Chinese Migrant Women in the Sex Industry

Prostitution and Childhood Experiences, Poverty, and Situational Factors

Researchers have tried to identify factors that are responsible for women’s entry into prostitution. Previous research has examined the relationship between prostitution and early childhood experiences (Brunschot & Brannigan, 2002; Bullough & Bullough, 1996; James & Meryerding, 1977; Jesson, 1993; Nandon, Koverola, & Schludermann, 1998; Seng, 1989; Simons & Whitbeck, 1991), family background (Dalla, 2006; Sharpe, 1998), poverty (Bamgbose, 2002; Brunovskis & Tyldum, 2004; Hoigard & Finstad, 1992; Sharpe, 1998), drug use (Dalla, 2006; Graham & Wish, 1994; Potterate, Rothernberg, Muth, Darrow, & Phillips-Plummer, 1998), societal factors (Bamgbose, 2002; Brunovskis & Tyldum, 2004; Cusick, 2002; Dalla, 2001; Sharpe, 1998), as well as attitudes toward prostitution (Bamgbose, 2002). However, social research on the biological, psychological, and sociological factors that result in prostitution has been far from impressive. Empirical findings regarding the nature of the relationships mentioned above have failed to provide consistent evidence of a connection between them, and of the nature of the connection (Brunschot & Brannigan, 2002; Dalla, 2006; Evans, 1997; Gil et al., 1994; World Health Organization [WHO], 2001).

A case in point is childhood sexual experience. Some studies (James & Meryerding, 1977; Simons & Whitbeck, 1991) support a direct relationship between early sexual abuse and later involvement in prostitution. In contrast, researchers such as Seng (1989) find that the relationship between early sexual experience and prostitution is not direct but involves runaway behavior as an intervening variable. It is not so much that sexual abuse leads to prostitution; it is running away that leads to prostitution. Such inconsistent and contradictory evidence reveals the complexity of identifying causal paths leading from childhood experiences to adult prostitution.

Poverty is frequently cited as a cause of prostitution (Delacoste & Alexander, 1998; Hardman, 1997). Although no single common factor for prostitution has been identified, there is certainly one common motivator for prostitutes—money. However, research finds that not all women who engage in prostitution come from poverty-stricken backgrounds (Brunovskis & Tyldum, 2004). Many women claimed that they were “forced” into prostitution because of unemployment, because they were underpaid, or because they labored under other desperate economic situations. However, in many cases, the poverty of the women is relative (Brunovskis & Tyldum, 2004; Sharpe, 1998). For example, an undocumented number of young women from Asia’s middle classes are now selling sex (often on a part-time basis) to supplement their incomes as they pursue their education (WHO, 2001). Sex workers may be poor, uneducated women in difficult financial circumstances, but they may also be well-educated women who choose to sell sex because of the high monetary reward (Evans, 1997). Sharpe found that the majority of women were indeed not able to secure regular employment due to inadequate qualifications or lack of skills. Many of them, however, deliberately wanted to avoid routine work and the rigidity that a legitimate job would entail. The problem is not a lack of jobs, but the low level of salaries. Prostitution thus emerged as a rational occupational choice, affording easy money for little effort (Sharpe, 1998).

Jesson (1993) suggested that attention be paid to immediate circumstances and situational factors, such as the existence of a number of prostitutes already working near the area, the presence of pimps or sex establishments such as saunas and massage parlors, and the demand for sex. Whereas empirical studies (i.e., Sharpe, 1998) reveal that family background and early life experiences do not give clear indications as to why some women go into prostitution, some studies indicate that family members and friends play a significant role in the introduction process (Brunovskis & Tyldum, 2004; Sharpe, 1998). Sharpe contends that adopting prostitution is “the result of a complex interaction between individual rational choice and the association with, and influence of, female friends or relatives already involved in the business. When further compounded by a multitude of external pressures, of a financial, domestic and personal nature, the combined impact could serve to make the road to prostitution seem like a very reasonable, logical and viable option” (1998, p. 55).

