Chinese migrant sex workers in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is an economic and financial center in Asia and has become one of the most popular destinations for international tourists and businessmen. The Chinese government simplified the visa application procedure for mainland Chinese to visit Hong Kong and many mainland Chinese tourists came to Hong Kong. According to the figures of the Tourism Commission the number of Hong Kong visitors had reached over 14 million by the end of August 2002 which was 58% higher than in 2003. The Tourism Commission showed that more than 8 million mainland visitors came to Hong Kong during the first eight months in 2004 which was 66% higher than that of 2003 and 97% higher than that of 2002. Among these people 2.6 million came to Hong Kong as individual tourists making up 33% of mainland tourists. Not everybody can benefit from the simplified visa application and immigration procedures. Some jobs are not eligible for Hong Kong working visas and sex work is one of the examples. Sex workers from mainland China cannot legally work in Hong Kong. They lack support from the society and the police brazenly suppress them. However mainland Chinese women come to Hong Kong to illegally work as sex workers pushing them into the black market and worsening their working environment. Ever since we began our outreach service for mainland migrant sex workers the requests for assistance keep rising. (excerpt)