Lawmaker insists gov’t make prostitution illegal

Lawmaker Wong Kit Cheng, linked with the Women’s General Association of Macau, has yet again called on the government to outlaw prostitution in Macau.

In a written inquiry to the government, the lawmaker claimed that the activity carries a big impact and that it deters tourists from the old neighborhoods.

This is not the first time that Wong has addressed the topic and called for its illegalization in Macau; in the past, the lawmaker has made several speeches and inquiries to the Legislative Assembly discussing the impacts of prostitution on, among others, young people and families.

While prostitution is not illegal in Macau, the exploitation of this activity is criminalized.

Almost all cases of people caught performing prostitution or solicitation activities in Macau are not Macau residents, which allows the police authorities to handle these cases as “illegal work.”

In response, the Office of the Secretary for Security’s Wong Sio Chak said that police authorities have been significantly enforcing policing and last year intercepted 323 people suspected of working as prostitutes, as well as 10 cases of exploitation of prostitution.

Citing figures from this year from January to May, Wong’s office noted that the Public Security Police Force has carried out a total of 59 operations to combat prostitution, including 46 in the vicinity of casinos and 13 in residential areas. These operations resulted in the detention of 71 people suspected of working as prostitutes and eight cases of prostitution exploitation.

Addressing the calls for harsher penalties and illegalization of the activity altogether, the Office of the Secretary for Security noted that such an idea goes against the recent worldwide trends in dealing with the issue; namely, the guidelines issued in 2017 by the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, which approved a resolution to “repeal legislation that criminalizes women in prostitution or adultery.”

The same office also noted that “considering that this issue is related to very important changes in Macau’s criminal and legislative policy, there is a need for a full discussion in the society and the reaching of a consensus” on the possibility of amending the existing laws.