SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub
SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub
SEX WORK AND THE LAW - HIV/AIDS Data Hub
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From the sex workers[’] perspective, the combined effect of new anti-prostitution<br />
and anti-trafficking law and vigorous enforcement by ill disciplined, underpaid or<br />
overzealous police, forces Malaysian sex workers into less safe workplaces, creates<br />
a market for middlemen and traps the poorest sex workers into cycles of poverty,<br />
imprisonment and violence.<br />
Malaysia<br />
The sex industry has changed its way of operating in Malaysia reflecting the trends<br />
away from brothel based sex work to entertainment venue and very hidden sex work.<br />
Women and transgenders have become more dependent on ‘pimps’ and corrupt<br />
police as a direct result of law and enforcement that has reshaped the sex industry<br />
in Malaysia. 462<br />
ID cards are necessary to exercise a range of rights. Many<br />
sex workers do not have a card. This acts as a barrier to<br />
education, banking and housing so limits economic<br />
opportunities and restricts access to health services… 463<br />
There was some disagreement in both groups and<br />
individual interviews about the extent to which religious<br />
police take bribes but there was absolute consensus that<br />
all civil police do.<br />
Multiple agencies consecutively enforce sex work law<br />
in Malaysia. Civil vice and general police, immigration<br />
authorities, municipal officers and religious police<br />
all enforce laws against adult sex workers and drug<br />
police also frequently play a role. This multiple agency<br />
enforcement takes place in an environment where police<br />
corruption is clearly rife.<br />
“TRANSGENDER (MAK<br />
NYAH) <strong>SEX</strong> <strong>WORK</strong>ERS ARE<br />
HIGHLY VULNERABLE TO<br />
POLICE ABUSES <strong>AND</strong> ARE<br />
HARASSED BY RELIGIOUS<br />
AUTHORITIES DUE TO<br />
PROHIBITIONS AGAINST<br />
CROSS-DRESSING UNDER<br />
ISLAMIC <strong>LAW</strong>S.”<br />
Violence against sex workers is endemic. It is perpetuated by members of the public,<br />
police, some clients, gangsters and sex business operators…<br />
There are few options for any sex workers to resist violence because both the<br />
structure and content of both civil criminal law and Syariah law function to discourage<br />
complaints. Some NGO workers said they had known sex workers to try to report<br />
violence to police but none knew of successful attempts...<br />
Malaysian authorities have claimed that it is hard to prosecute offenders of violence<br />
against sex workers because of the prevalent negative attitude to sex workers in the<br />
wider community. <strong>HIV</strong> positive sex workers of all genders are also particularly likely to<br />
face additional violence… 464<br />
It is increasingly accepted that sex workers engagement in unlawful and/or immoral<br />
activities means they are far less likely to identify themselves as sex workers to<br />
facilitate <strong>HIV</strong> and STI screening. Legal persecution, stigma, drugs and poverty all<br />
appear to play roles in driving sex work underground and making it difficult for sex<br />
workers to access crucial education, consensual medical services, counselling and if<br />
infected, life prolonging and enhancing treatment that also reduces <strong>HIV</strong> transmission.<br />
462 Ibid., p.6<br />
463 Ibid., p.7.<br />
464 Ibid., p.25.<br />
139
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