SWAN collaborated with Zi Teng in Hong Kong and Agincourt Community Services Association (ACSA) in Toronto, Canada to better understand why Chinese women were leaving China and Hong Kong to work as sex workers in other countries.
In total, 60 women participated as respondents.
To be eligible to participate, they had to work in the sex work sector and self-identify as Chinese women (this includes trans women), but did not necessarily have to be a migrant to participate.
Why did we want to hear from Chinese sex workers in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada?
Zi Teng
Hong Kong
“We know that there are more women leaving China and Hong Kong and working as sex workers in other countries. We wanted to better understand their concerns and priorities, so that we might learn how we could better support those who work overseas and those that may want to.”
Supporting Women’s Alternatives Network (SWAN)
Vancouver, Canada
“Zi Teng approached us about participating in this project. The project sounded like a great way to help Chinese workers in Hong Kong make informed decisions about working in Canada. We also liked the idea of strengthening transnational links between workers and sex worker support organizations in different countries, and that Chinese workers in Canada would be able to share information with sex workers in Hong Kong.”
Agincourt Community Services Association (ACSA)
Massage Parlour/Micro-Brothel Outreach Project, Toronto, Canada
“We learned about this project from one of our email conversations with Zi Teng. We found the idea of this project was unique and one of a kind as it involves the two most Asian concentrated cities in Canada – Toronto, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia. We would like to have a better understanding of the needs and concerns regarding migrant sex workers working in both cities, e.g. are there any similarities and differences?
We would like to hear their voice in areas such as healthcare, law enforcement, working conditions, etc. We hope the gaps (e.g. service deliveries) identified in this project can help us better shape our future services, help workers who want to come to work in Canada to plan ahead, and encourage information exchange and consultation with service providers across Canada and overseas.”
Read the full Chinese Sex Workers in Toronto & Vancouver research PDF here.
Funded by the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women.