Prostitution and Human Trafficking

As one of its possible manifestations, prostitution has been studied in relation to human trafficking. The subject of human trafficking has received increased international attention since the 1980s due to globalization, improved transportation and communication networks, and the growth of the sex industry (Coontz & Griebel, 2004; Outshoorn, 2005). Empirical studies on human trafficking reveal that women in the commercial sex business rarely migrate against their will or because they were tricked into doing so. Rather, they are actually eager, sometimes even desperate to relocate, hoping for better opportunities (Davidson, 2001). Most of them know what they are getting into when they relocate and are aware of other options available to them. Women in the sex industry take varying routes into prostitution. Some are offered legitimate jobs and then tricked into prostitution, whereas others know they will work in the sex sector but are deceived as to the work conditions (Caldwell, Galster, & Steinzor, 1997; International Organization for Migration [IOM], 1995; Wijers & Lap-Chew, 1997). Several studies have tried to distinguish among these women based on the extent to which they are forced, deceived, or coerced. There are several models of classification of women in the sex sector as regards their routes to prostitution (i.e., Brunovskis & Tyldum, 2004; Hughes, 2002; Lazaridis, 2001; McDonald, Moore, & Timoshkina, 2000; Vocks & Nijboer, 2000). McDonald et al. classified women in their study into four categories: purely trafficked, semitrafficked, unintentional sex trade workers, and occasional prostitutes. Brunovskis and Tyldum identified three broad reasons why women wanted to migrate or to work in prostitution, namely, “response to an acute crisis,” “long-term poverty,” and “wanting more from life.” According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Russian Federation, more than half the women who engaged in prostitution in foreign countries knew they would be involved in prostitution before they left Russia (Hughes, 2002). The supply of labor for the sex industry does not rest entirely on trickery, for it is also possible to openly recruit women and girls into prostitution (Davidson, 2001). Brunovskis and Tyldum found that it is very rare that women who become victims of trafficking are taken out of their countries against their will. In their sample, Vocks and Nijboer found an order of frequency in the categories into which the women are divided. Least frequent are the cases where women are abducted and transported to work in the sex industry, followed next by women who are deceived by recruiters concerning the nature of their occupation. Women, who know about the nature of their occupation but not about the circumstances, constitute the largest category of victims. Those who have studied the various sectors are virtually unanimous in their assessment that the majority of these women entered the sex industry voluntarily (Skeldon, 2000). The vast majority chooses to migrate, and some are aware that they will work as prostitutes.

Prostitution and Human Trafficking in China

Prostitution in China has attracted enormous interest and attention since 1980s, and many academic outlets have devoted discussion to the causes of its resurgence and prevalence. Two distinct positions have surfaced in this discourse. Some researchers regard prostitution mainly as a moral issue, and others emphasize the causal effects of structural factors, such as relative poverty, unemployment, and gender inequality. The morality argument has its origin in the communist ideology, which associates prostitution with capitalism. Prostitution was viewed as a product of the capitalist system of exploitation; socialism supposedly eliminated such exploitation and, therefore, social evils such as prostitution were not supposed to exist in socialist society. Therefore, some Chinese scholars attribute the increase in prostitution to the women themselves (i.e., Si, 1997; Xiao, 1999; Zhang, 2000; Zhu, 1994). They believe that most sex workers voluntarily enter into prostitution in order to pursue money and materialism (Xiao, 1999); working as a prostitute becomes a short cut to wealth for young women with little education (Zhu, 1994), and prostitution is said to be used as a means to become rich (Zhang, 2000). Other Chinese scholars have moved beyond socialist ideology and the morality standard and argue that there exists a system of “forcing women of virtue into prostitution” in contemporary China (Pi & Ma, 2001). Prostitution is related to a number of social problems, they say, with the main causal factor being economic rather than moral, that is, women become prostitutes largely because of the force of poverty (Pi & Ma, 2001; Zhao, 2001). Ren (1993, 2000) argues that although many factors may be contributing to the currently thriving sex industry in China, the eroding of Chinese women’s economic and political rights under economic reform, coupled with the weakening of the legal and political protections for women, has played a significant role in the sex trade boom.

