Taboo gone, 'time to discuss sex industry'

The murder of four prostitutes has wiped away a long-standing taboo and brought the legal status of the sex industry firmly into the spotlight, lawmakers and a legal expert say.

Civic Party legislator and barrister Alan Leong Kah-kit said Hong Kong people now had to face the issue directly. 'Prostitution is always a taboo in our society. It is time to start discussing legalising the sex industry in a bid to offer sex workers more protection,' Mr Leong said.

Legislator Leung Kwok-hung agreed but stressed that society and police should learn to pay more respect to prostitutes. 'Sex workers cannot even gain respect and concern from police officers and ordinary people for their basic human rights like filing complaints against police,' he said. 'We should deal with these problems and their immediate concern over their safety first.'

Simon Young Ngai-man, deputy director of University of Hong Kong's centre for comparative and public law, said that if there was a real risk to sex workers, a decision needed to be made to help potential victims. 'It is necessary to look at the law and policy concerning sex workers,' he said, adding any change of law had to go through thorough consultation.

Professor Young pointed out that prostitution in itself was not a crime but even the common practice of women working solo in one-woman brothels could constitute keeping a vice establishment under the Sexual and Related Offences law.

The law said that any premises or place should be treated as a vice establishment if used wholly or mainly by two or more people for prostitution, or used wholly or mainly for or in connection with the organising or arranging of prostitution. 'So even one woman inside can constitute a crime,' Professor Young said.