Sex Work, Migration, HIV and Trafficking:
Chinese and other Migrant Sex Workers in Australia
Elena Jeffreys and Roberta Perkins
Introduction
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This paper compares data on the experiences of 43 migrant sex workers of Chinese language background and 29 sex workers of English language background who migrated for sex work, gathered as part of a broader research project on Chinese sex-worker transnational migration. Significantly, the results demonstrate little differences between sex workers whose language background is Chinese[1] and those whose language background is English. Moreover, the use of HIV prevention measures by sex workers of Chinese language background is not demonstratively different to that of sex workers of English language background in Australia. No sex-worker participants of Chinese language background were coerced into coming to Australia, but rather freely chose to travel to Australia to engage in sex work, and most do not conform to the popular image of sex slaves.
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Participants were surveyed about their work experience, information channels and opinion of the criminal justice systems and laws in Australia. The research aimed to answer the following questions: Is a migrant sex worker more or less likely to use condoms in their work in Australia? Is a migrant sex worker more or less likely to experience trafficking-like work conditions? Is trafficking more likely to happen to a Chinese language background sex worker in Australia than it is to other sex workers migrating within or from Australia? While the research had a small sample size, we argue that it makes an important contribution to existing research on HIV and trafficking in Australia.
Sex work laws in Australia
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Australia is unique in having a diversity of sex work legislation across the various states and territories, ranging from decriminalised to criminalised. Sex work in South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania is largely criminalised. Toleration operates in Western Australia, where criminalising legislation has not been implemented by the police for some time. In South Australia, brothel raids and criminality has been a regular feature of sex work for over a century. In Tasmania, brothels are illegal, however private workers are permitted to work legally either by themselves or in pairs.[2] In Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory sex work is licensed. In those states and territories sex work business owners are required to undergo probity checks and to license their businesses with an external authority in order to gain approval to operate. Owners are also required by law to enforce mandatory HIV and other STI testing of sex workers who work in licensed businesses, which is a counterproductive and expensive measure.[3] In the Northern Territory sex workers who work within licensed businesses are also required to undergo probity checks and to have their sex-work status added to their police record, as a form of registration. New South Wales has decriminalised brothel, private sex work and street sex work; legislated bodies that oversee the regulation of other businesses regulate sex work just like any other work. This includes zoning, industrial relations, occupational health and safety, tax and more. The Australian Capital Territory has mostly decriminalised sex work, requiring private sex workers to register. Similarly, in Victoria private workers are expected to register.
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In all of these different legal regimes, sex work is regulated by all existing regulatory bodies (local Councils, Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Fair Work Ombudsmen, the Australian Tax Office etc), however when criminalised (such as unlicensed brothels in Victoria, or all sex work in South Australia), those sex workers have the added pressure of criminal sanctions. Criminal sanctions against people living with HIV are the most acute example of how sex workers as a community affected by HIV are targeted unfairly by the law.[4]
HIV and migrant sex work in Australia
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Survey-based research work on HIV and migrant sex work in Australia is punctuated by the Sexual Health Information Resources and Education for Non-English Speaking Background Sex Workers Project (SIREN)of the Prostitutes Collective of Victoria in 1994 and the Sydney Sexual Health surveys of Thai and Chinese sex workers in 1993 and 2003.[5] The SIREN project found that migrant sex workers needed resources and peer education in their own languages, and to be involved at all levels of sex-worker organisations, to ensure that HIV prevention messages and tools were made available to them. The 1993 and 2003 research at Sydney Sexual Health concluded that improvements to sex workers' health and human rights had taken place during the ten-year period between surveys, largely attributed to decriminalisation of workplaces and the outreach that they receive.[6] Follow up analysis by Basil Donovan and Christine Harcourt, in light of their own national survey Laws and Sexual Health (LASH), concurs with these findings.[7] The existing literature on HIV and migrant sex work in Australia, points toward migrant sex workers utilising harm reduction techniques such as use of condoms, and enjoying similar work conditions as their non-migrant counterparts. This study aimed to explore similar questions.
Methodology
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As part of the study we compared the migration experiences of migrant sex workers of Chinese language background and migrant sex workers of English language background in Australia. Data was collected between July 2006 and February 2007 through a self-administrated paper survey. The survey with Chinese language background sex workers was multilingual—written in both English and Chinese.
