A video documentary posted on YouTube has blown the lid off what its creator calls the Malaysian underage sex industry.
Focusing mostly on downtown Kuala Lumpur’s red light districts in Bukit Bintang and Chow Kit, freelance video journalists Rian Maelzer and Mahi Ramakrishnan went in-depth to uncover the illicit business of human trafficking and prostitution of underage girls from around the region.
The video was the culmination of two years of investigative work.
The underage sex workers interviewed and depicted in the 23-minute video, entitled Trapped – The Underage Sex Industry in Malaysia, were from Indonesia, Thailand, India and mainland China.
Some of the sex workers interviewed said they knowingly went into the industry in the hopes of making money for themselves and their families, while another said she was tricked into prostitution after arriving in Malaysia.
Watch the full video here:
The Malaysian Insider reports that the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) objects to the online video’s description of what is happening on the ground, but mostly on semantic grounds.
“Sex is not an industry in Malaysia, the term ‘sex activities’ is more accurate,” said Secret Societies, Gambling and Vice Division assistant director SAC Roslee Chik.
“In Malaysia, the existence of prostitution is undeniable – just like in other countries. But the level of enforcement minimises these activities,” he said.
Roslee also counters that the prostitution outlets depicted in the video were shot in 2012, and have all since been shut down.
In June, the United States government’s annual Trafficking of Persons report downgraded Malaysia to a Tier 3 rating for its lack of compliance with minimum standards in fighting human trafficking. The report also noted that there was ample evidence of forced labour and sex trafficking in Malaysia. Nations ranked Tier 3 are deemed open to sanctions by the US.
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