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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs (in the absence of Secretary for Security), Mr Stephen Lam, to a question by the Hon Starry Lee Wai-king in the Legislative Council today (November 26):
Question:
A survey conducted by a political party in the middle of this year has revealed that the number of young girls engaged in prostitution activities under the name of "compensated dating" is on the rise. They advertise themselves and contact their clients mainly via discussion forums and chat rooms on the Internet. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of operations mounted by the Police in various police districts in Hong Kong since January this year against prostitution activities conducted under the name of "compensated dating"; the number of persons arrested in the operations, the respective numbers of males and females engaged in prostitution (and the number of minors among them), as well as the number of persons convicted and the penalties imposed on them;
(b) whether it has assessed if the police operations against such prostitution activities are effective, and of the current number of such syndicates in Hong Kong;
(c) what measures have been taken by the Police to combat such illegal activities taking place in the discussion forums and chat rooms on the Internet, and the enforcement difficulties encountered;
(d) of the number of cases received since January this year by the authorities in which people engaged in such prostitution activities requested for assistance, what assistance they requested and what assistance was provided by the authorities; and
(e) what specific measures will be adopted by the authorities in schools and the community to help young people understand the perils of such prostitution activities?
Reply:
President,
(a) and (b) "Compensated dating" is an expression which came into use in recent years. It usually refers to the participation of young girls or individuals in financial need through public information platforms in social activities involving financial transactions. Some of these activities involve prostitution.
Under existing law, the act of prostitution itself is not illegal. Nevertheless, it is an offence for a man to have unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 16. Various prostitution-related offences are stipulated under Part XII of the Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200) with the objective of preventing the exploitation of others for the purposes of prostitution, combating organised prostitution activities, and lessening the nuisance to members of the public that vice activities may cause. The Police are all along committed to combating all kinds of illegal prostitution activities, especially prostitution activities organised by syndicates and those involving underage girls, including illegal prostitution activities conducted under the guise of "compensated dating".
The Police have not maintained statistics on enforcement actions taken against illegal prostitution activities conducted under the guise of "compensated dating", nor have they conducted data analysis on whether vice syndicates are engaged in illegal prostitution activities under the guise of "compensated dating". Nevertheless, the Police will continue to take proactive enforcement actions to combat illegal prostitution activities and will adjust their strategies having regard to circumstances to ensure effective law enforcement.
(c) To crack down on individuals who arrange prostitution activities through the Internet, the Police conduct cyber patrol and enters the chat rooms or discussion forums of various websites to check if anyone arranges prostitution activities in any manner, and take enforcement actions whenever necessary. Since some of the websites involved are overseas websites, the Police may encounter certain difficulty in ascertaining the identity of the suspects in such cases. Furthermore, the Police often have to contact those who claim to provide or arrange sexual services in the course of collecting evidence and law enforcement, and may encounter difficulty during the process.
(d) and (e) According to the experience of the relevant departments in handling such cases, even if the persons requesting assistance have engaged in prostitution activities involving "compensated dating", they normally do not mention it specifically. The Administration does not maintain statistics on requests made by such persons for assistance. Based on the assessment of the relevant departments, such persons may seek assistance on matters relating to their studies, social life, emotions and relationship with family members, etc. Support and counselling services will be provided through established channels. The Police, Education Bureau and Social Welfare Department have taken measures to help young people understand the harm caused by prostitution activities through inculcating in them a set of correct values. The relevant measures are summarised below :
(i) The Police have held talks for secondary school students to educate young people on the harm of prostitution activities. They have also organised seminars jointly with Education Bureau and other non-governmental organisations for principals, teachers and stationing social workers of secondary schools to brief them on how to handle students suspected of engaging in prostitution activities.
The Police will also organise seminars for parents of secondary school students to facilitate early identification should any of their children engage in prostitution activities. This would enable the parents to intervene as soon as possible and to help their children get back on the right track.
(ii) Education Bureau is committed to promoting the whole-person development of students in different stages of their learning. Students are taught to handle challenges and temptations in a rational and responsible manner and to make correct value judgments. As far as the curriculum content is concerned, sex education and other sex-related content (such as getting along with the opposite sex, making friends on the Internet and pre-marital sex) has already been covered by the curriculum framework of Moral and Civic Education. Learning themes on sex education and the harmful effects of prostitution are included in the curricula of a number of subjects. Liberal Studies, a core subject of the New Senior Secondary Curriculum to be introduced in the 2009/10 school year, will also enhance discussions on related themes.
(iii) Social Welfare Department offers various welfare services to young people to prevent them from being led astray by undesirable influences during their growth. For example, the Department has implemented the "one school social worker for each secondary school" scheme since the 2000/01 school year to offer appropriate support and counselling to students encountering difficulties in their academic studies as well as social and emotional development, including getting along with the opposite sex, falling in love, sex education, etc. Social workers also make referrals for students in need to receive clinical psychological services having regard to the nature and seriousness of individual cases. The Department also provides young people with comprehensive support services and helps them integrate into the community through the 135 subvented Integrated Children and Youth Services Centres run by non-governmental organisations across the territory. The outreaching social work teams of these centres proactively approach and offer counselling, guidance and support services to young drifters, and refer them to other service units for follow-up where necessary.
Ends/Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Issued at HKT 14:46
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