With prostitution thriving in China, an important aspect of this issue—the connection between human trafficking and prostitution—is largely ignored, not only by the government and law enforcement authorities but also by academics and the public at large. Historically, selling and buying women for the purpose of marriage was largely accepted in some regions in China. With the development of the economy and the improvement of women’s rights, trafficking for marriage is not as prevalent as it used to be. However, human trafficking has taken two new forms (i.e., forced labor and sexual exploitation; Wang, 2007). The Ministry of Public Security estimates that 10,000 women and children are being abducted and sold each year; in addition, it reported about 2,500 trafficking cases during 2008 (U.S. Department of State, 2008). Between 2001 and 2005, in a remote southwest province in China—from where many women are trafficked—1,794 cases involving the trafficking of women and children were exposed, and more than 2,000 victims were rescued [Yunnan Public Security Agencies (China) rescued over 2,000 trafficking women, 2005]. These statistics do not, however, provide any information about how many of them are trafficked for sexual exploitation. The extent to which women are being trafficked for sexual exploitation has never been a research priority in China.

Demographic Characteristics

Some research on prostitution has found that women in prostitution are generally young, single, and without children (i.e., Gil et al., 1994; Vocks & Nijboer, 2000; Yang, Cheng, Jiaming, Boning, & Zhijian, 2005). In the current study, the participants were in the age range of 18 to 39 years, and the average age of the participants interviewed was 23.6 years. A large number of them (n = 34) fell in the age group between 18 and 30 years (85%). A total of 30 women were single, 5 were married, and 4 divorced (see Tables 1 and 2).

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Table 1.

Demographic Characteristics of the Women

	Interview data (n = 40)	Percentage
Age
16-20	13	32.5
21-30	21	52.5
31-40	6	15
Range	18-39
Mean	23.6
Marital status
Single	30	75
Married	5	12.5
Divorced	4	10
Cohabiting	1	2.5
Education
1-6 years	11	25
7-9 years	19	50
10-12 years	10	25
Mean	8.2

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Table 2.

Age and Education Level of Each Woman

Participant	Age	Education (year)	Participant	Age	Education (years)
Xiao Xiu	19	9	Ding Ding	32	12
Sha Sha	19	12	Xiao Fang	19	9
Ah Lian	21	9	Lin Dan	19	4
Ah Hong	19	8	Lin Yan	31	5
Li Xue	22	4	Xiao Ju	26	3
Xiao Yu	23	9	Wen Wen	31	9
Ah Rong	21	8	Ah Wen	19	12
Chen Hong	22	12	Yan Yan	20	4
Xiao Hui	24	11	Xiao Ya	25	2
Ah Mei	19	8	Liu Yan	25	6
Lily	25	7	Fei Fei	18	9
Li Na	21	8	An An	22	12
Ah Ying	19	12	Ah Xiang	22	9
Nan Nan	19	9	Lan Lan	22	8
Xiao Ke	19	9	Mei Fang	24	9
Li Fei	22	6	Le Le	26	6
Wang Mei	20	12	Wang Hong	28	10
Na Na	30	11	Xiu Xiu	21	9
Li Ying	33	5	Hong Mei	27	9
Wang Xia	31	7	Li Ying	39	5

Although 37 of the 40 women interviewed were from rural areas, not all of their parents were farmers. Since the1980s, when the economic reform policy was implemented, more and more farmers left their land, becoming part of the migrant population seeking work in urban areas. Most participants’ parents belonged to the first generation of this floating population. They either worked in factories or in other private enterprises or operated small “mom-and-pop” or other family businesses. As a result, only about half of the women’s parents were farmers at the time of the interviews. Nine of the mothers and eight of the fathers were migrant workers. Eight fathers and eight mothers ran private businesses.

On account of family poverty, or due to poor performance in school, the number of years of education ranged from 2 to 12 years, with an average of 8.2 years. A little more than one quarter of the women (n = 11) had no education beyond elementary school; 19 women had none beyond middle school, 10 women attended high school or a technical/vocational school after they graduated from middle school, and 7 of them graduated from those educational institutions

Family Condition and Childhood life

All the women were asked about their childhood life and family conditions. Two women lost their father when they were young, two women stated that their fathers were gamblers or alcoholic, the parents of two of the participants divorced when they were in their early teens, and three participants disclosed they were raped when they were young. In addition to the above-mentioned unpleasant experiences, a prominent feature that characterized women’s childhood life is poverty. However, not all of the participants came from poor families. Approximately half (n = 18) of the participants in the study categorized their family conditions as poor, 13 participants categorized their conditions as not bad or average, and 6 participants categorized their conditions as good or affluent.

