Democratic Voice of Burma |
| High risk and no reward for the ‘in-betweens’ of Burma’s sex industry Posted: 10 Jan 2014 05:22 PM PST No data exists about the number of women who work in the "grey area" of Burma’s sex industry, such as karaoke lounges and massage parlours. Yet even the most casual of observers cannot fail to notice the multitude of neon signs advertising "KTV" in virtually every metropolitan area across the country. According to Eamonn Murphy, the Myanmar country coordinator for UNAIDS, it's "well understood that additional services may be provided" at these venues, although the majority of managers on the premises will vehemently deny the fact that any sex work takes place when a health worker comes knocking on the door. This is chiefly due to Burma's stiff legal penalties against it. The Suppression of Prostitution Act (1949) was adapted from a colonial era law and stipulates a punishment of one to three years imprisonment for sex workers and pimps – however clients are not penalised. The legal definition of a brothel was broadened in 1998 to include any place used habitually for sex work, which Murphy says was in response to a surge in the number of massage parlours and karaoke lounges. "A lot of our outreach workers are told: 'We don't do sex work here so we don't need condoms'," said Anne Lancelot, director of the Population Services International (PSI) Targeted Outreach Programme. PSI provides sexual health services in all but three of Burma's 333 townships to those most at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, which includes sex workers, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users. "But let's be very clear – I don't know of any KTV girl who is not engaged in sex work," she said. While government data from 2012 estimates there are 60,000 sex workers in Burma, PSI says the actual figure is closer to 80,000 – and that there are 15,000 sex workers in Rangoon alone. However Lancelot said that due to the fragmentary nature of the industry in Burma, the figures are a "rough estimate". "Myanmar has no red light districts, other than in some border towns such as Muse. Overall it's very scattered and the sex worker population is highly mobile," she added. "It's not clear cut – sometimes the managers are telling the truth, because [sex] takes place at a nearby guesthouse rather than on the premises," said UNAIDS country coordinator Murphy. "Women are unlikely to tell their bosses about what happens with a client due to the illegal nature of their work – and there's also a lot of confusion due to the stigma associated with it." "Those in the grey area of the sex work industry are completely left out of HIV/AIDS strategies and activities because managers are concerned that being categorised as a sex work venue could get them in deep trouble," said Sid Naing, country director for UK-based support group Marie Stopes International. Ma Su (not her real name) works at a massage parlour in a derelict building on the outskirts of Pegu. The neighbourhood has around half a dozen massage parlours and three brothels, and at least 20 KTV venues exist throughout Pegu itself. The 26-year-old said that she moved from Three Pagodas Pass to Pegu after she divorced her husband as a result of his gambling and alcohol addictions. Ma Su is paid 700 kyat (US$0.70) for every hour she spends with a client and can only leave the premises between 5am and 10am. She is provided with free board in a dormitory in a separate building plus two meals a day, but she cannot take a day off unless she is sick. Ma Su told DVB that Marie Stopes International was the only NGO she encountered while working at the massage parlour during the past year. Outreach workers had taken blood tests from 10 women who were working there at the time. "Everyone was fine," she mumbled. Ma Su said that she didn't want to discuss whether or not she has sex with her clients as she also doesn't tell her bosses, but conceded that she was dependent on tips and that she is sometimes abused by her clients. A person who spoke on condition of anonymity said that he brings about two foreign tourists to this particular massage parlour every month. "They're mostly from Japan and Korea," he said. "Some are from America and sometimes they're European, though that's very rare. Western tourists are very wary. They don't want to go to prostitutes, so I bring them here." He said that foreigners are charged more than locals – up to 10,000 kyat for 15 minutes as opposed to 4,000 kyat for an hour. He said that foreign customers are also charged extra "if they don't come out of the room in time". "The women get paid the same no matter what," he said, adding that some of the women working there are as young as 16. Lancelot explained that a common scenario at KTV lounges is for an owner to pay a woman 30,000 kyat for a month's work, which may include going to a hotel with a client. "Payment is made up front, which locks the woman into the deal. Officially nothing happens at the KTV lounge, although the karaoke rooms are locked. She may earn a lot more from a client, but it will all go back to the KTV owner," she said. Lancelot added that there are a large number of brothels in Rangoon which don't permit the women to leave at all. Health workers must negotiate with the pimps and madams to bring the women back after they visit one of PSI's drop-in centres, which provides a range of sexual health services, as well as a safe place to relax. "However in most cases the women prefer to be taken in by pimps because it's a lot safer than being out on their own on the streets. And yet it's borderline slavery – they're living in bondage," she said. Jessica Mudditt is a freelance journalist based in Rangoon [Yangon]. To read more from her, click here.