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The 2006–07 survey was the first national research project dealing specifically with migrant sex workers of Chinese language background in Australia. It was organised by Scarlet Alliance, the Australian Sex Workers' Association, and specifically the Migration Working Party of multilingual outreach educators and trafficking policy specialists, together with Zi Teng, a Hong Kong-based sex worker organisation. Zi Teng provided a small amount of resources with which to carry out the research project, which was the Australian component of a transnational study of sex workers of Chinese language background initiated by Zi Teng. Zi Teng's aim in conducting the survey was to determine if the occupational health and safety protections (including HIV) of migrant sex workers from China are measurably different in various destination countries, and to assess an anticipated loss of rights in the wake of anti-trafficking actions targeting migrant sex workers.
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The research instrument for both groups of sex workers was a questionnaire with sections on demography, workplace issues, sexual health and the law. Three follow-up interviews with participants were held in South Australia in order to expand on survey data. The interviews, conducted by a local peer educator, Lisa Liu, were in Chinese.
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The questionnaire was originally created by Zi Teng in Chinese, and then amended for the Australian context by the Migration Working Party Chinese Speaking Sub-Committee. Considerations during the amendment included concerns around privacy and safety of the individual sex worker participants. For example, questions about migration pathways were made 'optional' so that participants could self-select for sections that might compromise their safety. Importantly, more than 70 per cent of participants chose to answer these sections, indicating a high level of trust in the confidentiality of the survey process.
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The project received ethics approval from ACON, NSW and the Inner South Community Health Service, Victoria. Consent was obtained in Chinese, and information referral sheets for sex workers seeking peer support were produced in Chinese and distributed to all participants. Chinese sex workers received a small gift for participating, to the nominal value of $30.
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We consider that the 43 migrant sex workers of Chinese language background who participated in the study was a representative sample given its focus and reach. Organisations involved in survey administration included the Sex Industry Network (SIN, South Australia), Sex Workers Outreach Project, NSW (SWOP NSW), Resourcing Health and Education in the Sex Industry (RhED, Victoria) and SWOP ACT. Of the 43 participants, 13 were based in Adelaide, one in Melbourne, 29 in Sydney and none in the ACT. Surveys were collected during outreach activities. The survey was not run in Perth, Queensland or Tasmania because, during the time that the survey was open, these jurisdictions did not have active peer-based sex-worker organisations. The survey was also not run in the Northern Territory due to resource restrictions. Data was not collected on refusal rates, and this is one of the limitations of the study. Reasons for refusal were not evaluated, and it is worth commenting that the jurisdictions with the lowest representation (Melbourne and the ACT) had no Chinese-speaking peer educators within their sex-worker organisations.
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Twenty-nine English-speaking sex workers who identified as Australian and had migrated overseas or domestically in search of sex work also participated. Almost all were Australian nationals who lived permanently in Australia but travelled to other countries or elsewhere in Australia temporarily for work, and none had Chinese-language backgrounds. They were asked if they had travelled overseas or within Australia for work during their sex-working careers and if they answered yes, they were invited to participate in the survey.
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Both samples used convenience sampling, a method recognised as the most appropriate for surveying hard-to-reach groups and marginalised populations. However, a possible consequence of this sampling method is that only sex workers who had contact with their local sex-worker organisation and/or with Scarlet Alliance were surveyed. Yet, as partners in the delivery of the HIV response in Australia, the reach of these organisations and their strength in accessing sex workers in Australia should not be underrated. There are no other institutions in Australia with the breadth of access to sex workers and sex-work locations in the country.
Results
Figure 1. L. Liu, C. Li, 'Chinese sex workers in Australia 2006–2007 survey,' poster presentation Mexico AIDS Conference 2008, Scarlet Alliance, Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) NSW, SWOP ACT, Resourcing Health and Education in the Sex Industry (RhED) Victoria, Sex Industry Network (SIN) South Australia, Zi Teng (Hong Kong) http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/library/chinesesexworkerposter0607 date accessed 19 August 2011.
Source: Scarlet Alliance and Zi Teng Survey of Chinese Sex Workers in Australia 2006–2007.
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Research on sex work in Australia shows that in the past 15 years the age demographic of sex workers has been relatively stable.[8] However, as Table 2 demonstrates there are stand-out differences between migrant sex workers of Chinese language and other sex workers in Australia. This includes migrant sex workers of Chinese language background specifically, and migrant sex workers generally, being older than their non-migrating counterparts. A major concern is the prevalence of sexual assault, which was higher among the migrant sex workers of Chinese language background than among other migrant sex workers. Conversely, Chinese sex workers were more likely to report contacting the police in the event of assault. Those who refrained from contacting the police under similar circumstances cited barriers within law enforcement procedures that prevented them from doing so. Sex workers of Chinese language background had a higher opinion of Australian laws than other workers and were overwhelmingly intending to return to Australia to work on future occasions.
