Wong Kit Cheng
Lawmaker Wong Kit Cheng is again insisting on changing the law to criminalize all sex work in Macau.
Wong has previously made similar calls, and recently submitted a new written inquiry to the government through the Legislative Assembly (AL) calling directly on the Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, to move forward with a new law on the matter even if there is not social consensus on the topic.
On more than one previous occasion, the same lawmaker, who is linked with the Women’s General Association of Macau, had called on the government to amend the relevant laws to criminalize sex work in Macau.
This demand was not heeded by government officials, who noted studies indicating a large percentage of the population was not in favor of criminalization and held views that sex work was part of Macau’s status as a gambling hub as well as its cultural background.
Claiming that there was no social consensus to move forward with such a change to the law, authorities dropped this idea after being in light of a study from the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM) in 2020.
Wong now calls on the government to ignore the social consensus and move forward with the amendment unilaterally due to fears that the sex work industry might expand and bring a “bad environment” to the city, especially to the old neighborhoods.
Sex work is not illegal in Macau, so long as those working are locals. In reality, this is very rare, as most sex workers in the city and especially in casino areas are people who have officially entered Macau as tourists.
In these, sex workers are usually charged under laws related to illegal work and subject to a fine of up to 5,000 patacas and consequent expulsion from Macau with an additional ban from reentering for a usual period of two years.
Wong thinks that these penalties are not enough to stop illegal activity and that authorities have not been keen to tackle the problem either.
Currently, it is only criminal to exploit, manage or help in any way the activity of the sex workers.
In the IFTM study, researchers said their findings indicated that Macau locals appeared to be more concerned about social problems related to sex work than any related moral issues.
“In this sense, prostitution-related social problems are preoccupations for the government, but the relevant social problems are difficult to eliminate or alleviate without dealing with the source: that is, the illegal sex trade,” said the scholars, calling on the government to proceed with legalization of the sex trade under specific rules, instead of a general criminalization. This approach has been taken in many countries to avoid or reduce the criminal activities that currently surround the industry.
