Teen Sex in Singapore & Prostitution

By Warren Carter

Teen sex, when the age of consent is 16 what would you consider teen sex and when is it a problem? By setting the legal age at 16 are you not telling that person that they are an adult in some form? Willing and able to make major decisions about their life and the responsibilities that go with such decisions, I would think so.

Soon it will be 2008 and for a few years now the talk about teenage sex has come up a lot in Singapore due to the high teen pregnant, abortion rate and sexually transmitted diseases and how to curve the trend that has started. Naturally the government is involved with the Ministry of Education (MOE) to come up with some kind of classroom instruction to be given to teens on sexual matter. Getting the parents involved is another step but one I think will not go too far because with both parents long hours, maids or other family member looking after the kids plus the age of the parents getting married is much higher now how can they really relate to the teenager?

Teen sex has and always will be with us not matter where you come from it is always been there, why? Because it is normal human behavior to want to mate. In today’s world sex is a lot more about pleasure then reproducing but that is really beside the point right now.

Its been a long time since I was in grade school but I remember while in the 6^th grade the girls getting their sex talk which was keep secrete from all the guys. The guys knew what the girls would be talked to about but didn’t know what was said. What did the guys get? N.A.F.T. (Not A F@@king Thing) we had to learn it all on our own and I’m sure most of this is probably true today with the guys today.  Not until the later years in school will more information be given out but for some that will be too late.

At home talking about sex here in Singapore will send many parents into a state of shock. Mostly because they don’t really know either so they give some half ass answer that leave the teen still looking for answers.

So where to get the information? Ok most family in Singapore have computers and are connected to the internet, but when a teen is looking up information on sex the parents assume they are searching for something else dealing with sex and chase them off the computer. The library, ok if they have time from school studies and where to you start to look there anyway? It is like trying to find a word in the dictionary but you don’t know how it the word is spelt and if you are able to find something it is written by some doctor and a language a teen would never understand. It pretty much leave the teen to learn on their own.

Asia; a land that is known for sex as far back in history as you can go. It was nothing and is still nothing for parent to sell  the children into prostitution to help support the family, kings would have 1,000’s of girls in their castles for their pleasure and villages would send the most attractive girls to the kings and this was thought of as an honor. Area where the prostitutes worked openly can be found all over Asia and is not hidden from plan site. So the way sex is looked it is different in some degree.

Being in the 21st century one cannot look at sex the same way but you have to go back the roots and how thing got started and how over the years things have or have not changed. Sex is always a difficult subject to talk to your children about for several reason, first you don’t want them to thing that during your day you ran around a round a lot and had sex all the time before getting married, so you down play your activities or outright lie about it so here the disenchantment begins. Next do you answer the question put to you fully or just enough to get by? Did you give any examples or “how to do” tips?

Teen sex starts at home and by that I mean neglect by the parents and other family members. The teen is missing something and need to fill that empty space in their lives. Low self esteem is another factor which also comes out of the family unit, the feeling of worthlessness and no one loves them. If the teen has a good family unit then the girl will know when to say to say NO or the guy will know to stop by 7/11 and get a pack of rubbers before his date. Now I understand that sometimes shit happen, we all have had unprotected so let’s not fool anyone here, it is going to happen but how much is the question, isn’t it? With HIV/AID out there every one night stand could be your last. The teens know this also but are still taking that life threading chance as are many others in older age groups.

Chat rooms are the new way to make a fast hookup. Older men are looking for young girls because they feel that the girl will not be HIV infected due to a lack of number of partners so the risk is lower. They have the cash to buy the girl the toys and cloth she wants to stay in style with their friends. So the appeal to have an older man as a boy friend has its advantages but it will be a matter of time before he will start to pressure the girl to have sex if they haven’t from the start.

The lack of information can lead to curiosity about the subject from there the experimenting. I don’t believe that exposure to movies, book or any other type of media leads to a person having sex before they are truly ready for. Like I said before it all goes back to the family had how much support they received there. Movies do not make you a sexual deviant! It the mind is health no problem, if the mind is not well, the behavior will reflect it.

I have added some article on the subject below

Most people have no idea how large the problem truly is.

POCKET MONEY
Girls offer sex to earn pocket money!