Reasons for leaving home to do sex work
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The most common reason for leaving home to engage in sex work for both sex workers of Chinese language background and English language background was due to low income at home. Family problems were another common reason for many sex workers of Chinese language background, while for almost half of the sex workers of English language background travel it was an important motivating factor for leaving the home base for work. Some sex workers of Chinese language background left home because they had lost their jobs, though this did not appear as a factor in leaving the homeland for the Australian migrant sex workers. Few sex workers of Chinese language background simply left home for the sake of travel. Migrant workers in other industries are often motivated to leave their home base for work, and migration for sex work appears to be no different.
| Reasons for Leaving home |
Chinese Language Background Sex Workers (n=43) |
English Speaking Background Sex Workers (n=29) |
| Lost job |
11% |
|
| Low income at home |
40% |
28% |
| Family problems |
28% |
7% |
| Travel |
2% |
49% |
| Study |
9% |
11% |
| Other (unspecified) |
10% |
5% |
Table 1. Reasons for Migrating.
Source. Scarlet Alliance and Zi Teng Survey of Chinese Sex Workers in Australia 2006–2007.
Age
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Migrant sex workers of Chinese language background tend to be older than migrant sex workers of English language background in Australia. Research shows that Hong Kong-based sex workers, who were a mix of migrant and non-migrant sex workers, also tended to be older than English-language sex workers in Australia.[9] This suggests that in the region, sex workers of Chinese language background migrant may be older than other migrant sex workers.
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Just over a quarter of sex workers of Chinese language background surveyed in Australia were aged between 21 and 30 years. A third of the sex workers of Chinese language background were between 31 and 40 years compared to a fifth or less amongst the English-language-background group. One Chinese participant in Australia specified that she was 51 years of age.
| Age Range |
Chinese language background sex workers (n=43) |
English language background sex workers (n=29) |
Hong Kong (n=150)* |
| Under 21 years |
|
6.9% |
|
| 21–30 years |
26.0% |
48.3% |
13.1% |
| 31–40 years |
40.0% |
17.2% |
52.3% |
| 41 years and older |
30.0% |
27.6% |
34.6% |
| Missing Data |
4.0% |
|
|
Table 2. Age of Sex Workers.
Source. Scarlet Alliance and Zi Teng Survey of Chinese Sex Workers in Australia 2006–2007.
* T.S.K. Kong and Zi Teng, A Research Report on the Working Experiences of Hong Kong's Female Sex Workers, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, 2003, p. 6.
Education
Like their Australian counterparts, many sex workers—both private and brothel workers—seem to use their time between clients to study. The Sydney Sexual Health survey reported an increase in the number of sex workers of Thai and Chinese language background accessing tertiary education over the ten years between survey periods (17.6% in 1993 compared with 37.0% in 2003).[10] Approximately 10 per cent of sex workers of Chinese language background migrant participated in some form of tertiary studying during their time in Australia.
Previous occupations
The diversity of occupations prior to migration highlights the differing class backgrounds of migrant labourers and the options open to sex workers when they choose to do sex work.
Almost a third of the sample had worked in the sex industry in China, which compares with the findings for Australian-based migrant sex workers. Participants often indicated more than one previous occupation. Of note, social welfare, health and consultant rated on the lists of previous occupations of sex workers of English-speaking background, however not at all for sex workers of Chinese language background.
| Previous Occupation (multiple responses) |
Chinese Language Background Sex Workers (n=43) |
English Language Background Sex Workers(n=29) |
| Farmer |
4.0% |
|
| Student |
12.0% |
27.6% |
| Sex Work incl. Stripping |
31.0% |
37.9% |
| Domestic Duties |
14.0% |
10.3% |
| Small Business Owner |
12.0% |
|
| Social/Welfare/Health |
|
13.8% |
| Consultant |
|
3.5% |
| Beautician |
4.6% |
|
| Office Work |
6.9% |
|
| Police Officer |
4.6% |
|
| Mechanic |
4.6% |
|
| Other |
6.3% |
6.8% |
| Missing |
0% |
0% |
| Total |
100% |
100% |
Table 3. Previous Occupations
Source. Scarlet Alliance and Zi Teng Survey of Chinese Sex Workers in Australia 2006–2007.
