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Fig.1:1 Humiliation and intimidation. A madam pulls a sex worker by her hair in front of her clients.
(Photographed by Zana Briski). Retrieved May 21, 2006 from
http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF2003/Briski/Briski.html
Few experiences in the world can be quite as bad as being a poor virgin girl in
a cheap Asian brothel. It is the stuff of nightmares. Every day thousands of
girls and women are initiated into prostitution through acute physical and
psychological violence. And every day men are willing to pay to enjoy the
violence of this initiation.
(Brown, 2000, p. 96)
In joining the flesh trade the only thing required is a female body. As soon as
women enter, a process of physical, psychological and sexual manipulation begins.
This process is designed to break the resistance of the girl so she becomes a more
pliable commodity. New girls are usually kept in isolation for weeks. They live in
dark rooms with a minimum supply of food. They are subjected to severe beatings
and physical torture by pimps. They are often burnt with cigarettes and humiliated to
the point where their self-esteem is destroyed. Beatings and physical torture occur
when they do not make enough money, talk to clients on a personal basis, or fail to
provide required services to a client. Any attempts to reveal the insights of the trade
to strangers or the media can also result in beatings. Receiving little time for rest,
they generally work from morning until well after midnight. They stand or sit
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