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| Posted: 10 Jan 2014 05:20 PM PST Ups and downs The Burmese kyat remains unchanged this week – one US dollar still buys 984 kyat while the selling rate is 987 kyat. The value of gold is up, rising from 652,500 kyat per tical last week to 655,800 kyat this week. Fuel prices remain stable with petrol at 820 kyat per litre, diesel at 950 kyat and octane at 920. Rice too remains the same – high-quality Pawhsanmwe rice selling in Rangoon for 1,200- 1,300 kyat per basket while low-quality Emata rice is priced at 850- 900 kyat. CNPC crude pipeline 75 percent complete Welding is complete on the crude oil pipeline reaching from Burma's western Arakan coast to Yunnan, China, business news site Platts reported on Sunday. The pipeline is part of the Shwe gas and oil project, which also comprises a natural gas transport pipe, a transnational railway, a deep-sea port and several special economic and import zones. Construction on the project commenced in 2009 following an agreement between China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Burma's state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise. The crude oil pipe will transport resources from the Middle East and Africa while the already-operational natural gas line transports gas from Burma's Shwe field in the Bay of Bengal. According to Platts, the oil transport system is 75 percent built, and in late 2013 CNPC estimated a June 2014 start date for crude oil pipe operation. 30bn kyat to provide energy, water to rural Burma Ohn Myint, Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development, said that over 30bn kyat has been allocated to a pilot programme providing electricity, water and other development projects to 1,000 villages in rural Burma. Speaking at a recent rural development meeting in Naypyidaw, the minister said that the development scheme will be launched in January, and will be expanded to include other villages if proven successful. Hilux 'line-car' buses to be replaced on Rangoon streets The Rangoon divisional government has announced that the Hilux pickup trucks used for public transportation in the former Burmese capital will be taken off the streets at the end of February when they will be replaced by modern mini-buses. The Yangon Division Central Supervisory Committee for Motor Vehicles and Vessels proposed replacing the pickup trucks, popularised in the 1980s, due to their lack of safety and high rate of traffic accidents. Whisky (could be) a go go! Burma's Commerce Minister Win Myint says his ministry has been working on legalising the import of foreign brands of alcohol, including beers and wines, after a recent crackdown in Rangoon by government "mobile teams" that prompted supermarkets and other retailers to remove foreign brands from their shelves. The sale of foreign alcohol and cigarette brands has been banned in Burma since 1996, although some selected hotels were given government import licenses to sell to visitors. China still negotiating gas import price with Russia Contrary to earlier reports that China and Russia had agreed on gas import prices, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday that the two regional giants are still in negotiations that have continued for over ten years. China's natural gas imports were estimated around 43 billion cubic meters in 2012, a marked increase from previous years, as pipelines from low-cost suppliers like Burma and Turkmenistan have begun shipping resources to the country, adding a more competitive dimension to the Russia-China discussions. Malaysia's SCOMI partners with Petronas in Burma's gas and oil fields Scomi Energy Services Bhd, a Malaysia-based provider of gas and oil drilling supplies, has secured three-year contracts with Petronas Carigali Myanmar Inc and Petronas Carigali (Hong Kong) Ltd for drilling fluids, waste management equipment, materials and other services. According to press coverage on the Scomi company website, shares have gone up three percent since the deal was made. Pipeline Magazine reported on Thursday that work on the US$27 million deal has already begun. Japan pledges $96m development aid for Burma's ethnic states Japan has pledged 10 billion yen (US$96 million) to develop infrastructure in conflict-torn ethnic regions of Burma, Japanese Ambassador Mikio Numata announced at a press conference on Monday in Rangoon. The assistance will initially provide food and shelter to displaced persons, and later be funneled to road-building, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure, according to Dow Jones. The nearly $100 million is part of a $500 million development package pledged by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last year that included forgiving some $3.7 billion in debt owed by Burma. Read the full article here. Floods, insects to hurt Burma's rice yield in 2014 Rice production in some parts of Burma may decline by up to 43 percent due to flooding and insect attacks, industry news site ORYZA reported on Tuesday. Farmers along the Done-Tha-Mi river in eastern Burma say flooding and insect plagues are likely to cause severe rice shortages. Despite decreased production in some parts of the country, however, US Department of Agriculture projections for nationwide rice production remain unchanged. According to the USDA, Burma's rice production in 2013-14 is expected to increase to around 11 million tons, up about 3 percent from 2012-13. Read the full article here. Burma improving, but still risky for investors: Maplecroft Burma has been singled out as the most-improved country in the global business environment for 2014 by UK-based risk analyst Maplecroft in its annual Legal and Regulatory Environment Risk Atlas (LRERA). Maplecroft also identified Senegal, Guatemala, Mozambique and Rwanda along with Burma as among the countries with best performance over the last five years. The Maplecroft report also states that while the country is making huge strides to improve business practices, it is still placed in the LRERA 'extreme risk' category, with Burma's rank being 5th from the bottom of the index despite relative improvements. Read the full article here. |
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