Most women were from poor rural areas, and therefore, it is not surprising that they categorized their family condition as poor. Some of them were from remote, poverty-ridden mountain areas, where infrastructure, such as transportation, is undeveloped and the local economy, therefore, lags far behind. Children have very few opportunities to get an education. Because of poverty, some participants started to work and contribute financially to their families even while they were still in their early teens, in addition to doing chores at home. Some families did not have enough resources to afford sending their children to college, even when their children did well in school. Children’s chances of going to school were especially compromised if the family was constrained by a specific financial issue.

During my last year of high school, my father lost money in business. He fell ill and had to be hospitalized. My family was in need of money, and therefore I did not take the college entry exam when I graduated from high school, although I did very well at school. (Chen Hong)

All women, however, were not from poor families. Some described their families as affluent, loaded, or not bad. However, they did not get very much education because they did not do very well in school; they were either negatively influenced by peers or affected by their parents’ divorce.

Both my parents are business people. We are very wealthy and we have a house and cars. I learned performance arts, such as singing, dancing, and piano, when I was young. My parents divorced when I was in the 8th grade and this affected me very badly. I did not want to study after that. (Wang Mei)

My father wanted me to go to high school, but I did not want to go to school any more because all the other girls in my village were going out to work. My life was good when I was a child. My parents were able to afford whatever other parents bought for their children. (Xiao Xiu)

Occupations Before Prostitution

Literature on women in the sex industry has demonstrated that many women worked in legitimate sectors before getting involved in prostitution. However, the work available to them consists of low-paid, strenuous, and menial jobs (Hoigard & Hinstad, 1992; McDonald et al., 2000; Sharpe, 1998). As far as women in this study are concerned, prostitution was in no way their first choice. As many as 38 of the 40 women had been working in a variety of legitimate sectors before getting involved in prostitution, with the exception of 2 women who were housewives. Due to their limited education and skills, jobs available to the women, however, were limited and were mainly menial, low-paid, informal jobs, mostly in factories, restaurants, and entertainment establishments. A few of the participants (n = 12) had worked in the entertainment sector although they had not yet begun to provide sex services (see Table 3).

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Table 3.

Legitimate Job

Legitimate job	N = 40	Percentage
Legitimate occupations
Factory worker	12	30
Karaoke/massage/hair salon	12	30
Cashier	4	10
Restaurant employee	4	10
Sales clerk	2	5
Private business operator	2	5
Housewife	2	5
Hotel employee	1	2.5
Bar employee	1	2.5
Time in legitimate occupations
Less than 1 year	3	7.5
1 year	11	27.5
2 years	4	10
3 years	8	20
4 to 9 years	8	20
10 or more	4	10
Mean	4 years

On account of family poverty, some of the women began contributing to their families by working or doing chores after quitting studies at a time when they were merely in their early teens. Most of them had worked at different jobs for varying periods of time. The average age at which they began to work was 16.57, with their ages ranging, however, from 11 to 26 years. A large number of them (n = 29) began work for the first time between the ages of 15 to 18, and a little more than half of them (54.1%) began to work when they turned 16, or even before that age. Each of these 38 women worked in legitimate sectors for varying periods of time, ranging from 2 days to 20 years. The average number of years of work before they got involved in prostitution is about 4 years. Most women (more than 90%) had worked for at least 1 year before they started to work as prostitutes. They may have worked in many different jobs in several cities before migrating to Shenzhen.

All interviewed women were asked about their perceptions of previous legitimate jobs. One dominant feature among their perceptions about their legitimate job was that it was grueling and the pay was low, especially in the case of those who worked in factories, or as waitresses or cashiers.

