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Singapore’s Sex & the City: Sex Trafficking in Singapore

INTRODUCTION
To many, Singapore may seem like the ideal Asian country. With its strict laws, vigilant government, and low crime rate, you would think that most of the issues that are prevalent in other Asian countries would not be present in Singapore. This assumption is wrong. Just walk along the streets at Clarke Quay, the Geylang district, the “Red Light” district, or other established nightlife areas, and you may see multiple women along the streets waiting for customers. Prostitution is surprisingly common in Singapore. Although many of these women work in the sex business by choice, there are so many women that do not. So many of them are kidnapped from their home countries to work in the sex trade, often deceived by being promised a decent job in Singapore, but ending up working in a makeshift brothel in the middle of a forest. This is definitely an issue in Singapore, and the worst part is that the government denies that it is going on. Prostitution is not illegal in Singapore, even though so many girls are doing it by force. No kidnappers or brothel managers have ever been arrested or charged for these crimes, yet numerous women who have managed to escape from the brothels in hopes of returning home have been arrested on account of not possessing a proper working permit. Sex trafficking in Singapore is a major human rights issue in Singapore culturally, legally, and most importantly, in my opinion, politically, because other countries have recognized that there is a problem in Singapore, yet the government fails to do anything to prevent it.
BACKGROUND
Prostitution is prevalent in many Asian countries including Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, etc. Singapore’s sex trafficking issue may not be as large as those in other countries, but nevertheless, it is still a problem. In fact the Thai Embassy in Singapore reported 17 cases of sex trafficking in Singapore in 2008. (Fry, paragraph19) Many of the women working in this trade were brought to Singapore by force or deception, a majority of which came from Thailand. Commonly, women are coerced into coming to Singapore by brothel workers, and are promised a decent job. They arrive and are immediately forced to have sex with men for money. The “brothels” that these women usually work in are commonly located in the forest, hidden amongst the trees. They are abandoned by day, but at night, men come and pay up to $20 to have sex. (Fry, paragraph 6) Most of the men who participate in the sex trade are foreign workers, frequently from Bangladesh, India, or Thailand. Sex trafficking has grown in the past few years because it has been in higher demand. The main customers are the foreign workers, which is a major population in Singapore. With a largely increasing clientele, sex traffickers see potential in setting up brothels in Singapore.
DESCRIBING THE ISSUE
According to the Thai Embassy in Singapore, there are approximately 1,000 women working in the sex trade in Singapore, 10% of which were trafficked into the industry. (Fry, paragraph 19) Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult for the women to escape from the brothels. However, the few that have escaped, in an attempt to obtain assistance in getting home, asked for help and instead, were arrested or charged for being in Singapore without proper permits. (Walker, paragraph 2) In fact, according to Andrew Walker in New Mandala, “Almost no traffickers/recruiters/agents are ever arrested and put on trial despite their numerous trips in and out of Singapore with these women; no coercive brothel owners or pimps/enforcers are ever arrested or put on trial despite their human rights violations against these women.” Not only are the escapees not given justice, but many even leave the brothels with sexually transmitted diseases. (Prathivi, paragraph 1) Nevertheless, it remains problematic without government involvement. Even after being confronted by other countries, Singapore continues to deny the fact that a problem exists.
ANALYSIS
Human trafficking is a major human rights issue culturally. Women are being taken from their home countries to service men who are generally not Singapore locals. Ultimately, the influence of other countries is what is causing this industry to grow, reflecting poorly upon Singapore. Singapore is known throughout Asia and the world for being safe from crime, but this disproves that view. It may not seem to be affecting the culture, but if nothing is done to prevent it, it will spread and may cause more similar crimes. Just because the acts are not being done by Singaporeans, does not mean that it will not affect Singaporeans. Despite this, however, the Singaporean government has not prohibited the sex trade, making it a legal issue. Although they have taken steps towards making it illegal, such as outlawing the commercial sexual exploitation of children between 16 and 18, they have not banned sex trafficking, nor does the government offer protection to victims of trafficking. (US Department of State, paragraph 2) In fact, they have instead arrested victims of sexual trafficking because they were in the country illegally. However, the government does not investigate their cases or attempt to find the people responsible for the trafficking of the escaped victims. Some members of the government who have come across the escaped women refuse to believe their stories. An NGO Coordinator from Bangkok, Thailand said, “I think that [they] are. . .trafficking person but the authority will not recognize, they think that the women lie and some women don’t cry and don’t seem vulnerable enough to be victim.” (Segrave, Mivilojevic, Pickering, page 51) This is a political issue as well because other countries are becoming involved. In the US Department of State’s Trafficking of Persons Report, America addresses Singapore on the matter, expressing that a problem does exist. They go on to offer advice on how to prevent the crisis, but Singapore does not seem willing to address the problem. The reason that Singapore does not want to admit to the problem may be because the cases they hear of have no evidence. At least, this is what they tell the accusers. Apparently, the police investigated some 28 cases of sex trafficking, but according to them, only one was substantiated. (China Daily, paragraph 2)
SOLUTIONS
There are many things that Singapore can do to prevent the spread of sex trafficking in the country. First, the government must admit that the problem exists and then decide to make a sincere effort in reducing it. The government needs to make a law against sex trafficking, which could possibly lessen the amount of customers out of fright. When there are strict laws against acts such as this, it usually lessens the amount of participants in the act. For example, Singapore has many strict laws against drugs, and because of this, there is a much smaller amount of drug-related activity in Singapore, compared to other countries. Singapore also needs to attempt to reduce the amount of sex trafficking by providing aid to the sex slaves that escape from brothels. This way, they can locate the brothel owners and bring them to justice, and also discontinue the usage of the particular brothel, instead of punishing the escaped women, as they do now. Police could also conduct routine inspections and searches throughout the areas where the business takes place, and take note of any suspicious activity. Also, by notifying the public, more people will be more vigilant and aware, able to assist the government by notifying them of any sex trafficking-related incidents they may suspect. There are also organizations in Singapore and around Asia whose goal is to raise awareness and prevent sexual trafficking. One of these groups is WATA, or War Against Trafficking Alliance. They were founded in 2001, and their goal is to fight trafficking around the world, but they focus on United States, Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Moldova, Singapore and South Africa. They hold conferences in these countries in which they teach government leaders steps towards eradicating sexual trafficking in their countries. Also, The Body Shop, a popular store in the US and Singapore, has launched a new campaign in order to fight against sexual trafficking. It is a global campaign called STOP, aimed toward stopping the sex trafficking of children and young people. CONCLUSION Although the amount of women being kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery in Singapore is not nearly as large as the amounts in neighboring countries, it is still a growing issue, and will continue to grow until the government realizes there is a problem and begins to make attempts to stop it. This is a major human rights issue today because it has an intellectual, political, and legal effect. We can do our part by spreading awareness about this predicament, but ultimately, it is the responsibility of Singapore, as a nation, to take the advice of the United States and other countries that have addressed Singapore about the issue, and put an end to this injustice. Although the people being affected by sex trafficking in Singapore may not be Singaporean citizens, they still have rights as humans that are being violated, and it is reflecting poorly on Singapore.


