Written by Oiwan Lam
Well-known blogger and feminist activist Ye Haiyan, also known as Liumang Yan (Hooligan Sparrow), decided to provide sexual services to rural peasant workers on January 11 in defense of sex workers’ rights after she witnessed a recent raid by police officers in a brothel in Guangxi province.
Liu wrote about her day of prostitution on her Sina Weibo account on January 12 and while her posts were removed by Sina employees, Liu has a backup of her writings on Tencent’s Qzone personal diary site. Her account illustrates the lives of the lowest strata sex workers in China. Below is a reconstruction of her deleted Sina microblog posts taken from Qzone:
我今天在å元店潜ä¼åšè°ƒæŸ¥ï¼Œæ£å¥½é‡ä¸Šä¸€ä¸ªå§å¦¹è¢«è¦å¯ŸæŠ“走。这些å§å¦¹ä¸Žé¡¾å®¢ä¸€æ¬¡æ€§äº¤çš„ä»·æ ¼åœ¨10元至20元之间,属于低价交易,年关难过。希望è¦å¯ŸæŒ‰ç…§ä¸å›½æ³•å¾‹çš„è¦æ±‚,酌情,从轻处罚,ä¸è¦ä¸ºäº†ä»Žä¸æžå–好处,而选择最高é‡åˆ‘。也希望大家帮忙呼å,使å§å¦¹ä»¬å…å—åˆæ³•æŠ¢åŠ«ã€‚事å‘地,广西åšç™½ã€‚
Translation:
Today I conducted investigative research at a 10-dollar sexshop and witnessed the arrest of a sister by police. These sisters are paid between RMB 10-20 (USD 1.5-3) for having sexual intercourse with their customers. They are serving in the lowest strata of society. I wish that police would exercise discretion and not harshly exploit them with fines. I also wish the public would speak out against this legal robbery of our sisters. The arrest took place in Bobai, Guangxi.
这个å§å¦¹å分çƒå¿ƒï¼Œå¥¹è¾›è‹¦èµšé’±ï¼Œäº¤å®Œæˆ¿ç§Ÿï¼Œå‡†å¤‡å›žå®¶è¿‡å¹´ã€‚刚刚打好了洗头水,说洗完头就回家,结果就被è¦å¯ŸæŠ“了。 我想看看,ä¸å›½æ”¿åºœï¼Œæ˜¯ä»¥ç½šæ¬¾ä¸ºç›®çš„,还是为了解决民生治安为目的。性工作者在éšè”½çš„场所,解决了农民工的性需求,也解决了自己的生å˜é—®é¢˜ï¼Œè€Œä¸å›½æ”¿åºœåœ¨åšä»€ä¹ˆï¼Ÿ
Translation:
This sister is very hardworking. She earns enough money to pay rent and is preparing to go home for the lunar new year. She was preparing to wash her hair when police officers apprehended her. I wonder whether such kind of a raid is for the sake of punishment or social security. Sex workers serve the sexual needs of rural migrant workers at the same time that they solve their own survival problems in a private setting. What has the Chinese government done to help them?
åŸå»ºæŸ±è€å¸ˆï¼šå¸Œæœ›æ‚¨èƒ½ä½“谅民间的疾苦,ä¸è¦ä»Žæ€§å·¥ä½œè€…身上,谋å–行政ç»è´¹ã€‚特别是贫困的性工作者。希望公安部能在内部å‘个通知,对于贫困性工作者,在年关之际,少下黑手。 ä¸å›½æ°‘间女æƒå·¥ä½œå®¤å¶æµ·ç‡•ï¼Œæ·±åˆ‡æ³æ±‚。
Master Meng Jianzhu [Translator note: Meng is China’s Minister of Public Security]: Hope you can understand the pain of the grassroots. Don’t exploit administrative fees from sex workers, especially the poorest among them. I wish that the Public Security Bureau could issue an internal notice and ask the police officers to stop raiding poor sex workers, particular as the new year approaches. A humble plea from Ye Haiyan, Chinese grassroots women’s rights defender.