I sold rice noodles in Guilin City in 1999 and quit that job after 2 weeks. It was too hard. I got up at 5 a.m., and had to ride a bike to work for half an hour. It was very scary to be riding while it was still dark. If it rained, my shoes would get wet and I could not change them until I got off from work in the evening. (Le Le)

I was a cashier at an internet bar. I worked 12 hours a day and it was too hard for me, so I quit the job after two days. (Ah Ying)

In the beginning I worked in an electronics factory. When I worked in the night shift, I would fall asleep. I could not stand the night shift; I had never struggled in my life. I was fined twice for sleeping at work. I worked for just one week and was fined 100 yuan. I was frustrated and depressed. I quit the job two weeks later. (Wang Mei)

Specific Family or Personal Events

Some women decided to get involved in prostitution after a specific life event left them in a critical situation or changed their life circumstances in such a way that they were pressured to make big money in a short time. The current study finds six women falling into this category.

Sha Sha’s father broke a bone, and the family needed money to remove the metal plate. Ding Ding was hospitalized due to a heart condition; as a result, she lost money in her cell phone business, and on top of that, she needed money to schedule surgery for her heart; Lin Lin’s daughter fell seriously ill and she had to borrow money from neighbors. Thereafter, she felt her neighbors held her in contempt. Wen Wen’s parents were in debt due to the fact that they were expelled and fined for violating the one-child policy. Fei Fei’s family forced her to break up with her boyfriend; she became rebellious and ran away from home and soon started to work at the sauna parlor after becoming penniless.

Another woman in this category has a unique story: Li Xue told me a most tragic and lengthy tale. She started to provide sex services after being raped by a customer. Desiring to be independent from her parents, she traveled with her peers, who paid for her ticket, following which she had to divide the money she made with them. She had worked at a hair salon and a KTV lounge for some time before providing sex services. One day she was raped by a customer and from that time on she began to provide sex services.

One day a drunken customer raped me. I felt ashamed and dared not report him to the police. In addition, the hotel was close to where my family lived, and I was afraid that my family would be affected and would lose face. I became psychologically negative after that—smashing a pot to pieces just because it was cracked. I started to work at a restaurant where I made 20 yuan by zuotai and 100 yuan for “fast food” (quick sex). (Li Xue)

Persuasion by Relatives

Persuasion by relatives refers to situations where women were reluctant or refused to work as prostitutes but eventually gave in on account of nagging and persuasion by others. In other words, other people not only brought up the idea in the first place, they also kept trying to persuade the women until they agreed to take up prostitution work. No force, deception, or coercion was involved. Without these other people, some of these women may not have got involved in commercial sex services.

Two women fall into this category and both of them were persuaded by their aunts. Ah Rong’s involvement in providing hand jobs was a gradual process, beginning with washing hair at a hair salon, moving on to providing regular massages and eventually ending up giving hand jobs. This was a direct result of her aunt’s persuading and nagging her.

I came out with my cousin. We washed hair at a hair salon. Later, my cousin’s mother took us to work at another hair salon where we provided massages for customers, with no sex service. I did not do hand jobs until the second half of 2004 when my aunt persuaded me to. I did not want to do that. I wanted to be a hair designer. (An Rong)

Lily, 25 years old, had been working in this industry for about 10 years. She bought a house for her family in the downtown area of her home county. When she was only 15 years old and worked in a restaurant, her aunt proposed the idea of taking her out to work at a nightclub by pointing out the huge disparity of salaries between restaurant work and nightclub work. Lily agreed with her, and accepted the offer. The income disparity was an irresistible enticement for Lily, who was only 15 when this happened. It may appear that Lily’s aunt didn’t do much persuading before Lily accepted her “advice.” Given her age when this occurred, however, the effects of her aunt’s influence on Lily’s adoption of prostitution cannot be overemphasized.

Influence by Friends or Coworkers

Women falling into this category may or may not work in entertainment facilities before providing sex services. As far as those who worked at establishments other than entertainment venues are concerned (n = 12), they were influenced by friends who were prostitutes. Their friends’ high incomes appealed to them and made them want to follow in their footsteps.

When one of my classmates came home during the 2007 Chinese New Year, I told her that I could not make a lot of money in my hometown. She told me that Shenzhen was a good place. So I went out with her. I knew what my classmates were doing in Shenzhen. I did not think about whether or not I could do it at that time, but how well I could do it. My home town is very poor. I must leave. I do not want to get married and settle down over there. I do not think it is shameful. She is loaded. My family had no money at that time, so I wanted to do this job. She asked whether I had thought it over. I said yes. (Chen Hong)

A few of the participants (n = 5) had been working in entertainment establishments before they began to provide sex services. They did not mean to provide sex services to begin with. However, they were influenced, encouraged, or persuaded by coworkers, and gradually they accepted sex work.

