Should sex trade be legalised?

International study backs legal sex trade
We'll pay tax if our work is legal, say prostitutes
Hong Kong should legalise the sex trade, according to preliminary findings of a three-year study of prostitution in the city and around the globe. But it does not recommend setting up a red-light district.

Zi Teng, a support group for sex workers that commissioned the study, noted that the demand for sexual services would not disappear and that sex workers were willing to pay tax within a regulated industry.

"Therefore, the government might as well legalise it and regulate it like other trades such as catering," said Elaine Lam Yee-ling, spokeswoman for the group.

Zi Teng said it commissioned a British group in 2005 to research how the industry was regulated on the mainland, in Britain, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries.

Preliminary results of the research will be released later this year, but Ms Lam said they would show that legalising the sex trade seemed to be the best path for the city.

"Problems are less complicated in countries where prostitution is legal, as police no longer have to make efforts to crack down on the trade," she said. "The administration just has to regulate the sex trade according to other ordinances such as fire safety or hygiene."

The study also found that setting up a red-light district was not an acceptable option for the city, as sex was still considered a taboo subject and the general public could not accept such an idea. "It would be difficult to find a place to locate a red-light district, as there would surely be strong objections from district councils and residents in the area."

The group said sex workers were willing to be regulated as other trades and to pay tax. "Sex workers have no problems about paying tax if they can be treated as other normal taxpayers who enjoy protection and respect in society," Ms Lam said.

"The government should devote some resources to educating the public that sex workers are no different from other workers and that they should not be discriminated against because of what they do for a living."

Private data of sex workers' clients would not be revealed if sex workers had to submit information when filling out tax forms, she said.

SCMP. Mar 22, 2008.