Workplace types
Over a third of the Chinese participants had their own private sex work businesses, which indicates that they may have been in Australia for some time. Most worked by themselves but others employed staff, were involved in marketing their business, organising overheads and all of the other factors required to run a successful sex-work enterprise. In order to run a successful private business Chinese migrant sex workers must be able to speak English fluently and be established financially. This suggests that these particular women are not transient migrant workers but rather, stable business people now based in Australia. In a follow-up interview, a private worker discussed the process of becoming established:
The first time I arrived in Australia was 1998. I got a tourist visa. It cost me 7,000 Chinese yuan (approximately $A3,000). This was the first time I arrived in Adelaide. Through a friend I know about the job. I start doing massage. At first I worked for one Chinese brothel. I was just doing massage. Then over time the money was very different than sex work – massage was cheaper. It didn't take me long, (and) if the customer paid good money I do other things. At that time it was easy to make money. Every month the net profit was over $A10,000. It didn't take long.
I try and rent my own shop. If another owner wants to go on holiday, I start to rent the shop from them and I pay them some money. I pay the same amount of money every week – like rent – no matter if I earn a lot or a little. I feel more comfortable that way. This way I make more money, but I don't need to pay an owner per job, only per week. But this way I am also taking more financial risk.[11]
| Workplace/Work Type (multiple answers) |
Chinese language background sex workers (n=43) |
English language background sex workers (n=29) |
| Brothels |
64.5% |
58.6% |
| Massage Parlours |
33.3% |
6.9% |
| Private Sex Work |
39.5% |
51.7% |
|
| B&D or S&M |
|
10.3% |
| Working Arrangement |
| Share income w/- mgr. |
44.1% |
58.6% |
| Keep all the money |
39.5% |
51.7% |
Table 4. Workplace/Working Arrangements
Source. Scarlet Alliance and Zi Teng Survey of Chinese Sex Workers in Australia 2006–2007.
Health, condom use and sexually transmitted infections
Data relating to sexual health is vitally important to understanding HIV and STI prevention among migrant Chinese sex workers in Australia. Results show that the migrant Chinese sex workers uptake of HIV and STI prevention tools was as strong as that of migrant sex workers of English speaking background. There was no suggestion that condom use, usage of STI clinics, and access to treatment were markedly different between Chinese sex workers and English-speaking migrant sex workers. This indicates that provision of services to sex workers with a Chinese-speaking background in Australia is worthwhile and useful—Chinese sex workers are taking up all HIV and STI prevention methods available, at the same rate as their English-speaking colleagues. This data tells us more of the ongoing story of HIV prevention utilised by sex workers with a Chinese background in the Sydney Sexual Health survey[12] and the findings of the LASH study.[13]
The strong similarities between Chinese migrant sex workers and the other migrant sex workers in the survey came through particularly in relation to HIV and STI prevention. Similar to other sex workers in Australia, Chinese sex workers access doctors, use condoms regularly and are as knowledgeable about STIs as migrant sex workers of English-speaking backgrounds in Australia. Over 90 per cent of both samples reported used condoms routinely, which is also reflected in the Sydney Sexual Health data with migrant sex workers' also reporting high rates of condom usage and a low incidence of sexually transmitted infections.[14] More than 90 per cent of sex workers of Chinese language background said they would see a doctor if they suspected they had a sexually transmitted infection. Not a single respondent from either sample in this study said that they 'don't worry' if they suspect they had a disease. This indicates that there is strong sexual-health literacy among all the survey participants as well as there being strong motivation to protect their own sexual health.
A common question surrounding sex worker health relates to the concern that there may be groups of sex workers who are not in contact with sexual health services, do not have a good knowledge of sexually transmitted infections and are having unprotected sex with clients. This notion is not supported by HIV and STI data, or by this survey. Outbreaks of sexually transmitted infections would result from groups of sex workers practising unsafe sex and to date there are no epidemics or local outbreaks of sexually transmitted infections that remain unexplained or attributable to contact with migrant sex workers. It is possible that isolated cases could occur, with clients unwilling to disclose the source of the possible exposure. However it can be said with some confidence that such isolated cases are not the norm, because epidemiological data have not pin-pointed such activity, and such cases are not represented in the results of this survey.
Knowledge of support services and NGO's funded for sex workers' services
Chinese sex workers are knowledgeable about organisations in Australia that are important to them for information on health, social issues and the law. Sex-worker organisations and sexual health clinics appear in the research findings to be relevant to Chinese sex workers. Newspapers and sex-worker organisations were the most common sources of information, according to the survey figures.
| Government Funded Services |
Chinese Language Background Sex Workers (n=43) |
English Language Background Sex Workers (n=29) |
| State-based Sex Wkr. Org. (SWOP, SIN etc) |
27.9% |
96.6% |
| Scarlet Alliance |
25.6% |
75.9% |
| Sexual Health Clinics |
62.8% |
89.7% |
| Project Respect |
4.6% |
48.3% |
| Other |
7.0% |
|
Table 5. Sex Workers' Awareness of Organisations
Source. Scarlet Alliance and Zi Teng Survey of Chinese Sex Workers in Australia 2006–2007.