I was a waitress in a sauna parlor, and I made 1,000 yuan a month. I wanted to be a technician (euphemism for prostitute) when I saw them making over 10,000 yuan a month, eating well and dressing well. Gradually I accepted it. (Lan Lan)

Their friends/coworkers may have provided them with not only suggestions, advice, or information about sex service jobs but also encouragement and enticement that strengthened their resolve and determination or made them confident and comfortable with the trade.

No persuasion can be more effective than in the example that follows.

The trainer said that some people bought a BMW or Mercedes-Benz after working several years; if you worked hard for two or three years, you would make more than what people made in their lifetime; then you could go home and run a business, and nobody knew what you were doing if you did not tell them. (An An)

All of the women had friends whose job involved sex services. The women were not content with their current financial situations, either because they were residing in underdeveloped areas or because they had migrated and worked in the legitimate sector but made little money that could only cover their daily expenses. Upon seeing their friends/coworkers’ luxurious lifestyles or feeling embarrassed about their own low salary and austere lifestyle, they cannot resist friends’ influence and peer pressure. Add to this the enticement of money, and the women are ready to cross the line to bring in larger amounts of money. To some extent, the idea of working at sex venues had been accepted even before they actually started the trade. Their friends/coworkers acted as informants whose experiences as prostitutes and knowledge of the job were an important information source based on which they took their final step toward prostitution. This information reduced the perceived risks associated with being a prostitute or made them determined to embark on this trade. Their friends also acted as role models from whose experience the women could picture what their life would be like if they adopted this line of work.

Self-Initiated

The term “self-initiated” does not necessarily imply that these women got involved in prostitution without any external influence (such as having friends who work as prostitutes). However, these women do not explicitly demonstrate that any of their friends or coworkers persuaded, encouraged, or advised them to provide sex services. They were afraid of poverty, overwhelmed by hard work and low-paying jobs in legitimate work sectors and were enticed by the high salary and eventually drifted into the sex industry.

I had thought of working at entertainment venues before I came here because my family condition was not good, and I also wanted to make more money. I went to the factory and knew that you have to work eight hours a day, and four more hours’ overtime. I did not want to work in a factory. (Yan Yan)

I fooled around with my boyfriend frequently and eventually ran out of money. My family was so poor when I was a child and I am very afraid of being poor. I just wanted to have some money. (Lin Dan)

A few participants in this category did not know anyone working in the sex industry when they first began considering the idea of going into sex work. However, having no friend working in the sex industry was not a barrier for them.

I came to Shenzhen with my mother and younger sister in February 2008. I worked in a restaurant for over a month. The salary was very low. I made a little over 800 yuan a month. So my sister and I started to look for other jobs, but did not find any we liked. Later we saw a lot of ads at the bus station. I wrote down the phone numbers and called them on a public phone. . . . My sister worked in a factory for three months and made a total of 2,000 yuan. She just started working here a few days ago. (Xiao Fang)

Entertainment establishments are prevalent everywhere around Shenzhen. A general idea of the high concentration of entertainment establishments in some neighborhoods in Shenzhen may be obtained by looking at the number of entertainment establishments at a certain intersection and its immediate surroundings. For example, along a certain stretch less than 500 meters long on a main road, there are 9 entertainment establishments: one night club, two sauna parlors, two foot massage parlors, and four leisure centers, which basically provide massage services. Five of them are situated in four buildings at each corner of the intersection. The proliferation of entertainment establishments creates a huge demand for female workers and results in a large number of them providing sex services.

Advertisements are omnipresent at bus stations, on buildings housing entertainment establishments, and other public places. As one waits for public transport, one cannot fail to notice the papers posted on the bulletin boards. In addition, some establishments (such as sauna/massage parlors) hang huge banners outside their premises. Some nightclubs set up a recruitment desk right at the entrance, displaying a small board detailing requirements for the types of employees desired.

