Temperature screening before paid sex: This is a precaution that a Telegram group chat advertising sexual services has imposed on its clients. Illegal sex work has persisted, with services advertised online, despite safe distancing measures being flouted under the rules of the circuit breaker.
In a police operation held earlier this month, 30 women were arrested for suspected involvement in vice-related activities. A total of 19 men were fined after they were caught during the raids on various premises, including a hotel. Part-time sex worker Serena not her real name said that she, like many local sex workers, has stopped offering services during the circuit breaker period.
Persons engaging in sexual services may be issued notices of composition under the Covid Temporary Measures Control Order Regulations for failing to comply with safe distancing measures, said the police. Not all sex workers and their clients are paying heed, as evident from the websites and chat groups still advertising and posting customer reviews of paid sex.
Some platforms claimed to be taking precautions, with one saying that its sex workers had not recently travelled to the Chinese city of Wuhan, even though the first epicentre of the pandemic has brought the virus under control. Project X, a non-profit organisation which looks out for the welfare and rights of sex workers, said it has been approached by over sex workers for help since the start of the circuit breaker on April 7.
Ms Ho said the organisation has negotiated with their landlords to delay or stagger rental payments. She added that Project X has also introduced a new initiative, the Emergency Safety Net Programme, to assist sex workers during this period - either through cash payouts or by including them in its food distribution scheme. Police figures released last year show that 1, foreign women were arrested for online vice in - almost double the number in Vice activities have been observed by the police to be increasingly moving into residential estates, with online platforms used to advertise and solicit clients.
