©The New Straits Times (Used by permission)
By : David Yeow
ALTHOUGH the world economy is going into a tailspin, solicited sex in Malaysia is going through a boom.
Sources in the local prostitution scene say they raked in more than RM3.2 billion last year. And that's just the earnings of sex workers, not including the income of pimps and other spin–offs.
While it is impossible to account for the total number of prostitutes working in Ma–laysia, statistics from the international non–governmental organisation, Coalition Against the Trafficking of Women, estimate that the number is about 150,000, with more than 10,000 in the Klang Valley.
Aegile Fernandez, anti–human trafficking coordinator of local women's aid NGO Tenaganita, says that according to information from the women they rescue, a prostitute usually works a seven–day week, charging RM150 an hour.
"Serving an average of eight clients a day, she ends up making RM1,200 daily and possibly RM36,000 a month," says Aegile who has had experience making women escape the sex industry for more than 20 years.
"But that is just full–time sex workers who enter the trade willingly. If the girls are forced into the trade via human trafficking, she gets nothing except a traumatic experience."
Aegile says the syndicates that run the brothels usually have up to 100 girls under them. This could mean that a syndicate could rake in about RM120,000 a day and a whopping RM3.6 million a month.
"JJ", a pimp for more than 10 years, says Malaysia has hundreds of such syndicates, each operating several brothels in their designated areas.
Many brothels in Malaysia double as "health centres" offering massage services.
According to JJ, clients are willing to pay from RM60 to RM100 for an hour of massage, followed by an additional RM150 for sex.
"Prostitutes who double as massage ladies also get a fee from their handlers for massage services, usually about RM20 per customer."
Although JJ estimates that eight out of 10 customers will have intercourse with their masseuse, the remaining two might opt for lesser services such as foreplay.
So, in addition to as much as RM36,000 monthly from sex alone, a prostitute can add on another RM9,000 for offering "half services", bringing her monthly untaxed income to a whopping RM45,000 (RM540,000 per annum).
"Don't forget their RM200 a day wages for massaging an average of 10 customers," says JJ. "That's a legitimate RM5,200 a month or RM62,400 a year. They can choose to pay tax on that, but most don't."
Pimps, he says, usually collect about RM3,000 a month from each sex worker they manage. "Think of it as tax or rent for using our centres to do business and for protection from aggressive customers."
Prostitution is a recession–proof business, observes JJ. "Things didn't slow down for us during the 1997 Asian financial crisis or any of the recessions before that. Sex, like food, is a necessity."
The 10 women he manages charge RM300 per hour and pay him about RM5,000 each as "commission" every month.
JJ also has shares in a few massage parlours, which bring in additional returns of about RM10,000 a month, raising his monthly income to RM60,000.
However, the high returns from prostitution don't necessarily contribute to the local economy.
While prostitutes in Ma–laysia number in the thousands, Aegile estimates more than half of them hail from China and other Southeast Asian nations.
"Because of the Asean travel agreement, it is easier for girls from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Philippines to enter Malaysia.
"Some come in as tourists, while others enter under the guise of domestic helpers.
"Many syndicates also operate phoney maid agencies so they can bring in girls without the Immigration Department suspecting anything."
The drop in the number of local girls participating in the sex trade here is also a factor for the surge in foreign prostitutes.
This is partly because of rising awareness among local women, says Anna (not her real name), a former prostitute.
Now working at a women's shelter in Chow Kit, Anna believes the difference between foreign and local sex workers is that the former usually have a second chance.
"Many girls from China come over and sell their bodies as a quick but temporary way to earn money. When they have enough, they return home and start businesses.
"And since they usually come in on tourist visas, there is no way for their local handlers to trap them.
"For local girls, most of us were either duped into it by the sweet–talk of our boy–friends or out of desperation for money because of our limited economic opportunities.
"Once local girls fall into the vice trade, it's very hard to get out. There's no place to start afresh, and with the criminal intimidation of pimps, many get trapped in the industry."
Anna only escaped her pimp after contracting a sexually transmitted disease.