Forced, Deceived, or Coerced Into Prostitution

Trafficking can operate on two separate levels: one having to do with the process of recruitment, and the other related to the context of the work or services (McDonald et al., 2000). Recruitment can be a matter of choice, whereas the context of work may involve the application of force, deception, or coercion. Sex trafficking can occur not merely during the various stages of recruitment or transportation or upon initiation into prostitution. It is likely that the women were victims of trafficking because of the context of work. In other words, it was not the woman herself who could decide when, where, or to whom to provide sex services. She may have some externally imposed “quotas”—either the number of days she must work or the number of customers she must service. Based on an examination of all the stages during which trafficking may take place, six women’s experiences on nine occasions fit the definition of human trafficking.

On five occasions, three participants were told lies about the nature of the job. They were told they would work in a factory or at other jobs where no sex service was involved. They did not know until their arrival, or some time after arrival, that sex services would be involved. When the women refused to comply, they were either subjected to violence, their salary was withheld, or they were coerced. The women reluctantly accepted their fate because they did not have the money required to run away or to live on their own. On two occasions involving one participant who had known that her job involved sex services, there was an agreement between the victim and the perpetrators regarding how to divide the money she earned. But when she could not make as much as the perpetrators would have liked, they subjected her to violence or threatened to sell her. One woman and her boyfriend did not discuss the nature of the work she would do before they left for Shenzhen. She told me that she was free to leave, but she took the job because she had no money to go away with—there was no force or deception involved. One woman had been in Shenzhen before the tragedy took place. Her experience represents the worst example of sex trafficking, in which the participant is kidnapped, locked up, raped, and forced to provide sex services. She was under the control of the traffickers, she did not have freedom of movement, escape was impossible, her boyfriend took away her ID, she was threatened, and she had to surrender all the money she made.

A wide range of methods were used in the process of recruitment and imposition of work conditions to force these women to work in sex venues. These methods included force (kidnapping, locking up, attacking, rape), deceit (not telling the women about the nature of the work until their arrival at the destination, lying to them about the nature of the work), coercion (threats that the women’s families would be informed they were prostitutes, threats that their families would be killed, threats that the women would be sold), taking advantage of their vulnerability (they did not have the resources to travel; no money to enable them to run away), taking away their salary and ID, and debt bonding, ensnaring, and persuading them.

Childhood Experiences

This study concentrated on women’ preprostitution lives and the circumstances present in their lives at the time when they initially began to provide sex services. The possibility that certain developmental factors could play an important role in women’s involvement in prostitution led to the examination of family conditions, childhood experience, as well as their education and employment histories. The examination of women’s demographic characteristics and their lives during childhood revealed that women in this study fit the stereotype of women in the sex industry in that they were from lower-class families and had limited education. Their parents were predominantly farmers, migrant workers, or operated family businesses. Background variables show that these women did not come solely from low-income households. Almost half of them did not characterize their childhood life as being poverty stricken.

This study did not uncover any obvious relationship between prostitution and domestic violence, prostitution and abuse, or prostitution and negative relationships with parents. Although some women had lived hard lives before they migrated, the all grew up in relatively stable families. Parents of two participants’ divorced when these participants were in their early teens, but neither of them stated that their parents’ divorce had any direct effect on their involvement in prostitution. One woman was distracted from studying by her parents’ divorce and this was the main reason why she did not pursue further education after high school. A negative relationship with her stepmother drove her to leave home and go to Shenzhen with her boyfriend. The hardship of a factory job and breaking up with boyfriend after arriving in Shenzhen motivated her to get involved in prostitution. It is obvious that her parents’ divorce had no direct effect on her involvement in prostitution.

