The killing of two young Indonesian women by British banker Rurik Jutting sent chills through Hong Kong’s sex worker community – but two years on, many say harsh economic realities leave them with no choice but to take the same risks.
Renowned as a safe city, Hong Kong was shocked to its core by the bloody murders of Sumarti Ningsih and Seneng Mujiasih, both in their 20s, who were found dead in Jutting’s flat on November 1, 2014.
He was found guilty of two charges of murder on Tuesday and jailed for life.
The highly paid securities trader lived in a luxury apartment in the fashionable neighbourhood of Wan Chai – but it was just streets away from a neon-lit red light district, lined with strip joints, dance clubs and expat pubs.
Jutting picked up Mujiasih, his second victim, in one of those bars. Ningsih was also a regular on the strip.
Many Wan Chai sex workers come from Indonesia and the Philippines – some, like Mujiasih, have entered the city on domestic helper visas. Others fly in as tourists to make quick cash.
Prostitution in Hong Kong is legal but almost everything associated with the trade – such as soliciting sex or running a brothel – remains banned.
At the entrance to one bar, a stern sign warns: “No immoral activities. No soliciting.”
But inside Wan Chai’s all-night discos the line between legal and illegal entertainment is blurred.
Revellers gyrate to thumping dance tracks, and groups of heavily made-up women in tight tops and short skirts eye newcomers.
On a busy Sunday night in a basement bar, one single mother said she spent her days as a domestic helper and her nights as a sex worker.
She remembered Ningsih from seeing her in local clubs and was shaken by her death, but told AFP she needed the extra work to support her 13-year-old daughter in the Philippines.
“I am worried, of course,” said the 31-year-old, adding she is now particularly wary of men on drugs – Jutting was a heavy cocaine user.
“I need to know someone for a week before I go back to his hotel – I want to know where he’s from, where he stays, who are his friends,” she said.
Hidden abuse
However, she said one night at a hotel with a client can mean HKD1,500 – a huge sum to women who earn the minimum monthly wage for domestic helpers of just HKD4,310.
She aims to send HKD3,000 home each month to support her daughter, who lives with relatives after the girl’s father died.
“I’m a single mum working hard,” she said.
Ningsih had come to Hong Kong on a visitor visa and had met Jutting online. She had a young son in Indonesia and was from a poor farming family.
After hearing of her death, her grieving parents told AFP they thought she had been working in a restaurant. She was sending 3 million rupiah (HKD1,800) back to her family each month, they said.
Violent crime against sex workers appears to be relatively low, with statistics showing there were just 20 reported cases in 2015, compared with 10 in 2014 and 27 in 2013.
But support groups say the figures are misleading as women like Ningsih and Mujiasih are unlikely to go to police if they are attacked.
Hong Kong sex workers from Southeast Asia – mainly the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam – risk arrest and deportation if they are caught on tourist or domestic helper visas, said Ann Li, a spokeswoman for the Zi Teng charity which supports sex workers.
“Some clients will abuse them because they don’t dare call the police,” Li said.
Since the killings, there are fewer young women obviously on show outside Wanchai’s bars and clubs.
One self-described “ladyboy” from the Philippines said police patrols have been stepped up since 2014.
The 27-year-old, who is transitioning from a man to a woman, is working to save for gender reassignment surgery costing HKD60,000. She is in Hong Kong on a tourist visa, which allows Filipinos only a 14-day stay, although some travel to Macau and back to extend it.
“I always ask to see their Hong Kong ID, their passport if they are a tourist,” she said of the safety precautions she takes with clients, adding she was pleased police were cracking down on drug use in the area.
“Hong Kong is still safe,” she told AFP.
“But we look after the sisters who are new.”
Words: AFP
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