Tam Nguyen

Asian Sex Trade Outreach

Prostitution is traditionally viewed as a female crime. However, many raids involving massage parlors, brothels and private residences have revealed forced labour, coercion and debt bondage. Systemic violation and exploitation of human rights, enformed by socially acceptable standards, have left many Asian women lost in the world of sex, drugs and violence. On September 10, 1997, 25 people were arrested in Toronto during a police operation termed "Project Orphan". This was an attempt to crackdown on illegal entry and prostitution within the Greater Toronto Area. During this raid, 23 Thai and Malaysian women were arrested on charges ranging from being inmates of bawdy house (brothel) to procuring (pimping). Another documented raid conducted in Toronto on December 10, 1998 coined "Project Trade" exposed a trafficking operation which involved organized crime. In this instance, after a year long investigation, 68 individuals were arrested. A prostitution raid in the first week of March in Richmond, British Columbia also exposed a sex trade operation. In many of these cases, women are brought into Canada illegally or through a visitor's visa and are held on debt bondage of an estimated debt of $40,000. Through a period of 3 to 6 months, these women were required to pay off their debt through sex acts. Many instances, this debt grew larger as the women depended on their captives to provide drugs, food, condoms and other expenses.

Institutionalized exploitation has also been noted to occur to prostitutes who have been arrested for various infractions. In many occurences, their basic human rights were violated, including disrespect for personal privacy and improper legal representation. In some cases, many of these prostitutes were provided with inaccurate information through an interpreter and unintentionally sign away their rights. Many officials have also acknowledged the fact that most of these women are arrested with the intention of targeting the organizers of the prostitution ring. Ironically, the cycle of abuse and violence does not stop. With the enforcement of a thousand dollar bail, many prostitutes find their debts to their captives grow. Although bail conditions state that they are unable to engage in the sex industry, many prostitutes are unable to work in Canada legally and are forced back into the industry. Working alone without the surveilance their traffickers may at first seems all well and good, but it is not exactly so. These women are continually being exploited by clients and pimps. Many abuses are unreported for fear of dealing with the police. Unfortunately, the cycle of humiliation, shame and degradation has been perpetuated by our society condemning these sex trade workers to an unknown fate. If you want to make a differance, you can join us in the fight to end this viscious cycle.

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