"If you count dollars and cents, earning RM36,000 a month was wonderful. But, in hindsight, I probably made the biggest mistake of my life."
Sources in the local prostitution scene say they raked in more than RM3.2 billion last year. And that's just the earnings of sex workers, not including the income of pimps and other spin–offs.
While it is impossible to account for the total number of prostitutes working in Ma–laysia, statistics from the international non–governmental organisation, Coalition Against the Trafficking of Women, estimate that the number is about 150,000, with more than 10,000 in the Klang Valley.
Aegile Fernandez, anti–human trafficking coordinator of local women's aid NGO Tenaganita, says that according to information from the women they rescue, a prostitute usually works a seven–day week, charging RM150 an hour.
"Serving an average of eight clients a day, she ends up making RM1,200 daily and possibly RM36,000 a month," says Aegile who has had experience making women escape the sex industry for more than 20 years.
"But that is just full–time sex workers who enter the trade willingly. If the girls are forced into the trade via human trafficking, she gets nothing except a traumatic experience."
Aegile says the syndicates that run the brothels usually have up to 100 girls under them. This could mean that a syndicate could rake in about RM120,000 a day and a whopping RM3.6 million a month.
"JJ", a pimp for more than 10 years, says Malaysia has hundreds of such syndicates, each operating several brothels in their designated areas.
Many brothels in Malaysia double as "health centres" offering massage services.
According to JJ, clients are willing to pay from RM60 to RM100 for an hour of massage, followed by an additional RM150 for sex.
"Prostitutes who double as massage ladies also get a fee from their handlers for massage services, usually about RM20 per customer."
Although JJ estimates that eight out of 10 customers will have intercourse with their masseuse, the remaining two might opt for lesser services such as foreplay.
So, in addition to as much as RM36,000 monthly from sex alone, a prostitute can add on another RM9,000 for offering "half services", bringing her monthly untaxed income to a whopping RM45,000 (RM540,000 per annum).
"Don't forget their RM200 a day wages for massaging an average of 10 customers," says JJ. "That's a legitimate RM5,200 a month or RM62,400 a year. They can choose to pay tax on that, but most don't."
Pimps, he says, usually collect about RM3,000 a month from each sex worker they manage. "Think of it as tax or rent for using our centres to do business and for protection from aggressive customers."
Prostitution is a recession–proof business, observes JJ. "Things didn't slow down for us during the 1997 Asian financial crisis or any of the recessions before that. Sex, like food, is a necessity."
The 10 women he manages charge RM300 per hour and pay him about RM5,000 each as "commission" every month.
JJ also has shares in a few massage parlours, which bring in additional returns of about RM10,000 a month, raising his monthly income to RM60,000.
However, the high returns from prostitution don't necessarily contribute to the local economy.
While prostitutes in Ma–laysia number in the thousands, Aegile estimates more than half of them hail from China and other Southeast Asian nations.
"Because of the Asean travel agreement, it is easier for girls from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Philippines to enter Malaysia.
"Some come in as tourists, while others enter under the guise of domestic helpers.
"Many syndicates also operate phoney maid agencies so they can bring in girls without the Immigration Department suspecting anything."
The drop in the number of local girls participating in the sex trade here is also a factor for the surge in foreign prostitutes.
This is partly because of rising awareness among local women, says Anna (not her real name), a former prostitute.
Now working at a women's shelter in Chow Kit, Anna believes the difference between foreign and local sex workers is that the former usually have a second chance.
"Many girls from China come over and sell their bodies as a quick but temporary way to earn money. When they have enough, they return home and start businesses.
"And since they usually come in on tourist visas, there is no way for their local handlers to trap them.
"For local girls, most of us were either duped into it by the sweet–talk of our boy–friends or out of desperation for money because of our limited economic opportunities.
"Once local girls fall into the vice trade, it's very hard to get out. There's no place to start afresh, and with the criminal intimidation of pimps, many get trapped in the industry."
Anna only escaped her pimp after contracting a sexually transmitted disease.
"If you count dollars and cents, earning RM36,000 a month was wonderful. But, in hindsight, I probably made the biggest mistake of my life."