Prostitution thrives on twisted entertainment culture

[porandojin.livejournal.com]

A woman who worked at a bar in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province was found dead in an apparent suicide on March 24, the seventh death of a bar “hostess” in the southeastern city since last July.

In a suicide note, the 27-year-old said she was forced to have sex against her will and was no longer able to stand the abuse from customers and the bar owner.

Her death has brought 63 civic groups across the nation to join forces to call for a thorough investigation behind the deaths and measures to regulate the prevalence of prostitution in Korea.

“It’s not simply an individual death resulting from depression,” Shin-Park Jin-young, chairwoman of a joint committee formed by the civic groups, said. “It’s more about the exploitive nature of prostitution where women are forced to sell sex.”

She criticized the government’s recent anti-prostitution measures as only focusing on minor details without seeing the bigger picture of how women are abused in the thriving sex industry here.

The hostesses, known as “jeopdaebu,” are not only expected to serve drinks but are forced to sell sex in bars or clubs.

Following an investigation, police recently booked 101 bar owners, pimps, gangsters and loan sharks for various illegalities involving the sex business in the region.

“We concluded that the suicides were the result of forced prostitution. We will continue our crackdown to root out illegal practices” a police officer from Pohang Police Station said.

Why didn’t she quit?

Experts say most hostesses or sex workers cannot simply quit their jobs due to “slave contracts.”

As shown in the crackdown by the Pohang Police, the sex industry has developed into a well-organized business run by bar owners, gangsters and loan sharks who exploit the women, they say.

Many of them first start working at a bar or club to earn “easy money” without knowing it will put them in a trap from which they can’t get out, they say.

“Most of these hostesses regret starting the job,” Lee Jung-mi, the head of the Korean Shelter for Women, said. “They first thought they would make a lot of money by simply talking to male customers at bars or karaoke, serving drinks and singing for them. But the reality is they are forced to sell sex and they can’t say no due to money they have been loaned in advance.”

Bar owners are usually loan sharks, lending them money at ridiculously high interest rates, she said.

“These poor women will be taken hostage by this snowballing debt. All they can do is just work as slaves,” Lee said.

At the shelter, women who used to work as prostitutes prepare for a new life, but many more are still suffering from abusive treatment, she said.

How many hostesses?

According to Statistics Korea, one out of 60 economically-active women work in bars, clubs and karaoke rooms, or in red light districts.

Many experts question the accuracy of the statistics as it’s hard to estimate the real number given the secrecy of the business. Putting accuracy aside, however, they all agree with the fact that a lot of women are working to “serve” male customers in such places.

“Now, women with different backgrounds such as teenagers, university students, and housewives are becoming hostesses and/or prostitutes, lured by the temptation of easy money,” activist Yoo Gyu-jin said, who provides them with legal support.

Their workplaces are moving into residential areas, avoiding government crackdowns, and are operated in a more covert manner, he said.

To regulate the sex business in general, experts say the administration should first make an effort to reduce demand, not just try to suppress supply.

“Under current methods, the sex business will develop into various mutant forms through loopholes in the law,” Lee said, criticizing the crackdown mainly focusing on prostitutes.

She also suggested that education of children is also required to help them understand that prostitution is illegal and inhumane, as more and more teenagers are exposed to a flood of porn movies.

Reasons behind the thriving business

Experts say the thriving hostess culture has a long history.

“It’s the legacy of the male-dominant and authoritarian eras,” said Lee Na-young, a professor at the Department of Sociology of ChungAng University. “But we haven’t had a chance to change such a bad tradition and a lot of females still work to serve male customers and are exploited.”

The sex industry was fueled by a “twisted entertainment culture” through which businessmen used prostitution as a means for bribery, she said.

She also pointed out that women had few chances to be properly educated and get a decent job in the male-dominated society.

“There were only limited options for them. Simply speaking, they had to work at a factory or at a bar or something. Things have changed, but still such an exploitive and discriminative social system leads a lot of women to work to serve male customers at bars and clubs,” she said.

However, one of the biggest problems in the prostitution business is it’s almost impossible for women to earn any money to pay off their debts as most of it goes to pimps and bar owners, she added.

source www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/05/117_86763.html

Comments

[jela-ow.livejournal.com]

Oh, I thought the article was going to talk about prostitution in the kpop entertainment industry but anyway, it's awful how most of the money these women earn doesn't go to them. If most of the bar owners are loan sharks and most of the money that the women earn go to the pimps and bar owners, it means that the girls are stuck to this kind of work even if they wanted out :(

[bolingi-aii.livejournal.com]

I cant imagine a teenager having to go through something like this. Its really sad that there are so many people out there so ready and willing to take advantage of people in horrible situations. Now I wonder how these places manage to keep from under the radar of the police? You get severe punishment from one puff of weed, and yet you have things like this happening

[bolingi-aii.livejournal.com]

I wouldnt doubt. The police can be just as corrupt as the criminals, sometimes they even work togther committing favors for one another. Its no wonder Mobs are able to away with so much for so long, they have good connections with the justice system ie judges, police etc.

[royalantares.livejournal.com]

This is so sad. I know not all bar hostesses in those bars are forced into prostitution, but those that aren't are supposed to entertain the patrons who come in with entertainment. They have to flatter them, boost their ego with conversation, tell them how great/handsome/rich/etc they are. Oftentimes they are sexual harassed. It's a place where males can feel their dominance and subject women to their whims. These girls aren't just their waiters.

Then there are these cases where they are forced into prostitution. It's more common than some frequenters, owners and probably even workers like to admit. It's all so disgusting how these women are forced to by the club owners, patrons or even the system because they have little other options. It becomes an endless cycle because they don't make enough money to pay back the high interest rates. Banks think their income or credit is unstable and refuse to give them loans.

[inudela.livejournal.com]

really upsetting yet interesting article, thanks for posting. so many cases are just swept under the rug ): i think the male-dominant attitudes are slowly changing, but it's going to take a long time. it's just so engrained in culture and tradition, sadly.

[jetaime-pyon.livejournal.com]

According to Statistics Korea, one out of 60 economically-active women work in bars, clubs and karaoke rooms, or in red light districts.

DAMN. that's actually a lot... o_o

and is the government ever going to do smth about that mess behind cheongnyangni station? =| it makes me think twice about taking train from there.

[kittycurious.livejournal.com]

And it's probably even higher than that, simply because things like this (sex slavery, rape, etc.) are always under reported. It's really sad :(

[jetaime-pyon.livejournal.com]

guh, it really is D: these conditions have been improving a bit lately, i am glad the government has started to pay attention to and address the problem. i hope it continues to go in that direction. because even prostitution and unfair contracts like that cannot be eliminated altogether, at least there will be an improvement, and less women will be suffering such a sad fate.

[jetaime-pyon.livejournal.com]

even if** sorry ^^;

[fallingstarryuu.livejournal.com]

the government should be fixing this problem instead of hand/lip synching issue tbqh.

[yolleh.livejournal.com]

There's such a severe imbalance between women who work as bar hostesses and males who do the same.
Male hosts are treated and paid well and barely go into prostitution from my understanding but it still isn't an ideal job at all.
Korea really needs to start addressing these issues if they want to move forward :(