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girls’ and women’s bodies invites degradation and humiliation
of those girls and women. The vast majority of girls and women
interviewed in studies on the entertainment industry reported
mistreatment by the customers, including insults and being
treated like a commodity. 81 The girls and women noted that
around drunken and rude men, they must either flirt and
exchange sexual commentary with the men, or if they refuse,
they are cursed or called derogatory names. In Nepal’s dance
bars and cabin restaurants, the number of well-mannered
customers is almost nil. 82 Many owners contribute to this
maltreatment, either by ignoring the behaviour of customers,
or themselves insulting and humiliating the girls and women. 83
Sexual harassment
The greatest objection of entertainment workers to their
profession is sexual harassment. 84 This can include lascivious
stares, sexual comments, groping the body, unwanted kissing,
and pressuring the girl or woman to provide sex. Entertainment
workers’ extreme objection to sexual harassment points to
the exploitation that is inherent in the economic system of
the entertainment industry: girls and women – and primarily
owners – earn their incomes from encouraging customers to
drink at inflated prices, and this encouragement is based on
sexual suggestion. With no restrictions on intoxication or
improper manners, this leads to sexual harassment of the
workers. As with insulting and humiliating treatment, sexual
harassment is fostered by the owners. They earn more by
allowing customers to drink and harass their women workers, and
a significant percentage sexually harass their employees as well. 85
‘Who would enjoy doing such work I am doing it out of
compulsion.’
‘Such smelly persons come and I find them repulsive, but
then I think of my family problems and I keep working.’
‘If only my mother was alive, I would have never come
here.’
Quotes from minors working in Thamel massage parlours, Oct 2009
Forced prostitution
It is not known how many entertainment workers also conduct
sex work. Many do not – but more significantly, many are
forced to do so against their will. Almost without exception,
a worker in a massage parlour must perform sexual acts
whether she wants to or not. In cabin restaurants, dohoris
and dance restaurants, many owners encourage or force female
workers to engage in sex with customers, for that is why the
customer is present. In a study of cabin restaurants, more
than half of the informants stated that they are coerced by
owners to conduct activities which they were unwilling to do,
by threats of dismissal, harm, blackmailing or defamation. 86
Another study found that three quarters of female workers
were forced to do additional duties, most of which comprised
having sex with the customer either inside a cabin or at a
guest house. 87
2010 Terre des hommes www.tdh.ch 50