Increasing numbers of young girls in Singapore are offering sex for sale on Internet
chat rooms, shrugging the transaction off without any remorse or fear of AIDS.
Although the situation here is less dire than in Japan, counselors and social workers cite
cases of girls as young as 13 having no qualms over paid sex to obtain pocket money.
They blame the nonchalant attitude on neglectful parents, the lack of stigma on losing
one's virginity, the pervasive message of one-night stands on television and
advertisements that encourage instant gratification, according to The Sunday Times.
Internet chat rooms make it easy for girls to befriend teenage boys or men, said counselor
Ong Lea Teng of the Singapore Planned Parenthood Association.

"The thinking of some girls is that since they are doing it, they might as well get something
out of it," she was quoted as saying.

Often they want to buy things their parents cannot afford: mobile phones, the latest
fashions or recreational gadgets, she said.

"With so much material temptations around them and so much desire for instant
gratification, sex for money is inevitable," Deline Koh, a senior social worker at a family
service centre, told the newspaper.

There are no figures available on the trend, but Ong said hotline calls from girls asking if it
is all right to have sex for money have quadrupled in the last two years.
Koh cited the exploits of a 15-year-old girl who used chat rooms to settle her boyfriend's
debts by having paid sex with three men.

A court was told last week that a 14-year-old girl who needed money to pay bills had sex
with at least five men. They were convicted of having sex with a girl younger than 16.
Counselors urge parents to start building bonds when their children are in primary school
instead of waiting until their teens.

"It's very tough to get into their world by the time they reach 13 or 14," said Want Toy Leng,
manager of a girl's home.

Sex For Sale: Teens Have No Qualms (Singapore)
Posted on 10/25/2005 by nickcarraway

After finding out that her boyfriend was in debt, Jenny, 15, used the Internet to settle it. She had sex for money with three men she met in chat rooms.

She suffered no guilt, no remorse; shrugging it off as a simple transaction: She needs money, she has a body to offer and someone is willing to pay.

Her biggest fear was not AIDS. It was her boyfriend finding out about her sex-for-money exploit, her counselor said.

Celine Koh, a senior social worker at Fei Yue Family Service Centre in Bukit Batok, found out about her wayward view of sex while trying to get her to turn over a new leaf after she was convicted of hawking illegal VCDs.

However, Jenny's "sexploit" is not rare among young teenagers, according to counselors and social workers.

Last Wednesday (Oct 19), a court was told that a 14-year-old girl who needed money to pay her bills had sex with at least five men.

After getting paid, she reported them to the police. They were convicted of having sex with a girl younger than 16.

There are no figures on this trend, but counselor Ong Lea Teng from the Singapore Planned Parenthood Association said: "Two years ago, I'd receive a hotline call every six months from teenage girls asking if it was all right to have sex with men for money.

"Now, I get four such calls every six months."

Two court cases in recent years further underlined the trend. Two girls, one 13 and the other 14, got paid S$30 (US$18) each for sex.

Also, five delinquent girls at the Pertapis Centre for Women and Girls off Yio Chu Kang Road also admitted having sex for money. The oldest was in her late teens and the youngest, 14.

Social workers blame their nonchalant attitude on several factors: Neglectful parents; the lack of stigma of losing one's virginity and having pre-marital sex as well as the pervasive message of one-night stands on TV and the Internet; and widespread consumerism and advertisements that encourage instant gratification.

Ong is especially critical of Internet chat rooms, which makes it easy for girls to befriend teenage boys or men. "The thinking of some girls is that since they are doing it, they might as well get something out of it."

Often, they want to buy things their parents can't afford: Mobile phones, the latest fashion garb or recreational gadgets such as inline skates.

Some need to feed themselves after running away from home. There is also peer influence and curiosity.

Said Fei Yue's Koh: "With so much material temptations around them and so much desire for instant gratification, sex for money is inevitable."

The glamorization of sex in the mass media plays a part too, said Wan Toy Leng, manager of the Tent, a girls' home.

Although the situation here is less dire than in Japan, it is still a cause for concern, said social workers such as Ling Kwang Youth Centre's Hannah Neo.

In Japan, it's common for schoolgirls to be part-time sex workers for extra pocket money.

The codeword is: Freelance.

One posting from sinblur_m on a Singapore sex-forum reads: "17-year-old girl in need of money as she has family problem and thus she is doing FL (freelance). Height: 1.65m. Weight: 65kg. Very horny. Damage: $200."

On a Sex Personals website, an 18-year-old Singapore girl said: "This little Lolita is in desperate need for an older men to teach her. Do you satisfy my need?"

The rate for oral sex is between S$50 and S$70 (US$30 and US$41) while sexual intercourse is S$100 to S$300 (US$59 to US$177).

