| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 犯罪防治所 === 95 === Since the government declared martial law ended, the number of female stowaways from mainland China to Taiwan for sex trade has been on the increase. Several years ago in Taipei, some policemen kidnapped Chinese prostitutes and demanded ransom, and this scandal was reported widely by the media and thus ruined the image of the police; afterwards, the shocking event that Taiwanese smugglers forced 26 Chinese women to jump into the sea when Taiwan’s coast guard spotted their boats in waters off Miaoli County, with six drowned in the end, aroused international attention and censure. Why were the women from mainland China willing to put their lives at risk and work as prostitutes in Taiwan? What were their motives behind? What were their experiences and emotional changes after they came to Taiwan? The questions mentioned above aroused the researcher’s interest in working on this topic. The purposes of this study were to analyze the participants’ background information, family life, and way of life before they came to Taiwan, and then to understand how they obtained the information on stowing away to Taiwan, what their motives, channels, and processes were, and what their living and working conditions during their stay in Taiwan were? In addition, the researcher further explored the effects of sex trade on the participants and possible social problems which derived from it.
In mid January 2006, the researcher went to Ministry of Interior, National Police Agency, Matsu Detention Center for Mainlanders, and then purposively selected 10 of the 31 mainland women in the center to be the participants in the present study. The researcher interviewed the participants in depth, and the results were as follows.
1. Of the 10 mainland women, nine were unmarried and young, six didn’t finish their studies in junior high, eight came from unsound or low-class families, nine led a regular life and had entertainments, five had boyfriends and sex life before, two had been raped, and three were virgins before entering Taiwan.
2. Before coming to Taiwan, nine knew little about the island, and seven said that they came to Taiwan for making money. Eight showed that they were lured into the island via relatives, friends, fellow villagers, or brokers, and two declared they could stow away into Taiwan via mainland snakeheads. Nine were transported by boat, and one by boat first and then by plane. The majority were not required to pay transport fee beforehand, but as soon as they reached the island, they were informed to work as prostitutes to pay back the debts. The cost of stowing away into Taiwan ranged from NT$160,000 to NT$230,000, and Pingtang was the major transfer spot.
3. All the 10 mainland women went ashore safely, and then most of them were taken to metropolitan Taipei (7 out of 10). Almost all of them were controlled and monitored (9 out of 10). Three said that they had to have more than 10 sexual intercourses each day, two showed they had sex with three to six men, and another two declared they couldn’t remember how many times they had had sexual intercourses a day. Five showed that they could get NT$800~NT$1300 each time, but only one of the 10 women really got the income, RMB$50,000. In addition, one pointed out that she still had sex even after she had been infected with Condylomata acuminata.
4. The results of working as prostitutes and their feelings:
4.1 Mental aspect: Seven said they regretted having come to Taiwan, feeling that they were so stupid that they were deceived. As for their views on sex, three said they hated and rejected sex a lot, but another three claimed that they would not refuse to have sex again. Also, two said that whether they would have sex depended on the counterpart, and one pointed out she had no feelings at all. Regarding their views on money, three showed that money was quite important to them.
4.2 Physical aspect: Five said they were hurt with violence, including being insulted and threatened with words (2 out of 5), being tried by the boss first before the sex trade (2 out of 5), and suffering from sex abuse (1 out of 5). During sexual intercourse, seven would insistently asked their counterparts to wear a condom, while one was not so insistent that she was infected with venereal disease. In addition, since all of the 10 mainland women had taken prevention measures, including taking medicine or having a shot, so that each of them didn’t get pregnant.
4.3 Family aspect: All the 10 interviewees didn’t tell their family members that they would come to Taiwan, so after returning to mainland China, the majority wouldn’t tell their family the truth (8 out of 10), and one would not come back to her family. Only one claimed that she would tell the truth to her family.
4.4 Social aspect: Five showed that they would never come to Taiwan again, while five said they would come to Taiwan, not by means of stowing away on a boat but by taking a plane with a fake ID card. Concerning their positive evaluation on Taiwan, most of them thought that Taiwan was a prosperous place where people could make money easily and had human rights (8 out 10). However, almost all of the interviewees (9 out of 10) criticized that Taiwanese males were lecherous and preferred minors, and they also complained that the way of repatriation was not so fair.
Drawing from the study, the researcher provides the following suggestions: 1) to enhance the propaganda of anti-stowaway by means of the Internet, 2) to advance the cross-strait cooperation so as to fight against crime, 3) to crack down on snakehead rings, and to let the ruffians face retribution, 4) to build a united mechanism for anti-smuggling, 5) to conduct checks on airport security and to strengthen the capability of identification, 6) to check thoroughly in order to eliminate the nest of crime, 7) to amend Customs Anti-smuggling Act and legislate Trafficking Victims Protection Act so as to crack syndicates.
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