Former sex workers fight to forge new lives
It is a scorching day like any other during this time of year in HCM City. But it is a day different from many in the last 26 years of the life of Le Lan Chi.
Chi, now 40, gets up early, wears old clothes and goes to a tea shop in District 1 to prepare materials for making and serving tea. Finishing her work at noon, she rushes to her apartment to work sewing clothes.
In the past, Chi (not her real name) rose in the late afternoon, dressed and made herself up, and went to work in the evening, standing on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street waiting for customers.
She generally did not return home until about 3am, when she would again sleep until the following afternoon. As a sex worker, she earned millions of dong every month.
"I currently earn only VND3 million (US$142) per month from my new jobs which are not enough to lead my life and my little daughter in this big city," Chi said. "I am still struggling with myself not to return to prostitution."
However, Chi is still much luckier than the estimated 15,000 sex workers in HCM City who remain stuck in this life.
Statistics from volunteer and non-governmental organisations in the city show nearly 1,000 sex workers have received training about safe sex, as well as free vocational training and job-search orientation for a year. However, only about a dozen have managed to give up prostitution and find legitimate, permanent jobs through these efforts.
"Shouldering the burden of families is a common factor pushing many women into becoming sex workers," said the head of the Hoa Cat Tuong volunteer group, Do Thuy An My. "So only when a different job earns them enough money to support their families do they change."
A recent survey by the Institute for Family and Gender confirmed that over 50 per cent of sex workers do this work to earn money for their families.
Nguyen Thi Hue, head of the Department of Intervention and Consequence Minimisation of the city's HIV/AIDS Prevention Committee, says many of these sex workers were also illiterate and unskilled so it was difficult for them to work in companies or factories. Social discrimination was another major obstacle to their reintegration into mainstream life, Hue said.
Chi says she failed to give up "her job" at least four times.
As an orphan, she went into prostitution when she was 14 years old after being "kicked out of the house" by her adopted mother's relatives and meeting with too much violence and abuse when she went to work in restaurants and workshops.
"Die or Live. I chose the second," she said. "But it was a bitter choice."
Chi tried selling fish at the market, and then fruit juice, but she lost money each time. She finally realised that "customers don't want to buy anything from a prostitute." Chi returned to the streets.
When Chi was 26, she met a man who fell in love with her and they got married. "I had a second chance to give up the job and lead a normal life as a housewife."
However, two years later, she was "kicked out of house again" by her husband who married another woman while Chi was pregnant. She had to stay out the streets to save money for her delivery. She found no way to feed her newborn baby but returned to be a sex worker.
When her daughter was seven, she was ostracised by other children who found out what Chi did for a living.
"Seeing her tears, I blamed myself for making her feel ashamed. I needed to try one more time to quit this work."
Chi found a job as a housekeeper which earned only VND2 million ($95) a month and required her to live separate from her little girl. After her daughter fell ill with fever without anyone to care for her, Chi gave up her job and returned to the "old way".
She was soon arrested, and she remained incarcerated until the Women's Union of District 4 guaranteed her. She was persuaded by the union to learn to sew.
"A helpful hand was being given to me," Chi said. "I couldn't miss this chance."
Tran Phuong Lan, 36, another sex worker also says she has tried to give up the work many times, said, "Life has treated me terribly." Lan has worked at cafes, workshops and even worked as a porter at markets, but none of these jobs enabled her to feed her two children and her drug addiction.
"My pimp cheated me to use drugs so that I had to be his slave for life and earn money for him," Lan said.
In contrast to Chi and Lan, Nguyen Le Quyen returned to her family home in the countryside to try to lead a normal life as a farmer, but she was driven away by her family.
"I have lost all trust in life so I had no strength to integrate into this life again," Quyen said.
Hue says sex workers who wanted to reform were encouraged to participate in job training courses even while still working as prostitutes. "They are not forced to do or not to do anything," Hue said. "It is all their choice."
Sex workers were eligible for financial assistance of VND2 million ($95) to attend training courses such as doing nails or hairdressing, she added.
However, My said, this amount was insufficient for them to attend courses long enough to become skilled and employable. Therefore, under a new model, investment focuses on intensively training a few key individuals in a field such as operating a nail salon. These women would then take responsibility to teach others for free, My said.
Some former sex workers have jointly set up nail salons, hiring other sex workers, she noted.
Le Van Quy, deputy head of the Social Evils Prevention Unit under the city's Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the department would also launch another pilot model to give financial assistance of VND8-30 million ($380-1,428) to those who wish to run their own businesses. The condition for the aid would be that they present a feasible plan for the department to consider, Quy said.
Still, Hue cautioned, the number of sex workers receiving help to change their lives has remained modest. Relevant State agencies were making efforts but needed assistance from various organisations and from the public, who needed to be urged to open their hearts and embrace the efforts of these woman struggling to change their lives for the better.
Meanwhile, Chi is still getting more help from the Women's Union of District 4 to completely give up prostitution. Her daughter is being sent to a boarding school without any fee, coming home to her mother on the weekends. This has made it easier for Chi to focus on her new work making tea and sewing clothes.
Chi has also begun volunteering to train other sex workers in safe sex practices and to intervene with them when they are in need.
"There are not many helping hands given to sex workers," Chi said. "Each of us should try to escape and then pull others out of the swamp."
She admits her current income is only a twentieth of what it was before, but she says she has peace of mind.