Most claim to be older than 16, noted Action For AIDS executive director Paul Toh.

A man who has sex with a girl younger than 16 can be jailed up to five years and fined up to S$10,000 (US$5,906).

Sociologists blame parents. Said Dr Paulin Straughan from the National University of Singapore: "Why would a 14-year-old prostitute herself? The family must take responsibility.

"We cannot expect society to police the young for us ... . We cannot expect the schools to be the moral guardians."

Agreeing, Alfred Tan, executive director of Singapore Children's Society, said: "Often, kids who get into trouble have no relationship with their parents.

"How do you bring up the subject of sex or values when you don't even talk to your children about everyday things in the first place?"

And parents have no way to shield their children from undesirable influences.

Said consultant psychiatrist Brian Yeo: "Society evolves and becomes more liberal and open.

"What parents can do is be good examples themselves, teach their children from young what's right and what's wrong and be aware of what they are doing."

The young & the reckless: Sharp spike in sex diseases among teen girls
Havoc teen unfazed by first infection

I DON'T CARE, she says

No, Amy was nonchalant - just as she is about teenage, unprotected sex.
By Seto Nu-Wen

IT began with an itch. Then there was bleeding. Then pain, Panic? Fear?
No, Amy was nonchalant - just as she is about teenage, unprotected sex.

Amy (not her real name) is only 17 but already claims to have had sex with more than 10 men. Some were her boyfriends, but others were just casual acquaintances she had met on the Internet or at parties. She is one of a growing number of teens whose cavalier attitude towards sex has led to an alarming spike in the number of cases of sexually-transmitted diseases among teenage girls.
In three years, the number of young people catching such diseases has gone up three-fold. And teenage girls are much more at risk than boys.

At an age when most of her peers are still in school, Amy is already a veteran of one-night stands. And the secondary school dropout is blase about her reckless behavior - even after having been infected with a sex disease two and a half years ago. She was 15 then. The first sign of trouble was when she began feeling itchy 'down there'. She started bleeding and it hurt whenever she urinated. 'They were like rough bumps. The doctor said they were cauliflower warts,' Amy told The New Paper on Sunday.
At the polyclinic, the doctor told her she had contracted genital warts, a form of sexually transmitted infection (STI). 'He gave me some medication. After that, the swelling went down,' said Amy. At that time, she said she had a steady boyfriend who was four years older than her. He was a friend's friend whom she had met at a chalet gathering. They had been dating for four months and were sexually intimate, said Amy. 'I wasn't with anyone else then, so I must have got it from him. I didn't tell him about it.' Why? They were already breaking up, she said, and he was interested in another girl. They are not on talking terms now. She added that she didn't tell any of her friends either as there was 'no point' and it was 'embarrassing'.

Since then, Amy said she has had sex with other partners. Despite her past experience with an STI, Amy remains nonchalant about the need to practice safe sex.

'If you want to use a condom, both parties have to be willing. Most of the time, guys don't like to use condoms. If they say no, then I can't force them,' she said.

'To me, this was an accident. I don't think I'll be so suay (Hokkien for unlucky) that it'll happen to me again.'

Amy said she started becoming sexually adventurous at 14. On her first time, she said: 'I was curious. Some of my friends were doing it. And this guy was very good-looking.' The relationship ended six months later. But Amy continued to meet other guys through the Internet or at friends' parties.
'I don't go to chatrooms. But I play games online and sometimes I'll meet up with the other players. If I think I like the guy, and if he's interested, then I wouldn't mind sleeping with him,' she said. 'I usually say yes if they are tall and good-looking. They cannot be too skinny or too fat. I also like tanned Chinese guys.'

OLDER BOYFRIENDS

They usually have sex at the boy's place. Amy said that most of them are older and are working. Sometimes, they buy her things, like clothes, bags and hand phones. She earns about $3,000 a month, including tips, as a dancer and a waitress at several clubs. She stopped schooling after she failed her O levels. She found her studies 'boring'. She lives with her parents in a four-room flat. They are unaware of her sexual behavior.

Amy's father is a taxi driver and her mother is a housewife. She has a brother and a sister, both younger and still in school.

Said Amy: 'I'm usually out, either working or with my friends. I don't really talk to my family much. We have nothing much in common. 'My parents are quite conservative so I don't think they can accept my life and what I do.'

