No more forced labour for China sex workers

BEIJING: China has abolished the extrajudicial detention for up to two years without trial of sex workers and clients known as “custody and education”, a practice long criticised by human rights groups and lawyers.

Prostitution remains illegal in the mainland, state media reported; it also remains widespread.

The “detention and re-education for those involved in prostitution” programme, which had existed for nearly three decades, was recommended for abolition in December 2018 by the Legislative Affairs Commission of China’s National Peoples’ Congress – the country’s rubberstamp Parliament - Standing Committee.

“China’s top legislature Saturday voted to abolish the ‘custody and education’ system, a penalty reserved for law violations related to prostitution. The decision was passed at the end of a sixday bimonthly session of the National People’s Congress

Standing Committee. The decision will go into effect Sunday,” official Xinhua news agency reported.

“The ‘custody and education’ system was abolished, but prostitution is still illegal under the law on penalties for the administration of public security,” the report said, adding that China’s Criminal Law stipulates the crimes and penalties for organising and forcing prostitution.

Beijing doesn’t publish regular numbers of detainees but mainland media had earlier reported a steady decrease in detentions in recent years. The ‘custody and education’ measures had come under sharp criticism from groups like the Human Rights Watch but the Xinhua report said it had helped to maintain a “good social atmosphere”.

MORE THAN 300,000 PEOPLE WERE DETAINED BETWEEN 1987 AND 2000, ACCORDING TO ASIA CATALYST, AN NGO