Sexual assault
The number of sex workers of Chinese language background who have had experiences of sexual assault at work was considerably higher than sex workers of English language background and other sex workers in Australia. However, it is not known whether the extent of sexual assault at work amongst the Chinese women occurred in Australia or in China. Given that almost a third of the sex workers of Chinese language background were sex workers in China before coming to Australia, this is an important topic for investigation and clarification in future studies.
Chinese-migrant sex workers reported experiencing sexual assault at a higher rate than migrant sex workers of English background in similar workplaces. With so many of the other conditions being equal in the range of workplaces, the reasons for this can only be speculated upon.
It is not known whether the increased incidents of sexual assault experienced by Chinese migrant sex workers compared to sex workers of other backgrounds occurred in sex-work settings in Australia or sex-work settings in China. Research currently being conducted by the Scarlet Alliance and Australian Institute of Criminology examines the higher incidence of sexual assault reported by survey participants, and may provide an answer. This is important because the higher vulnerability to sexual assault experienced by this group may increase their vulnerability to HIV and STIs.
| Sexual Assault |
Chinese Language Background Sex Workers (n=43) |
English Language Background Sex Workers (n=29) |
| Yes |
44.0% |
17.2% |
| No |
56.0% |
82.8% |
| Missing Data |
0.0% |
0.0% |
Table 6. Experienced Sexual Assault at Work
Source. Scarlet Alliance and Zi Teng Survey of Chinese Sex Workers in Australia 2006–2007.
Seeking assistance in cases of sexual assault at work
Almost half of the Chinese sex workers responded that they were more likely to contact the police in the event of sexual assault. However, more than two thirds (79%) of the migrant sex workers of English background did not answer the question.
| Reaction |
Chinese Language Background Sex Workers (n=43)
| English Language Background Sex Workers (n=29)
|
| Not worry |
7.0% |
|
| Get help from colleague |
20.0% |
10.3% |
| Get help from sex worker organisation |
|
6.9% |
| Call police |
51.0% |
3.5% |
| Other |
2.3% |
|
| Missing Data |
18.0% |
79.3% |
Table 7. Reaction to Sexual Assault
Source. Scarlet Alliance and Zi Teng Survey of Chinese Sex Workers in Australia 2006–2007.
The findings in Table 7 suggest that sex workers of Chinese language background were more likely to report sexual assault to the police. The reasons for this may be because the police in China have a prosecutor rather than a protector role in relation to sex workers and are probably more open to corruption,[15] Chinese migrant sex workers' attitudes towards Australian police forces may differ from those of their English language counterparts. Their response towards reporting sexual assault to the Australian police may also be influenced by knowledge about sex work being legal or decriminalised – at least in some states – and generally more tolerated across Australia. This has probably increased confidence in contacting the police amongst Chinese sex workers.
However, while Chinese migrant sex workers may be more likely to report sexual assault, one sex worker who completed the survey wrote specifically of her dissatisfaction, writing in the margins that: 'I called the police, I didn't get any result.' It could be the case that Chinese sex workers are contacting the police in cases of sexual assault but have had little success in getting the police to follow up on their case. During an interview, one Chinese migrant sex worker outlined the issues she faced when trying to report assault to the police in Adelaide:
I have one Asian customer and when I finished the service he said that he didn't like the service and asked for me to return the money. He just want to make trouble. I didn't return the money. He hit me. I received an injury to my back from where he hit me very hard. I reported this to the police. The police took the report but afterwards – nothing. In Adelaide massage and sex work is illegal. So I could not tell the police the full truth. Afterwards, if I meet a customer and they ask me to return the money, even if I have done the booking, I just return the money. Better to pay the money back to them and reduce the risk to me.[16]
Follow-up research is needed that explores Chinese migrant sex workers' experiences of reporting incidents to the police and gauges their satisfaction with police responses, and the ethico-legal implications on health policy. Lack of access to justice for HIV-affected communities is a breach on human rights and has been roundly recognised as contributing to vulnerability to HIV. This is because barriers to justice in any form impact upon vulnerability to HIV.
