Chinese Migrant Women in the Sex Industry

• Author: Min Liu
• DOI: 10.1177/1557085112436836
• Published date: 01 October 2012
• Date: 01 October 2012

Feminist Criminology

7(4) 327 –349

© The Author(s) 2012

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DOI: 10.1177/1557085112436836

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436836FCX7410.1177/155708

5112436836LiuFeminist Criminology

1Kean University, Union, NJ

Corresponding Author:

Min Liu, Kean University, 1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083

Email: mliu@kean.edu

Chinese Migrant Women in

the Sex Industry: Exploring

Their Paths to Prostitution

Min Liu1

Abstract

Rapidly growing migration and entertainment industry in China since the 1980s

have resulted in numerous rural migrant women working as prostitutes. Previous

studies have identified a number of factors contributing to women’s involvement

in prostitution. It is unknown, however, whether these factors apply to Chinese

women’s situation. The current study’s findings show that the presence of friends and/

or coworkers, the prevalence of entertainment establishments, and advertisements

appear as indispensable factors in women’s involvement in prostitution. It is suggested

that future studies pay attention to the effects of situational factors on women’s

involvement in prostitution.

Keywords

comparative issues, ethnographic research, prostitution, qualitative research, trafficking

Introduction

Prostitution, in one form or another, has existed in many, if not all, societies. It is so

deeply rooted in social, political, and economic life that it is impervious to legal con-

trol and public condemnation, and it adapts to any changes in society. As one of the

oldest professions in the world, prostitution has existed in China for more than 2,000

years (Gil & Anderson, 1998; Ren, 1993; Zhou, 2006), despite economic develop-

ment, cultural traditions, changes in social systems, and authoritative suppression.

Just as prostitution evolved into a highly visible, industrialized business with economic

development, industrialization, and urbanization in the mid–19th-century United States

(Barry, 1995), so too has Chinese prostitution revived and grown rapidly since the

328 Feminist Criminology 7(4)

1980s when China moved toward industrialization and urbanization. Chinese govern-

ment ended its isolation from the outside world in 1978 and initiated economic

reforms, which has profoundly changed people’s life. A series of economic reform

policies have produced double-digit economic growth rates, helping to lift millions of

people out of poverty (Ravallion & Chen, 2004). As the economy boomed, China

began to witness a large-scale migration of people. Rapid economic development

along China’s east coast, along with the presence of unemployed laborers in undevel-

oped and underdeveloped parts of China, has resulted in massive internal migration.

Farmers, who have a limited choice between physically demanding occupations, such

as construction, renovation, and manufacture, constitute the main part of the migrant

population (“The Number of Migrant People Has Reached 140 Million,” 2007). For

women and girls, the sex industry provides a convenient option (Ren, 2000) and is a

major receptor of female migrants (Davidson, 2001). Beginning in 1982, the rate of

prostitution has increased every year (Jeffreys, 2004; Zhou, 2006). Media reports

describe it as the fastest-growing industry in the country (French, 2006).

With prostitution thriving in China, an important aspect of this issue—the connec-

tion between human trafficking and prostitution—has surfaced. The mass movement

has seemingly created opportunities for traffickers to lure women and girls who are

desperate for well-paying jobs. They can become easy prey for sex traders, who offer

jobs that do not materialize, with the exception of prostitution work (Gil, Wang,

Anderson, & Lin, 1994). Very little research has been done on prostitution as it relates

to sex trafficking. A handful of studies on Chinese prostitution focus heavily on the

abolition of prostitution by the Communist government in the 1950s, the sociocultural

and psychological factors that contributed to the resurgence of prostitution, the current

legal response, and the limited effect of police campaigns against it (e.g., Anderson &

Gil, 1994; Evans, 1997; Gil & Anderson, 1998; Ren, 1999; Zhang, 2006; Zhou, 2006).

Rare attempts had been made to examine whether negative experiences of women dur-

ing their childhood (i.e., violence, abuse, dysfunctional family) are predictors of adult

involvement in prostitution, how these women end up in prostitution, whether or not

they are victims of trafficking, and so on. The present study aims to shed light on these

issues. It attempts to examine prostitution and human trafficking in China within the

context of a society in transition—an isolated, agricultural, and underdeveloped coun-

try transforming into an open, industrialized, and urbanized one.

Literature Review

Prostitution and Childhood Experiences, Poverty, and Situational Factors

Researchers have tried to identify factors that are responsible for women’s entry into

prostitution. Previous research has examined the relationship between prostitution and

early childhood experiences (Brunschot & Brannigan, 2002; Bullough & Bullough,

1996; James & Meryerding, 1977; Jesson, 1993; Nandon, Koverola, & Schludermann,

1998; Seng, 1989; Simons & Whitbeck, 1991), family background (Dalla, 2006;