Singapore to criminalize paid U-18 sex 

REUTERS

October 04, 2005

SINGAPORE, OCTOBER 4 :  Anyone caught paying for sex with girls under 18 years of age in Singapore could be fined or jailed under proposed new laws, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

Under current laws, offenders face a jail term of up to five years and fines of S$10,000 ($5,910) if they have sex with those under 16.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, as part of its plans to reassess laws governing sexual offences, was also reviewing the Penal Code to allow for the prosecution of Singaporeans who have sex with minors overseas, the Straits Times reported.

The U.S. State Department report this year said Singapore does not fully meet the minimum standards to stamp out the trafficking of women and girls for sex and had called for the government to reform its laws to criminalize the prostitution of 16- and 17-year-olds as a trafficking offence.

The report also called for the government to address child sex tourism by Singaporeans, particularly in the nearby Batam island of Indonesia.

The Singapore government refuted the report, saying that only four of the 34 claims of forced prostitution in the last three years had been substantiated.

Prostitution is legal in Singapore but soliciting is not. The government authorizes the operation of brothels in red-light districts and does not criminalize the prostitution of 16- and 17- year-old minors.

According to the police, 38 of the 5,200 foreign sex workers arrested in 2004 were below 18 years of age. In the first half of this year, 22 out of the 1,700 illegal sex workers were under 18.

But experts and rights workers have said that the age of the sex workers, mostly from the villages of Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia was difficult to track due to the lack of proper papers. ($1=1.692 Singapore Dollar)

Trafficking Routes

Singapore is a country of origin, transit, and destination for trafficking in women and children. Singapore is a country of origin for women trafficked to Australia. Trafficking victims from Thailand travel by air to Johannesburg, South Africa, through Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, or Singapore. Women and children are trafficked to Singapore from Cambodia, Central Asia, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Middle East, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Factors That Contribute to the Trafficking Infrastructure

Criminal networks throughout the Southeast Asia region traffic young girls and women for sexual exploitation. Organized criminals in Singapore lure women there for prostitution. For example, one syndicate is believed to have a network of recruiters and runners in the Philippines and Singapore. The organization recruits young Filipinas with promises of jobs as actresses, singers, and shop assistants. Instead, the girls are forced into prostitution in Singapore.

However, there is neither evidence of significant corruption in Singapore nor evidence of government officials’ complicity in trafficking activities. The low level of perceived corruption hinders the development of connections between public officials and traffickers.

Forms of Trafficking

 It has been estimated that at least 200,000 to 225,000 women and children are trafficked from Southeast Asia annually. Most of the trafficking destinations are within the region (60 percent are major cities of the region; 40 percent are outside the region). Women and children are trafficked to Singapore mainly for sexual exploitation.

In May 2004, a Singaporean man was being held in Bangkok after being arrested for alleged trafficking as he was about to board a Turkish Airlines flight with four Chinese women holding fake Singapore passports. Budapest was believed to be their final destination. Also in May 2004, a Singaporean businessman was arrested in Pattaya, Thailand, for allegedly bringing Thai women into Singapore for prostitution.

Many babies are trafficked from Batam, Indonesia to Singapore. In September 2004, officers from the naval base in Tanjung Balai Karimun, Riau Islands, intercepted a small motorboat carrying two 1-month-old infants, who police believed were to be sold in Singapore. One of the babies had been taken from a brothel in Tanjung Balai Karimun.

Singaporeans are reported to travel to Cambodia and Thailand as sex tourists. Additionally, Singaporeans are reported to make up the largest number of sex tourists visiting Indonesia’s Riau Islands, where many of those they sexually exploit are under 18 years of age.

Government Responses

 The three major laws that govern trafficking and prostitution in Singapore are the Children and Young Persons Act, the Women’s Charter, and the Penal Code.

Under the Children and Young Persons Act, any person who contributes to the delinquency of a child or a young person commits an offense and is subject to punishment by a fine, by imprisonment for up to 12 months, or by both. The act criminalizes the sexual exploitation of a child or a young person. It imposes a punishment of a fine, imprisonment for up to 2 years, or both on anyone who commits, abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure for the commission of an “obscene or indecent act with any child or young person. If an offender commits a crime of sexual exploitation repeatedly, the punishment increases to a higher fine, to imprisonment for up to 4 years, or both.

The Children and Young Persons Act restricts the participation of children and young people in public entertainment that is immoral or prejudicial to the health and physical fitness of a child or a young person. The act punishes any person who causes, procures, or allows a child to participate in such activities by a fine, by imprisonment for up to 12 months, or by both. If an offender is a holder of a license under the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act, the license may be canceled or suspended.

