SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub

There are periodic police crackdowns on brothels and other venues where sex work
takes place. In 2009-2010, the police raided numerous venues as part of a national antiprostitution
campaign, which may have been partly in response to pressure from the USA
to take a more proactive approach to prevention of human trafficking. 456 It was reported
that the police conducted 13,283 raids on sex work venues in 2010, and arrested 10,825
foreign women, 5,453 of whom were Chinese nationals, 1,597 were Thais and 1,270 were
Indonesians. 457
In 2011, there were press reports of police abuses of sex workers detained during a raid in
Penang State. Police reportedly marked the heads and chests of the sex workers with an
X, and shackled the women to each other with a long chain. The 30 detained sex workers
were reportedly from Viet Nam and China, working in a ‘high-end’ club. 458 There have also
been reports of sex workers from India being arrested in police raids for visa violations. 459
Transgender (mak nyah) sex workers are highly vulnerable to police abuses and are
harassed by religious authorities due to prohibitions against cross-dressing under Islamic
laws. Research conducted in 2007 based on interviews with 15 mak nyah made the
following findings:
Harassment and raids from the police or Islamic authority were experienced by the
mak nyah sex workers in all the five towns in this survey. Mak nyah carrying more than
three condoms could be charged for prostitution. This had negative effects on the
practice of safe sex and HIV prevention work.
In some towns, the raids were also conducted by Ikatan Relawan Rakyat or RELA
(People’s Volunteer Corps) and Majlis Perbandaran (Town Council). One respondent
mentioned that the discrimination against mak nyah by the police, Islamic authority,
People’s Volunteer Corps and Town Council was 100%; ‘Semua (All) KO, not OK-lah.
100% discrimination’. She mentioned People’s Volunteer Corps and Town Council to
be the worst as they frequently broke into their houses...They were caught for sex
work, cross-dressing and indecent behaviour (which was up to the discretion of the
police), besides offences like possession of drugs, pick-pocketing and thefts…some
enforcement officers had asked for bribes and/or even sexual favours from them. In
some towns, when the respondents were brought back to the police station, they
were asked to strip in front of male officers and other men...Some mak nyah were also
beaten up by the police. 460
A study conducted in 2011 that mapped the impact of laws, policies and enforcement
practices on sex workers drew the following conclusions: 461
Commission on HIV and the Law, Bangkok: UNDP, p.10. See also: Ding J. (2009) Efforts to curb HIV spread thwarted,
2 December 2009, http://www.thenutgraph.com/efforts-to-curb-hiv-spread-thwarted/
456 See: Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (2010), Brothel broken: brothel raids in Kuala Lumpur. Available at
www.plri.org/resource/brothel-broken-brothel-raids-kuala-lumpur
457 Illegal gambling syndicates lose $586 million this year thanks to police raids, The Star / Asia News
Network, 30 December 2010; and see e.g., 'Happy ending' massage brothel raid Malay Mail 20 June 2010 (eight
sex workers from China and Thailand arrested for visa violations);
458 Associated Press (2011) Malaysia police slammed for cattle-branding women, Jakarta Post, 4 June 2011.
459 Police net 17 Indian women, Times of India, 7 July 2003.
460 Yik Koon Teh (2008) HIV-related needs for safety among male-to-female transsexuals (mak nyah) in
Malaysia Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS 5(4), 178-185, at p.182.
461 Overs C., Hawkins K., Abdullah F., Moody N., Slamah K. and Kuala Lumpur Legal Aid Centre (2011) Sex
work in Malaysia: Mapping the impact of law, policy and enforcement practices, Paulo Longo Research Initiative.
Michael Kirby Centre for Public Health and Human Rights, Monash University (Unpublished draft)
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