OpenForum – a blog by the Health and Human Rights community

A recent article on China’s “one country, two systems” policy reports on its sociopolitical implications for Hong Kong’s female migrant sex workers. The authors argue that current legislation is only increasing their vulnerability to human rights abuses, and that their situation can best be understood and improved using the concept of “structural violence.”

The policy allows regions like Hong Kong to operate on different economic and political systems from mainland China, with a large degree of autonomy. One of its unintended consequences, however, is the perpetuation of migrant sex workers’ disadvantaged status through the systematic denial of their right to social and economic progression and the failure to provide adequate health services or protection from exploitation and abuse. While prostitution is technically legal in Hong Kong, related activities such as soliciting, as well as traditional brothels, are not. Operating alone and without protection, prostitutes are vulnerable to abuse and lately, to a disturbing string of murders. Migrant sex workers are far more vulnerable given their illegal status, and feel they cannot report crimes committed against them or seek health services for fear of legal repercussions.

The authors are spot on in recognizing that female migrant sex workers are in a far more complex situation than the terms “trafficking victims” or “illegal immigrants” convey. They find that medical anthropologist Paul Farmer’s concept of marginalized groups as victims of structural violence is more appropriate: China’s sociopolitical situation forces many women into migration in search of employment, particularly to Hong Kong. While Hong Kong has eased travel restrictions, it is a crime for migrants to seek employment. By focusing on the legal status of migrant sex workers, the Hong Kong government can avoid taking responsibility for creating conditions that create the need to migrate.

The article suggests that dealing with structural violence requires structural interventions: China and Hong Kong should become signatories to the Trafficking and Smuggling Protocols of the UNCOTC, which would provide another legal avenue for sex workers to report abuses. Other suggested interventions include allowing migrants to legally engage in sex work using visas, and expanding the role of NGOs dedicated to providing health education, legal counsel, and other avenues of empowerment. Gaining protection under the law is an essential first step for ensuring rights for female migrant sex workers.