Prostitution in Singapore (Part 4) : Born into prostituition

How can we get the message across to young people about sex trafficking and prostitution?

For many years, panelist Saleemah Ismail, worked with the National Committee for The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in Singapore. Part of her job was to give talks to schools about sex trafficking. She said the independent schools were very responsive and were keen for the subject to be addressed. But, the local schools were not so receptive about the topic because they felt it wasn’t suitable.

Inculcating moral values through the educational system is imperative but how does it work if a child is already exposed to the sex industry and has grown up with it? This is a question raised by lawyer, Suresh Damodara.He said that if a child is born into prostitution, where she sees her mother plying the sex trade and everyone around her condoning it, can she really understand between right and wrong? To a child exposed to prostitution as an occupation, it’s her reality, her world, her survival.

These cases are difficult to deal with and have to involve state intervention where the child is taken away from the family. If the child can be placed into a neutral environment then perhaps they can be given a chance to change. But, as the panellists discuss, it’s not an easy solution. To take any child away from their family is traumatic.

Shu Hui, a volunteer at Tamar Village, a charity that helps prostitutes learn a skill, says that many girls get into prostitution because they see it as easy money and because of peer pressure. If everyone is ‘doing it’, then prostitution becomes normalised. There are, of course, many reasons why people get into prostitution: some are drug addicts, some come from broken homes, others have been abused by members of their family and have no understanding of normal family life, and then there are the girls who do it with their eyes wide open, knowing exactly what kind of benefits they’re going to get from a monetary level.

To discuss Singapore’s less attractive side of life we have a number of experts:

Host: Kenneth Liang
Speakers : Suresh Damodara, Saleemah Ismail, Timothy Weerasekera, Braema Mathi, Shih Shu Hui
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