Trafficking in children is an offense under the Children and Young Persons Act. Anyone who participates in transferring or in conferring the possession, custody, or control of a child for “any valuable consideration” is subject to punishment by imprisonment for up to 4 years. The act punishes by imprisonment for up to 4 years any act of harboring or of having in possession, custody, or control any child who is being trafficked within or outside the country.

Anyone who brings or assists in bringing a child into Singapore under false pretenses, false representation, or fraudulent means is subject to punishment by a fine, by imprisonment for up to 4 years, or by both.

The Women’s Charter prohibits selling, buying, or obtaining possession of any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution either inside or outside the country. Punishment for the offense is a fine and imprisonment for up to 5 years. The charter explicitly prohibits “traffic in women and girls. It provides that any person who buys, sells, procures, traffics in, or brings into or takes out of Singapore a woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution is to be punished by a fine and imprisonment for up to 5 years. The charter provides for the removal of a woman or girl in need of protection to a place of safety.

The charter also prohibits the importation of women and girls for the purpose of prostitution by false pretense, false representation, or fraudulent or deceitful means. Punishment is imprisonment for up to 5 years and a fine. It is illegal for a person to live on earnings from or trading in the prostitution of others. Punishment is a fine and imprisonment for up to 5 years. A person is deemed to be knowingly doing so if he or she exercises control, direction, or influence over the movements of any person in prostitution in such a manner as to indicate aiding, abetting, or compelling the prostitution.

The charter forbids keeping or managing a brothel. Punishment is a fine, imprisonment for up to 3 years, or both. The charter prohibits having unlawful carnal connections with any girl under 16 years of age. The offense is punishable by a fine and up to 5 years of imprisonment. Furthermore, the charter prohibits an owner from permitting a girl under 16 years of age to use his or her premises for unlawful sexual intercourse. The offense is punishable by a fine, by imprisonment for up to 3 years, or by both. Encouraging the prostitution of a girl under 16 years of age is also a criminal offense. Punishment is a fine, imprisonment for up to 3 years, or both.

The Penal Code prohibits kidnapping and abduction. Punishment for kidnapping is imprisonment for up to 10 years and either a fine or caning. Punishment for kidnapping and abducting with the intent of secretly and wrongfully confining a person; for kidnapping or abducting a woman with the intent of compelling her to marry, to prostitute herself, or to have illicit intercourse; and for kidnapping and abducting a person in order to subject him or her to grievous hurt or slavery is imprisonment for up to 10 years and either a fine or caning.

Buying or disposing of any person as a slave is an offense punishable by imprisonment for up to 7 years and either a fine or caning. Habitual dealing in slaves is punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine.

 Any person who sells, lets to hire, or otherwise disposes of a person under 21 years of age for purposes of prostitution, illicit intercourse, or any unlawful and immoral purpose is subject to punishment by imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine. Also, a person who buys, hires, or otherwise obtains possession of such a person is subject to punishment by imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine.

Importing a woman into Singapore by false pretenses, false representation, or fraud for the purpose of prostitution is a crime punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years and a fine.

Anyone who entices, takes away, or detains a married woman with the intent that she have illicit intercourse is subject to punishment by imprisonment for up to 2 years, by a fine, or by both.

The Penal Code prohibits unlawful compulsory labor. Punishment is imprisonment for up to 1 year, a fine, or both. The constitution states that “no person shall be held in slavery and that “all forms of forced labor are prohibited.

The Penal Code punishes a crime of forging documents by imprisonment for up to 2 years, by a fine, or by both. Also, the code punishes acts of corruption by a fine, by imprisonment for up to 3 years, or by both.

The Immigration Act provides that a person is to be considered a prohibited immigrant if he or she is in prostitution, is living on or receiving the proceeds of prostitution, or did so prior to entering the country. The act also considers a prohibited immigrant any person who procures or attempts to bring into Singapore women or girls for the purpose of prostitution or for other immoral purposes. A prohibited immigrant is to be removed from Singapore.

Under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, benefits derived from criminal conduct are subject to confiscation.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority works on prevention of and protection from trafficking. The Criminal Justice Division prosecutes traffickers in Singapore.  

Nongovernmental and International Organization Responses

The Association of Women for Action and Research offers help-line assistance, legal advice, and counseling to vulnerable women.