents who participated in a survey conducted during the activity, 80% supported legalization of the sex trade.

中国大陆终止对SEX WORKER的暴力日行动报告

2009年12月17日，中国民间女 权工作室，19名志愿者手执红雨伞，在武汉市市区繁华地带举行了第一届终止对SEXWORKER的暴力日公益活动。
活动小组分别用五块展版归纳社会对性工作者的五大伤害。
这五大伤害包括，语言伤害，隐私名誉伤害，精神伤害与执法伤害，身体伤害。
这次行动，引起了无数市民的关注。这是中国第一个站出来为SEX WORKER呼吁的公益行动。
在现场的问卷调查中，80%的市民，支持SEX交易合法化。

Pictures below, from the center’s site:

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