In addition to the reasons mentioned above, the survey included written responses about why Chinese sex workers would not call the police in the case of sexual assault. This included: 'The police are not helpful.' None of the Chinese sex workers said they were scared of the police, but a small number of the Australian migrant sex workers indicated that they were. Half the Chinese sex workers said they would not call the police because the 'procedure is too much.' However, none of the Australian migrant sex workers admitted this. Perhaps Chinese sex workers felt the procedure of reporting would be too arduous because of an expectation that the paperwork would be in English and hard to understand. Although over half of the Chinese sex workers speak English they may not be confident in translating written English. It is likely that all the Chinese sex workers face barriers to effective communication with figures of authority. This is an issue of great concern given the level of sexual assault reported in the survey.
Perceptions of laws
While some Chinese sex workers felt that obtaining justice through the police was difficult, many believed that sex-work legislation in parts of Australia was fair. Perceptions of the laws by sex workers of both Chinese and English language backgrounds show a vast difference in responses. Of the sex worker participants of Chinese language background (n=43) 81.0 per cent felt the law is fair in Australia, whereas only 27.6 per cent of the sex workers of English language background agreed. However, the significant differences between the two groups needs to be read in light of the fact that sex work is criminalised in China. It would be interesting to track these attitudes over time and see if there are any differences in relation to length of time in the country.
In contrast to Chinese sex workers, those migrants of English-language background felt that the laws generally criminalised them (24.1%); were over-controlled and open to corruption (6.9%). They also sensed that they were discriminated against by the laws (37.9%), and some felt that the laws offered them no security (6.9%).
Another factor influencing attitudes to the laws may be the relatively low prevalence of sex workers arrested in Australia, regardless of jurisdiction. Only 2.3 per cent of Chinese sex workers were arrested in Australia, compared with 10.3 per cent of Australian migrant sex workers surveyed. This latter group was more likely to have had interactions with police and arrested as a result of their work in South Australia and other states with jurisdictions criminalising involvement in the sex industry, and this may well have influenced individuals' outlooks on satisfaction with the laws.
One Chinese participant interviewed told of her experiences with the police in South Australia and how she developed clever methods to avoid detection and arrest:
If the police come and check on me they check my passport, my age and for drugs. If there is no evidence nothing happens to me and I don't worry. But, sometimes the police are not in uniform. They are like a customer. I never tell them that I do full service until they take their clothes off. The police won't take their clothes off. I am careful to hide my condoms. If the police find my condoms in the massage room they will make trouble.[17]
This story shows how Chinese migrant sex workers have developed sophisticated methods of body discipline and behaviours that assist them in avoiding arrest. These practices have been developed to suit the Australian context and because of this, the Chinese sex workers' rate of arrest may be lower than that for Australian migrant sex workers.
Conclusion: extortion and trafficking
Migrant sex workers of Chinese language background surveyed in this research were not in debt-contract arrangements at the time they participated in the study, and further they did not report being victims of deceit or trickery, force or kidnapping, slavery or servitude. They came to Australia to work in the sex industry because they wanted to, and on the whole, their working conditions are comparable to other sex workers in Australia and do not resemble a trafficking situation.
Most of the 43 Chinese sex workers who participated in this research project paid a lot of money to come to Australia for sex work, much more than anticipated by the research team when drafting the questionnaire. More than half (55%) of the respondents paid '$A9,000 or more' to come to Australia. In the survey question this was the most expensive option they could choose. An air fare from China to Australia costs $A2,000 at the most, so clearly, the papers, documents and visa required to enter Australia averaged more than $7,000. This is not necessarily surprising. Research by Empower and SWOP as well as Alison Murray came to similar conclusions: Thai sex workers were being charged more than reasonable amounts of money to travel to Australia.[18] The difference with the Chinese experience is that the amounts of money are owed prior to departure. This means for Chinese workers, that the preparation and cost associated with travelling has to be raised in their country of origin, where they are doing sex work among other occupations (see Table 3). With Thai sex workers, increased HIV risk is not associated with increased debt.[19] Condom use and STI health check regularity indicates that in Australia the uptake of HIV and STI prevention behaviours by Thai migrant sex workers is at high levels, particularly in the NSW study post decriminalisation.[20] This research has shown that HIV and STI prevention behaviours among Chinese sex workers are also unaffected by the amount of money that they are paying to come into Australia; the findings suggest there is little to no relationship between condom use or access to STI clinics and the cost of coming to Australia.
