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Factbook
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Factbook on Global Sexual
Exploitation
Malaysia
Trafficking
Malaysia is receiving country for trafficked women from Indonesia, the
Philippines, Thailand, China, India, Taiwan, Singapore, Burma, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and
Laos. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Malaysian women can be found in prostitution in Hong Kong and Australia. (CATW - Asia
Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Case
In a brothel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 37 Thai and Chinese women were found hidden in
a small secret room during a police raid on a restaurant which fronted as a brothel. Up to
12 men bought them each night for M$18 (Bt215), which went to the brothel owner and pimps.
The women were in very poor mental and physical health. Some of the women were suffering
from asthma and some from wounds caused by severe beatings. The women were never allowed
outside. Malaysian police in cooperation with Thai officials carried out the rescue. The
raid team, comprised of more than 50 officers, used hammers and acetylene torches to cut
through three iron gates. ("Thai sex slaves set free," The Nation, 25
July 1997)
Prostitution
There are
43,000 to 142,000 or more prostituted persons in Malaysia. Prostituted persons are mainly
adult women, but there are also male, transvestite and child prostitutes, both girls and
boys. (International Labor Organization. Dario Agnote, "Sex trade key part of S.E.
Asian economies, study says," Kyodo News, 18 August 1998)
Studies show that more than half of those ''rescued'' from
various sex establishments were under age 18. (Dario Agnote, "Sex trade key part of
S.E. Asian economies, study says," Kyodo News, 18 August 1998)
Eight women from
Russia between the ages of 18 and 33 have been arrested in Kota-Kinibalu, on the island of
Borneo, Malaysia. Local police said the women had been detained on charges of
prostitution. They were taken to custody after a raid conducted at a hotel. Three men from
Malaysia suspected of hiring the women have also been arrested. Other Russian women
incriminated in prostitution have been expelled from the country. ("Eight prostitutes
from Russia arrested in Malaysia," ITAR/TASS, 16 August 1998)
There are 142,000 women in prostitution in Malaysia; 8,000-10,000 in
Kuala Lumpur. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia
Pacific)
There
is no way of obtaining correct information on prostitution since the government doesn't
compile them, said Malaysian Social Development Minister Zaleha Ismail. (Philip Waller,
"UN: Prostitution Booming in Asia," Associated Press Online, 20 August
1998)
Recreation business, such as entertainment and fitness clubs, are the main channels for
prostitution. Almost every town has a red-light district. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking
in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Prostitution Tourism
Malaysia is a particular destination for various nations' sex tours.
(CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Factbook Table of Contents
CATW
Homepage
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation
Donna M. Hughes, Laura Joy Sporcic, Nadine Z. Mendelsohn and Vanessa Chirgwin
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