(14 May 2013) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of news conference by Human Rights Watch on abuses against sex workers in China
2. Close up of photographer
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sophie Richardson, China director of Human Rights Watch:
“I think China is significantly different in a couple of ways. First of all, that the legal regime is so weak and that the police enjoy such impunity, both in abusing people (sex workers) themselves but also in failing to investigate and prosecute cases of abuse against people (sex workers) who report it to them. I think those are some of the ways in which the circumstances in China are somewhat unique.”
4. Mid of reporters at the news conference
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sophie Richardson, China director of Human Rights Watch:
“The Chinese government is the one that loves to portray itself as a defender of women’s rights, and talking about women holding up half the sky, and that it has essentially committed itself to combating different kinds of violence against women. But an ongoing failure to uphold the rights of millions of women who voluntarily engage in sex work, only leaves them subject to discrimination, abuse, exploitation and failed public health policies.”
6. Mid of reporters at the news conference
STORYLINE
Human Rights Watch have accused police in China of frequently beating, torturing and arbitrarily detaining suspected sex workers, often with little or no evidence that they engaged in prostitution.
In a news conference held in Hong Kong on Tuesday, Sophie Richardson, China director of Human Rights Watch, issued a report calling on the Chinese government to discipline abusive officers.
“The legal regime is so weak and that the police enjoy such impunity, both in abusing people (sex workers) themselves but also in failing to investigate and prosecute cases of abuse against people (sex workers) who report it to them,” said Richardson.
Officers sometimes detain women only on the basis they are carrying condoms, thus deterring their use among sex workers and increasing the risk of spreading HIV, the group said.
The government officially views prostitution as an “ugly social phenomenon” and the solicitation, sale and purchase of sex in China are illegal.
However, despite frequent government crackdowns, prostitution remains rampant and sexual services are openly offered in massage parlours, karaoke bars and nightclubs.
Richardson highlighted an “Ongoing failure to uphold the rights of millions of women who voluntarily engage in sex work, only leaves them subject to discrimination, abuse, exploitation and failed public health policies.”
The rights group interviewed sex workers, clients, police, public health officials, academic specialists and members of international and domestic nongovernmental organisations between 2008 and 2012.
It focused on interviews with 75 women sex workers in Beijing, including 20 detailed interviews with women between the ages of 20 and 63.
All the sex workers they spoke with said they had voluntarily chosen sex work.
Factors included poverty, job loss, divorce and lack of economic and educational opportunities for women – particularly in the countryside.
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