admin @ Mon, 2006-09-18 11:00
Women's' groups yesterday called for a tougher crackdown on the sex industry which is still rampant in Korea despite a sweeping antiprostitution law that turns 2 years old this weekend. They also urged the government to expand support for those forced into the illegal business.
"More of society has begun to regard prostitution as a crime since the enforcement of the antiprostitution law, but the sex businesses have continued in shady spots due to the theory that prostitution is still necessary for men's biological desires," the Women Nonviolence Association said in a statement.
The group is a collation of eight female organizations including Korea Women's Associations United, Korea Women's Hot Line, Korean Womenlink and Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center.
Emphasizing how the theory has been meddling with the proper execution of the law, the association demanded the government step up its crackdown on enterprises that act as a front for the sex businesses and brothels. "Due to the recent crackdown on gambling houses, the police have neglected the curb upon brothels disguised as other businesses," they asserted.
Last week, the police announced an intensified crackdown period against prostitution for two months through Nov. 10, admitting that the illicit sex business that hides behind apparently legitimate enterprises has not yet been stamped out.
The Women Nonviolence group also asked the government to expand support for sex workers who have lost their jobs after enforcement of the law, and are still suffering from violence and poverty.
Of 5,249 women who consulted the center, 43.5 percent were debt-ridden, and more than half had been threatened, were suffering from disease, had family problems, or had become single mothers.
The antiprostitution law, effective as of September 2004. called for stricter punishment of those involved in the industry while aiming to protect women who were forced to become sex workers under extenuating circumstances.
As a result, the number of brothels in the nation fell from 1,679 to 1,061 and the number of sex workers decreased 52.3 percent from 5,567 to 2,763.
But despite the massive crackdown and changes in the societal perception of prostitution, sex-related criminal activity in so-called blind spots has not been stamped out completely.
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