A Chinese migrant sex worker shared her migration story, which shows significant financial costs and many years of planning:
I want to stay in Australia and get a permanent stay. A friend helped me meet one person with Australian permanent residency. I gave him money. I let him help me get permanent stay in Australia. I come back to China in 2001. Then the laws had changed; even if I was married I still had to go back to China to wait for my permanent residency. In 2004 I received the two years temporary visa. This was the second time I came to Australia. I spent about $A50,000–60,000 to get the permanent residency. At first I didn't love the man that I married, but then I fell in love with him.[21]
The intersections of migration, labour, sex work and citizenship in this woman's story do not resonate with the all too familiar 'trafficking' cases often discussed by crime researchers and immigration policy officials. Sex workers of Chinese language background save or raise money for the purpose of travelling for sex work and look forward to attaining Australian citizenship, which is something that may take many years to realise. Her narrative is of a sex worker making life decisions about coming to Australia. She demonstrates the high motivation required to take the necessary steps and actions to make travel to Australia a reality. For the participants in this research, their stories may share more with HIV, health, migration and labour migration frameworks than trafficking laws. This is an important point because the migration to Australia of Chinese sex workers is much more complex than current public discourse presents, and embodies as many stories as there are individuals who embark on the a journey.
Sex-worker participants involved in this research made an active decision to go to a particular place or country for sex work. In this paper we have shown how Chinese migrant sex workers were likely to be able to speak the local language and organise their own sex work activity. Most Chinese sex workers in Australia choose to work in brothels over other locations available to them, such as street-based sex work. Those who have been in Australia for some time seem to adjust to the local sex industry scene and establish their own private sex-work businesses. We have also demonstrated how they have acquired knowledge about local sex work laws; they know where to go for services and they shared their opinions about the police and law enforcement. Most importantly, we demonstrated their literacy in sexual health, including the importance of condom use, and in occupational health and safety and active engagement in issues that affect their future. HIV and STI prevention were as equally central to the lives of Chinese migrant sex workers in Australia as they were for the English speaking group.
The study was limited in that it only looked at two kinds of migratory sex workers: those of Chinese-language background and those of English-language background. Sex workers who did not have migration experience were not eligible for the survey. So this study does not provide a full comparison with work conditions and HIV/STI prevention of Australian-based sex workers who have not migrated. Research being conducted by Scarlet Alliance and the Australian Institute of Criminology will address this gap.
Regardless of the limitations, this is an important study. The study found that there are specific issues which Chinese sex workers and other migratory workers share: HIV and STI prevention practises. The Sydney Sexual Health study attributed this to decriminalisation in NSW,[22] and this finding was supported by the LASH study.[23] These legislative gains had a direct impact upon the vulnerability to HIV of sex workers. In this respect Chinese migrant sex workers were not more or less vulnerable to HIV or STIs than their English-speaking counterparts. There were also notable differences that should be of grave concern to those interested in sex workers' rights, which have potential to impact on the ethico-legal issues which intersect with HIV and STI vulnerability, such as experiences of criminality. The sex workers in this survey who had migrated to Australia paid upwards of $5000 in documentation, visa and migration-agent fees. Are barriers to safe and cheap migration routes to Australia creating HIV vulnerability? In this paper we have shown that sex workers maintained HIV and STI prevention practises regardless of their migration situation. Even in the face of barriers to accessing justice, Chinese migrant sex workers were not disparaged from the same level of condom use as their English-speaking counterparts. This is the strongest message from this study, and, as demonstrated, concurs with other relevant findings in the field.
Endnotes
[1] This article uses the term 'Chinese language background' to encompass Chinese languages including Cantonese, Mandarin and related dialects that originate from the geographical areas encompassed by the Peoples Republic of China and Chinese diasporas.
[2] Brothel work involves sharing work and space with other sex workers in an indoor situation that is managed with controlled conditions that include house rules and the splitting of one's earnings with the management. Private sex work is often a single sex worker's enterprise in their own home or rented apartment in which they advertise in local newspapers and wait for phone calls from prospective customers. Private situations may also involve two or more sex workers in the same premises who share expenses and manage the business. Both brothel and private work also encompasses outcalls, also known as escorting.
[3] David P. Wilson, Kelly-Jean Heymer, Jonathan Anderson, Jody O'Connor Christine Harcourt, Basil Donovan, "Sex workers can be screened too often: a cost-effectiveness analysis in Victoria, Australia" in Sexually Transmitted Infections, vol. 86, pp. 117–25.
[4] Elena Jeffreys, Kane Matthews, Alina Thomas "HIV criminalisation and sex work in Australia" in Reproductive Health Matters, Vol. 18, No. 35, 2010, pp.129–36.