"For the first time of my life, I can feel proud of the money I gain and look straight into my daughter's eyes. I look forward to the day when I can feed her on my own."
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| Former sex workers, who agreed to be photographed, learn make-up skills as part of their route to a different career. |
In the past, Chi (not her real name) rose in the late afternoon, dressed and made herself up, and went to work in the evening, standing on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street waiting for customers.
She generally did not return home until about 3am, when she would again sleep until the following afternoon. As a sex worker, she earned millions of dong every month.
"I currently earn only VND3 million (US$142) per month from my new jobs which are not enough to lead my life and my little daughter in this big city," Chi said. "I am still struggling with myself not to return to prostitution."
However, Chi is still much luckier than the estimated 15,000 sex workers in HCM City who remain stuck in this life.
Statistics from volunteer and non-governmental organisations in the city show nearly 1,000 sex workers have received training about safe sex, as well as free vocational training and job-search orientation for a year. However, only about a dozen have managed to give up prostitution and find legitimate, permanent jobs through these efforts.
"Shouldering the burden of families is a common factor pushing many women into becoming sex workers," said the head of the Hoa Cat Tuong volunteer group, Do Thuy An My. "So only when a different job earns them enough money to support their families do they change."
A recent survey by the Institute for Family and Gender confirmed that over 50 per cent of sex workers do this work to earn money for their families.
Nguyen Thi Hue, head of the Department of Intervention and Consequence Minimisation of the city's HIV/AIDS Prevention Committee, says many of these sex workers were also illiterate and unskilled so it was difficult for them to work in companies or factories. Social discrimination was another major obstacle to their reintegration into mainstream life, Hue said.
Chi says she failed to give up "her job" at least four times.
As an orphan, she went into prostitution when she was 14 years old after being "kicked out of the house" by her adopted mother's relatives and meeting with too much violence and abuse when she went to work in restaurants and workshops.
"Die or Live. I chose the second," she said. "But it was a bitter choice."
Chi tried selling fish at the market, and then fruit juice, but she lost money each time. She finally realised that "customers don't want to buy anything from a prostitute." Chi returned to the streets.
When Chi was 26, she met a man who fell in love with her and they got married. "I had a second chance to give up the job and lead a normal life as a housewife."
However, two years later, she was "kicked out of house again" by her husband who married another woman while Chi was pregnant. She had to stay out the streets to save money for her delivery. She found no way to feed her newborn baby but returned to be a sex worker.
When her daughter was seven, she was ostracised by other children who found out what Chi did for a living.
"Seeing her tears, I blamed myself for making her feel ashamed. I needed to try one more time to quit this work."
Chi found a job as a housekeeper which earned only VND2 million ($95) a month and required her to live separate from her little girl. After her daughter fell ill with fever without anyone to care for her, Chi gave up her job and returned to the "old way".
She was soon arrested, and she remained incarcerated until the Women's Union of District 4 guaranteed her. She was persuaded by the union to learn to sew.
"A helpful hand was being given to me," Chi said. "I couldn't miss this chance."
Tran Phuong Lan, 36, another sex worker also says she has tried to give up the work many times, said, "Life has treated me terribly." Lan has worked at cafes, workshops and even worked as a porter at markets, but none of these jobs enabled her to feed her two children and her drug addiction.
"My pimp cheated me to use drugs so that I had to be his slave for life and earn money for him," Lan said.
In contrast to Chi and Lan, Nguyen Le Quyen returned to her family home in the countryside to try to lead a normal life as a farmer, but she was driven away by her family.
"I have lost all trust in life so I had no strength to integrate into this life again," Quyen said.
Hue says sex workers who wanted to reform were encouraged to participate in job training courses even while still working as prostitutes. "They are not forced to do or not to do anything," Hue said. "It is all their choice."
Sex workers were eligible for financial assistance of VND2 million ($95) to attend training courses such as doing nails or hairdressing, she added.
However, My said, this amount was insufficient for them to attend courses long enough to become skilled and employable. Therefore, under a new model, investment focuses on intensively training a few key individuals in a field such as operating a nail salon. These women would then take responsibility to teach others for free, My said.
Some former sex workers have jointly set up nail salons, hiring other sex workers, she noted.
Le Van Quy, deputy head of the Social Evils Prevention Unit under the city's Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the department would also launch another pilot model to give financial assistance of VND8-30 million ($380-1,428) to those who wish to run their own businesses. The condition for the aid would be that they present a feasible plan for the department to consider, Quy said.
Still, Hue cautioned, the number of sex workers receiving help to change their lives has remained modest. Relevant State agencies were making efforts but needed assistance from various organisations and from the public, who needed to be urged to open their hearts and embrace the efforts of these woman struggling to change their lives for the better.
Meanwhile, Chi is still getting more help from the Women's Union of District 4 to completely give up prostitution. Her daughter is being sent to a boarding school without any fee, coming home to her mother on the weekends. This has made it easier for Chi to focus on her new work making tea and sewing clothes.
Chi has also begun volunteering to train other sex workers in safe sex practices and to intervene with them when they are in need.
"There are not many helping hands given to sex workers," Chi said. "Each of us should try to escape and then pull others out of the swamp."
She admits her current income is only a twentieth of what it was before, but she says she has peace of mind.
"For the first time of my life, I can feel proud of the money I gain and look straight into my daughter's eyes. I look forward to the day when I can feed her on my own."
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