Mawlamyine, July (12)
The regime forces in Mon State have been extorting money and committing sexual abuse against female sex workers, the aid workers who assist sex workers and women’s affairs told Than Lwin Times.
The women in the sex industry reportedly face arrest, sexual assault, and extortion by military personnel.
According to the female sex workers, the aggressiveness of the regime forces has made them insecure, and because there is no law to protect them, they remain silent.
A volunteer who assists women’s affairs said, “Security forces have been committing more sexual violence against women sex workers while patrolling at night for security reasons. In a recent incident, two men in plainclothes riding two motorcycles forced a girl who was returning from a hotel by taxi to fulfill their wishes”.
He added that the military council threatened to take women sex workers with weapons, and some women disappeared after being taken.
When asked about the disappearance of sex workers, the regime forces and employers said that the girls had run away, but they did not give specific answers.
Female sex workers face violence and looting both inside and outside their workplaces, and if they report it to the police, they don’t get help, said a woman activist.
Most of the female sex workers have been subjected to severe sexual and financial abuse after the military coup, suffering mental issues.
Selling bodies by doing sex for money is illegal, and sex workers have to pay regularly pay the police or face arrest.
There are around 800 female sex workers who sell their bodies for money in Mon State in Mon State.
Most of them are active at night, but the junta curfew makes their livelihoods difficult.
News-Than Lwin Times
Photo- Frontier Myanmar