Sex trafficking in China
The People's Republic of China (PRC) is a country of origin, destination, and transit for human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery.
[22][23] Foreign women and children mostly from Burma, Mongolia, North Korea, Russia, and Vietnam are trafficked to China for forced labor, marriage, and prostitution.
[32] The global spread of high-speed internet and increase in computer, tablet, and smartphone ownership have fueled online or virtual forced prostitution and sex abuse and the creation of illegal pornographic videos purchased by users worldwide.
[1][17] Chinese government ministries, as well as international and domestic agencies and organisations, do some work to combat sex trafficking patterns, but this has not brought substantive improvements and responses have proved insufficient.
[38][27][39][17] Available statistics indicate that China needs to devote greater resources and implement better policies and strategies designed to reduce sex trafficking in the country.
[33][35] Victims of sex trafficking for sexual slavery in China include children, adults, impoverished, migrants, disabled persons, ethnic and religious minorities, foreigners, and overseas Chinese.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that non-Chinese women escaping conditions of forced marriage, some pregnant[11] are at times not granted access to shelters and their services.
Emergency shelters, physical and mental health services, education, job training, financial assistance, and family reunification are available for all groups.
[1][39] Those from rural areas and migrant students, as well as left-behind children whose parents have migrated to the cities and other countries, have been identified as a vulnerable population to sex trafficking.
[38] The hukou household registration system in China has contributed to the vulnerability of internal migrants by limiting employment opportunities and reducing access to social services, particularly for Chinese victims returning from exploitation abroad.
[10] Women and girls from minority groups are at an increased risk of sex trafficking because of population displacements and a lack of political representation, power, and protection.
[57][58] Vietnamese women were viewed in China as "inured to hardship, resigned to their fate, and in addition of very gentle character" so they were in demand as concubines and servants.
[62] Foreign women and girls from Russia,[63] Vietnam,[64][21] Mongolia,[28] North Korea[65] Myanmar,[66] Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda[67] Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia,[68] Laos, Philippines, Indonesia, and other countries have been trafficked into China for sexual exploitation.
[70][71] Authorities continue to detain and deport North Korean sexually trafficked victims who may face severe punishment or death upon their repatiration.
[55][90] The brothels are often indirect sex establishments, such as beer gardens, massage parlors, salons, karaoke bars, retail spaces, and non-commercial sites.
[91][56] Other locations include construction sites, remote mining and logging camps, and areas with high concentrations of Chinese migrant workers.
[55] A number of sexually trafficked victims in China, including North Korean migrants, are deceived or abducted[94] and coerced[94] into cybersex slavery.
[95] Illicit brokers increasingly facilitate the forced and fraudulent marriage, or bride trafficking, of Chinese women and foreigners to men in China and from abroad.
The Chinese government's birth limitation policy and the cultural preference for sons have resulted in an uneven sex ratio, contributing substantially to the demand for brides from rural areas and outside of China.
[99] Bride-trafficking or forced marriages in China is a serious problem that is caused by three things, lack of legal action, vulnerability, and over-population of male citizens.
“The one child policy, paired with the cultural preference for sons, has resulted in a skewed sex ratio in rural China and its impoverished regions” (Stöckl et al.
Members of criminal organizations use fraudulent employment offers, threats, direct force, and kidnapping to trafficked victims into sexual exploitation and slavery.
[122][123] Male traffickers often entice females with phony online dating relationships and persuade them to move to a different province or abroad, then subject them to sexual slavery.
Under the provisions of article 296 of the Criminal Code, a person who enslaves another or places him in a position without freedom, similar to slavery, shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than one and not more than seven years.
[1] Several projects have been initiated by the All China Women's Federation (ACWF) to prevent trafficking among migrant populations in various source and destination provinces.
[1] Shelters provide interim care to trafficking victims with managers and staff in most provinces having received training (Ministry of Civil Affairs).
In conjunction with an international organisation, authorities sponsored and participated in trainings on victim identification and assistance for consular officials and law enforcement, regulation of marriage migration, and interagency implementation of the national referral mechanism.
The Ministry of Public Security promulgated written instructions to law enforcement officers throughout the country with the aim of clarifying procedures for identifying victims among individuals in prostitution and those who may be subjected to exploitation via forced or fraudulent marriage.
[128] According to Human Rights Watch, Chinese law enforcement officers in certain jurisdictions make little effort to save sex trafficking victims.
[132][133] The Korea Future Initiative is a London-based organization that obtains evidence and publicizes violations of human rights, including the sex and cybersex trafficking of North Korean women and girls in China.