[5] Prostitutes Collective of Victoria, SIREN Speaks, Sexual Health Information Resources and Education for Non-English speaking background sex workers (SIREN) Project, Prostitutes Collective of Victoria, 1994; and Cathy Pell, Jeffrey Dabbhadatta, Christine Harcourt, Kate Tribe, Catherine O'Connor, 'Demographic, migration status, and work-related changes in Asian female sex workers surveyed in Sydney, 1993 and 2003,' in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, vol. 30, no. 2 (2006): 157–62.
[6] Pell et al., 'Demographic, migration status, and work-related changes in Asian female sex workers surveyed in Sydney, 1993 and 2003,' pp. 161–62.
[7] Basil Donovan, Christine Harcourt, Sandra Egger, Christopher K. Fairley, 'Improving the health of sex workers in NSW: maintaining success,' in The NSW Public Health Bulletin, vol. 21, nos 3–4 (2010): 74–77, p. 74.
[8] Basil Donovan, Christine Harcourt, Sandra Egger, Karen Schneider, Jody O'Connor, Lewis Marshall, Marcus Y Chen and Christopher K Fairley, The Sex Industry in Western Australia: a Report to the Western Australian Government, National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, The University of New South Wales, 2010; Rachel Sharp, Frances Lovejoy, Garrett Prestage and Roberta Perkins, An Evaluation Of HIV/AIDS Education For Workers And Managers In The Sex Industry, Report to the NSW AIDS Bureau, Macquarie University and the University of New South Wales, Sydney, 1992; Pell et al., 'Demographic, migration status, and work-related changes in Asian female sex workers surveyed in Sydney, 1993 and 2003,' p. 158.
[9] T.S.K. Kong, and Zi Teng, A Research Report on the Working Experiences of Hong Kong's Female Sex Workers, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2003.
[10] Pell et al., 'Demographic, migration status, and work-related changes in Asian female sex workers surveyed in Sydney, 1993 and 2003,' p. 158.
[11] Interview LL04, Adelaide, September 2006.
[12] Pell et al., 'Demographic, migration status, and work-related changes in Asian female sex workers surveyed in Sydney, 1993 and 2003.'
[13] Donovan, Harcourt, Egger and Fairley, 'Improving the health of sex workers in NSW: maintaining success,' in The NSW Public Health Bulletin, p. 74.
[14] Pell et al., 'Demographic, migration status, and work-related changes in Asian female sex workers surveyed in Sydney, 1993 and 2003,' p. 157.
[15] Multicultural Team Sex Workers Outreach Project NSW, 'Migrant Sex Workers', The Consortium For Social And Policy Research On HIV, Hepatitis C And Related Diseases, Sydney, NSW, March 2006; Multicultural Team Sex Workers Outreach Project NSW, 'Presentation to Scarlet Alliance National Symposium on Contemporary Sex Worker Issues,' Scarlet Alliance National Symposium on Contemporary Sex Worker Issues, Adelaide, South Australia, Scarlet Alliance, October 2006; Multicultural Team Sex Workers Outreach Project NSW, 'Presentations To Scarlet Alliance Globalised Sex Work Symposium,' Scarlet Alliance Globalised Sex Work, Surry Hills, NSW, August 2007 and May 2008; Multicultural Team Sex Workers Outreach Project NSW, 'Oral Presentation to Diversity in Health Conference,' Sydney, NSW, March 2008.
[16] Interview LL01, Adelaide, September 2006.
[17] Interview LL04, Adelaide, September 2006.
[18] Global Alliance against Trafficking in Women, Sex Workers Outreach Project and Empower Foundation, 'Research with Thai sex workers in Sydney,' unpublished, 2000; Linda Brockett and Alison Murray, 'Thai Sex Workers in Sydney,' in Sex Work and Sex Workers in Australia, ed. Roberta Perkins, Garrett Prestage, Rachel Sharp, Frances Lovejoy, Sydney: UNSW Press, 1994, pp. 191 – 202.
[19] Murray, Alison, 'Debt bondage and trafficking: don't believe the hype', in Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance and Redefinition, ed. Kamala Kempadoo and Jo Doezema, New York: Routledge, 1998, pp. 51–64.
[20] Donovan et al., 'Improving the health of sex workers in NSW: maintaining success,' p. 74.
[21] Interview LL01, Adelaide, September 2006.
[22] Pell et al., 'Demographic, migration status, and work-related changes in Asian female sex workers surveyed in Sydney, 1993 and 2003.'
[23] Donovan et al., 'Improving the health of sex workers in NSW: maintaining success.'
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