Bibliography
1. Brown, Louise. Sex Slaves: The Trafficking of Women in Asia. London: Virago, 2000. Print.

2. Fry, Erika. "Singapore's Forest Brothels." Bangkok Post. 12 Oct. 2008. Web. 31 Aug. 2009. <http://www.bangkokpost.com/121008_Spectrum/12Oct2008_spec001.php>.

3. Kara, Siddharth. Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery. New York: Columbia UP, 2009. Print.

4. Prathivi, Niken. “The Jakarta Post: Survivors Seek Justice from Podium.” News Bank. Financial Times Limited, 7 August 2009. Web. 12 September 2009. http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=129F41D157A8EE38&p_docnum=1&p_queryname=4 5. "Singapore Rejects US Sex Slavery Charges." China Daily. 30 Aug. 2004. Web. 12 Sept. 2009. <http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-08/30/content_370194.htm>.

6. Sukpanich, Tunya. "Bangkok Post: Lost Children." News Bank. Financial Times Limited, 23 Aug. 2009. Web. 12 Sept. 2009. <http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=12A827D66BF90CB0&p_docnum=12 7. United States Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report 2009 - Singapore, 16 June 2009, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4a421493c.html [accessed 14 September 2009]

8. Walker, Andrew. "Sex Trafficking in Singapore." New Mandala. 5 June 2009. Web. 31 Aug. 2009. <http://rspas.anu.edu.au/rmap/newmandala/2009/06/05/sex-trafficking-in-singapore/>.






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carkenn92 		Latest page update: made by carkenn92 , Nov 24 2009, 8:25 AM EST (about this update About This Update carkenn92 Edited by carkenn92


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thekatgirl11 Difficulty in getting facts about sex trafficking in Singapore 0 May 5 2011, 4:24 AM EDT by thekatgirl11
Thread started: May 5 2011, 4:24 AM EDT  Watch
Sex trafficking is a worldwide problem that can not be ignored by anyone with a conscience. I would like to point out that getting reliable information on sex trafficking in Singapore is very difficult (in part because the lack of an actual law against 'sex trafficking' specifically means no figures are collected). I applaud efforts made to raise awareness of this issue but we do need to be careful when stating things as facts. One of the points in the above article that gives a dangerously skewed vision of what happens in Singapore is that the majority of clients are foreigners. While foreign workers are an added client group, a walk around Geylang or other red light districts show that the largest client group (in any country, not just Singapore) for the sex trade is local men. We need to keep this mind when thinking of strategies to deal with the sex trade and sex trafficking in particular as it impacts on the strategies we choose to use to address the problem. Strategies that need to deal with both the legal aspects, the supply aspects and importantly the demand.
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