我从现在开始,对æ¥è¿™é‡Œçš„农民工æä¾›å…费的性æœåŠ¡ï¼Œä¸€æ˜¯ä»¥å…他们被è¦å¯ŸæŠ“,处以高é¢ç»æµŽå¤„罚,被åˆæ³•æŠ¢åŠ«ï¼ŒäºŒæ˜¯ä¸ºè§£å†³åŸºå±‚百姓的性需求,缓解社会压力åšå‡ºåŠªåŠ›ã€‚ä¸‰æ˜¯ç”¨æˆ‘çš„é«˜é£Žäº®èŠ‚å¯¹æ¯”æ”¿åºœçš„éº»æœ¨æ— æƒ…ã€‚å¸Œæœ›å¯¹ä»–ä»¬æœ‰æ‰€è§¦åŠ¨ã€‚æ´»åŠ¨æ˜Žå¤©ç»“æŸã€‚
Beginning now, I am providing free sexual services for rural migrant workers. First of all, this is to prevent them from being caught and legally robbed by police. Secondly, this is to serve the sexual needs of the grassroots and help relieve social pressure. Thirdly, I want to create a sharp contrast between my love for the grassroots and the cruelty of the government. I hope that they will be touched by my action, which will end tomorrow.
今天我æ供第一个å…费性æœåŠ¡çš„是一个18å²çš„农æ‘å©å。他在门å£è½¬æ‚ ï¼Œé—®æˆ‘å¤šå°‘é’±ï¼Ÿæˆ‘è¯´ï¼Œä½ ç»™å¤šå°‘é’±ï¼Ÿä»–è¯´ï¼Œåå—é’±å¯ä»¥å—?我问他多大,他说18å²ï¼Œä¸ºä»€ä¹ˆæ¥è¿™ç§åœ°æ–¹ï¼Œæ˜¯ä¸æ˜¯å¤„男?他似乎å¬ä¸æ‡‚,æ‰å¤´è¦èµ°ã€‚我说,æ¥å§ï¼Œæˆ‘è·Ÿä½ åšï¼Œä¸è¦é’±ã€‚然åŽå¸®ä»–带上套å,告诉他出门去玩一定è¦å¸¦å®‰å…¨å¥—。
My first sexual service was given to an 18-year-old boy from a rural village. He was hovering outside the brothel before he asked me how much it cost. I asked him how much he could pay, and he asked if RMB 10 was enough. I asked him how old he was, he answered 18. I asked him why he came, whether he was a virgin. He didn’t seem to understand my question and wanted to leave. I said: come in, I’ll do it for free. I helped him put on a condom and reminded him to bring his own every time he needs this kind of sexual service in the future.
我为四个人æ供了å…费的性æœåŠ¡ã€‚å…¶ä¸ä¸€ä¸ªè€äººäº”å多å²ï¼Œä»–ç©¿ç€å¾ˆç ´æ—§ï¼Œå› 为在下雨,他穿ç€é›¨è¡£ï¼Œé›¨éž‹ï¼Œè„¸ä¸Šæ»¡æ˜¯çš±çº¹ï¼Œæˆ‘说ä¸è¦é’±ï¼Œä»–问为什么?当他看到我白嫩的身体,我相信他ä¸ç†è§£è¿™æ˜¯æ€Žä¹ˆå›žäº‹ï¼Œæˆ‘说我是北京派æ¥çš„。这个社会有许多的ä¸å¹³ç‰ã€‚èµ·æ¥ï¼Œæœºä¼šï¼Œæƒåˆ©,å‘展ä¸å¹³ç‰ï¼Œ…性,居然也ä¸å¹³ç‰ã€‚
I provided free sexual services to 4 people. One of them was in his fifties. It was raining and he was wearing rain clothes and boots, had wrinkles all over his face. I said I provided free service. He asked why, looking at my shining white skin, not understanding what the deal was. I told him I had been sent by Beijing. This society is so full of inequalities. Family background, opportunities, rights, development…even sex is unequal.
è€ç™¾å§“,åªæ˜¯æ‰“个炮而已。他打一次炮,åªèŠ±åå—é’±,他开支得起。这对他的生活,ä¸ä¼šæœ‰ä»»ä½•å½±å“,对社会也没影å“。他也许娶ä¸èµ·è€å©†ï¼Œå¨¶ä¸åˆ°è€å©†ï¼Œå¯åŽ»æ‰¾ä¸ªå°å§ï¼Œæ»¡è¶³ä¸€ä¸‹ç”Ÿç†éœ€æ±‚ï¼Œä½ ä»¬å´è¦åœ¨ä»–身上抢劫三åƒï¼Œä½ 们这些æµæ°“强盗已ç»æŠŠä»–ä»¬é€¼åˆ°è¿™æ ·çš„è§’è½ï¼Œä½ 们还è¦åœ¨æš—地里,敲诈一笔,会ä¸ä¼šå¤ªç‹ 了点ï¼
All the grassroots want is sex. He can afford RMB 10, it won’t negatively effect his life or society. Men like him don’t have enough money to get a wife, but at least they can fulfill their sexual needs through sex workers. Yet you want to rob RMB 3,000 from them? First you push them into the darkest corner, and still you want to rob
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