Korean Prosititues Take To The Streets, Threaten To Set Themselves On Fire

Hundreds of sex workers and pimps took to the streets of Seoul’s red light district yesterday to protest the police crackdown of brothels. The crowd of 400, mostly women, came out wearing baseball caps, masks and sunglasses, chanted slogans like, “Guarantee the right to live!” during a four-hour rally. They were protesting police stationing patrol cars in front of the brothels to deter patrons.

During the protest, 20 sex workers wearing only panties and body paint, covered themselves with flammable liquid threatening to set themselves on fire but were stopped short from lighting any flames by other protesters. Prostitution is illegal in South Korea but very widespread despite several government strategies to shut it down.

Such a dramatic show of outrage at the government for its anti-prostitution measures begs the question: wouldn’t it be easier if sex work were legal?

The new attack method on brothels does little to eradicate prostitution, according to a sex worker. Yes, it stops people from going into the pleasure houses but they just go find somewhere else to pay for sex instead. The end result is just that the brothel employees end up out of business while prostitution continues to thrive in hidden, untraceable circles. Is that really what the government wants?

Of course, the question of legalizing prostitution is extremely complex because a lot of the women who end up being sex workers never wanted it in the first place and fight to get out of it. But these South Korean demonstrators were about to light themselves up for their industry to have a chance to live on; that’s not the behaviour of someone who despises their job.

I can’t go so far as to say that they love it, but maybe the brothel is something worth preserving because it provides a safe setting for these women — a place where sex practices are allowed, safe sex precautions are required and even prices can be regulated, both by law and by peers on site. And it would stop the problems of an underground network running completely under the radar and leading to all sorts of unreported abuse; we already know that system doesn’t work.

The question of how to solve the prostitution problem might just be to legalize it.

Contact the author here: Sedera@morningquickie.com