“Welcome Alan. Eva is ready.”
“Thank you, Captain Leong.”
Room 203. The door opened. A Malay lady at her 20s showed up. I must say Eva was decent looking, with a pair of bright, intense eyes.
“Alan? Come in. Don’t be shy,” Eva dragged me into her room.
“Interview? Common, all the guys here are for my body. Just clean yourself and we can get into actions.” She leaned her face on my left chest and swirled her fingers playfully on my right chest. She gave me that teasing, flirtatious look through her intense, bright eyes. She begun to take off her clothes. I saw stretch marks on her waist.
“The washroom is over that side. You can take off your clothes and hang it at the door.”
I knew I had to maintain a respectful physical distance to build trust. I sat on the chair, and I told her in a serious tone, “I am here to know more about your profession as paid girl. Just an hour of your time for this interview.”
She was intrigued. “Ok, since you paid for it. Can I smoke?”
“Sure.”
I took out my pen and my notebook. She looked at me with a curious eye.
“You are handsome. And kinda cute for your age.”
“Thank you. How long have you been working as paid girl?”
“7 years. Since 2014.”
“Anyone recommended you work here?”
“My boyfriend.” I throw a gaze of utter disbelief.
“Your boyfriend? You knew what you are going to do, but why?”
“I think I was stupid. My boyfriend needed some cash for his drug fix. I thought I loved him by giving him money, but I was wrong. So wrong. Worse, I had his child…..”
“Where is he now?”
“That jerk. He is in Bentong Prison for possessing drugs. Useless man.”
“How many kids you have?”
“2 kids. The eldest son is 7. The second daughter is 2. They are at shelter home. I visit them once a month.”
“Did you try to get a more ‘decent’ job?”
“I was paid pathetically as a part timer promoter. After I paid my rent, I couldn't even give proper meals to my kids. Nobody wanted to hire me. I left school at 16. I was pregnant then. My mum is down with breast cancer. She needs money to save her life. Now. ”
“Why don’t you get your own clients instead of working with Captain Leong?”
“The risks are too high. I’m better off to work with syndicates
even though they took half of what you paid. I’m paid less, but the clients I
received are screened through. The place is monitored. If I’m caught by law enforcers, it will be over.
If I work alone, I do not know which client will turn nasty. Some were jerks. They attacked us, we were raped and perform sexual acts we never consented. Sometimes, they even threatened to report us to law enforcers. Not single cent paid to us. It is way better to work with these syndicates.”
I fell into deep train of thoughts. We continued to conversation for 40 mins. I got to know her better as a person, rather than a meat for sexual gratification. Even though I disagree what she was doing, she deserved to be respected for the work she is doing. In Eva’s own words:
“Alan, at the end of the day, we just want to be treated and respected as a worker.”
The existence of sex industry is deeply entrenched by social inequality. Most buyers of sex are men with money, and most sellers are women without. If Eva chooses to sell sex because she is poor, judged by society and can’t find a decent job to support her family, taking that option doesn’t change her socioeconomic status. It made it worse. They are among the most vulnerable group in our society.
Legalization is clearly the way to go. It is to give sex workers like Eva more legal protections, allowing them to resist abuse and report it authorities without fear of arrest. By legalizing prostitution, Eva can work together with her colleagues for safety, employers are accountable to state and Eva’s rights could be protected.
An hour with Eva showed me the irony of society. Irony is
prostitution is created and denied. Both by society. It represents a moral,
economic and social problem that cannot be solved juridically. To the very
least, legalization can protect their rights and respect them as worker. People
like Eva are part of our society. We may not agree with their choices, but we
can choose to be compassionate, respectful and less judgemental.
An hour with Eva showed me the true meaning of respect and compassion.
PS: The names are pseudo name to protect their identity
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