Sexual Abuse

The literature on prostitution and human trafficking reveals high levels of sexual abuse in the backgrounds of women who end up in the sex industry (Davis, 2006; Raymond & Hughes, 2001). Simons and Whiteback (1991) suggest that early sexual abuse may affect the probability of prostitution in a direct way because the experience of child sexual abuse fosters attitudes about oneself and the act of sex that facilitate the selling of sexual favors. However, this was not confirmed consistently by the present study. Three participants were raped by their neighbors when they were 6, 9, and 15 years old, respectively; another participant was raped by her customer. One participant, who was raped when she was 6, proclaimed that entering into prostitution had nothing to do with that incident; she would not have adopted prostitution had a fellow villager not introduced her to it. Another participant was raped when she was 9. She had never told anyone, not even her family. She has hated all men since then, including her ex-boyfriend who abused her very badly. Examining her life circumstances at the time she initially began prostitution, however, it appears that there were many other strongly motivating factors underlying her involvement in prostitution (especially the fact that she was in dire need of money to compensate business losses and take care of her heart condition). At the very least, she became a prostitute for money, not for revenge. In cases where there was sexual assault in childhood, this study shows no clear-cut indication of its effect on the involvement of prostitution. However, it is obvious that in combination with other factors, being raped in later teenage years can trigger a woman to go into prostitution. Both Ah Lian and Li Xue’s experience confirms this. Ah Lian was raped by her neighbor when she was 15. She did not want to go to school after that happened; and some time later, she moved to Guangdong and worked in a factory. She said that she may not have worked at a hair salon if that had never happened. Ah Lian started to provide sex service after being raped by a customer. In both cases, being raped, and thus losing their virginity, may have affected the development of their self-identity and, therefore, mitigated the risk-awareness or fear associated with entering into prostitution. Such a loss of status constitutes “an important step in the process by which a woman comes to identify with a deviant lifestyle such as prostitution and thus begins to see it as a viable alternative” (James & Meyerding, 1977, p. 1383).

Prostitution and Poverty

In the case of those who became involved in prostitution without the presence of force, fraud, or coercion, it was not a spontaneous response to a dire economic condition. Some of them had accepted the idea of prostitution before they moved to Shenzhen or began the trade. They did so when the timing was right for them, in other words, when they were in need of money, or had lost a legitimate job. Although 18 women categorized their childhoods as poverty ridden, most of them were not living in poverty at the time they adopted prostitution. Benefiting from China’s economic reform policy, these women were able to leave their rural homes to explore economic opportunities in other areas. This economy-driven migration had even begun with their parents’ generation in the 1980s. Therefore, by going into the sex industry, most women did not make a decision between starvation and prostitution; as a matter of fact, they opted for prostitution because it was easy, quick, and big money.

Situational Factors

Some previous studies have found that a prominent role is played by relatives, friends, and coworkers in women’s involvement in prostitution (Brunovskis & Tyldum, 2004; Raymond et al., 2002; Sharpe, 1998; Vocks & Nijboer, 2000). The present study corroborates these findings. A large number of the women (n = 33) had either friends (n = 30) or relatives (n = 3) who worked in sex establishments. The effect of the influence of each of the aforementioned people on the women varies widely. Some women were forced, deceived, or coerced. Some were encouraged or persuaded. Some had accepted the idea of prostitution before they turned to their friends for advice or comments.

The influence of friends on women’s involvement in prostitution was demonstrated in all categories, including in the case of those women who turned to prostitution because of specific events. However, this does not imply a causal relationship between the event that occurred and prostitution. The event stands out as an obvious factor in the women’s involvement in prostitution because of the time at which it occurred—it happened right before the women’s first foray into prostitution and, in one way or another, was related to their involvement in prostitution. The influence of friends manifested in all cases of this category. Ding Ding was advised by her friends, Lin Lin was persuaded by her coworker, and Sha Sha’s friend acted as a role model and a companion who downplayed the perceived risk. Fei Fei met a girlfriend who had a boyfriend working as a manager at a sauna parlor. Similarly, in cases of women who are identified as trafficking victims, none of them had been recruited, transported, or forced into prostitution by unknown strangers. The people who forced the women into prostitution included boyfriends in three cases, friends in four cases, a relative in one case, and the owner of a hair salon in another. None of them were gang members or were involved in organized crime. Depending on a third party for information or financial resources made them vulnerable to being exploited or coerced.

Another situational factor—the high concentration of entertainment enterprises and omnipresent advertisement in public places—plays an important role in women’s involvement in prostitution. Those women who did not indicate any influence of friends, relatives, or coworkers had either been working in sex venues as waitresses or were intrigued by the irresistible salary touted in the advertisement. Working at these facilities provided them with opportunities to witness how much money prostitutes can make, how the business is done, who the customers are, and so on. They gathered sufficient information to make their own decision. The hyperbolic salary offered in advertisements lures many women who want to make more money.