Prostitution in Hong Kong has evolved from a traditional form where prostitutes were controlled by triads and worked as sex slaves to a modern form that has been enabled by the proliferation of technology. The advent of internet and mobile applications has provided a new model where prostitutes can market their services independently. This has also been enhanced by availability of businesses such as massage parlors, health clubs, Saunas and night clubs. Through these, prostitutes can easily offer their services and advertise them through their mobile phones.
Introduction
Technology has brought about a major revolution in Hong Kong’s prostitution industry but the changes have only moved from one form of illegality to another. The traditional form of prostitution in this context does not go back to the oldest forms as prostitution has been in existence in the world for millennia. It refers to the mode of prostitution that existed in Hong Kong before the current advent of technology, which includes social media and mobile phone applications. From a legal perspective, prostitution itself is legal in Hong Kong as no law expressly prohibits the practice (Chao-Fong, 2014; Cheng, 2017) . There, however, exist extreme legal limitations to the practice, which makes almost any form of organized or group prostitution illegal. It is on this basis that both the old and the new forms of organized prostitution in Hong Kong are termed as illegal. However, the primary difference between the two dispensations of prostitution lies in the part played by the prostitutes themselves. Traditional prostitutes were like slaves under the control of criminal gangs (Lo S, 2013) . Technology has however, created an avenue for prostitutes to eliminate the need for criminal gangs and access the market directly through the internet and mobile phone applications.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Materials and Methods
The instant research relates to the issue of prostitution as a commercial activity in Hong Kong as well as the legalities thereof. This creates several layers of research material to be considered. The first is the historical development of the practice of prostitution as the research entails a form of comparison between traditional and current prostitution. The method undertaken therein is premised on a literature review of historical materials on Hong Kong Prostitution. The second aspect is the legal position on prostitution and how it has changed over the days. This takes an analysis of the laws, rules, and regulations that relate to the prostitution in Hong Kong whether active or passive. The final aspect is how technology generally, and particularly internet sites and mobile phone applications have acted as a bearing factor to prostitution in the region. This entails the review of a collection of newspaper articles as well as kindred material about the subject.
Results
A careful analysis of the literature available about the current state of prostitution in Hong Kong shows that technology did not change the practice. The changes in the profession began taking place long before the proliferation of internet access as well as the advent of mobile phone apps. Before 1990, the majority of prostitutes in Hong Kong came from mainland China and other parts of the world through the practice of human smuggling. Their travel, stay and practice would be controlled by criminal gangs, mainly the triads (Chan, 2014) . However, in the 1990s, a fresh influx of prostitutes began arriving in Hong Kong on their own volition. These new players would not be the subjects of the criminal triads or any other organized gangs but intended to go into the enterprise of prostitution by themselves. They could however not form any form of organized prostitution as that would attract the wrath of both law enforcement and the triads. Most of them, therefore, began to practice prostitution independently and coordinating discreetly (Kong, 2006) . This created the need for a way to coordinate and operate together without attracting the wrath of law enforcement and/or the triads.
This solution became available with the proliferation of the internet and mobile phone apps. The apps provided a new way for creating organized and professional prostitution in groups without seeming to eat into the criminal enterprise of the triads and at the same time making it difficult for the government to catch up (Li et al,. 2016) . The prostitutes themselves have formed shadow corporations with or without a legitimate masquerade, which has revived the concept of organized prostitution in Hong Kong (Guest, 2016; The Standard, 2017). A good example is the kind of businesses whose very nature makes them kindred to prostitution. This includes businesses such as massage parlors, health clubs, Saunas and night clubs. This is legitimate businesses that have been taken over by prostitution-based corporations. Walk-in clients and authorities believe that they are normal players in their respective industries since they are licensed and regulated as such (Single Man’s paradise, 2016) . However, through interactive social media and mobile phone applications, the shadow corporations advertise their actual business which is prostitution (Kobe, 2014) . Specialized internet based programs are able to enable interactions between the customers and the prostitutes themselves thus being able to organize liaisons.
Technology also created a new form of online pimping where prostitution-based shadow corporations are formed purely to advertise the sex trade. A famous example of this is the extremely popular site Sex141 dubbed the Wikipedia of Sex in Hong Kong (Lo C, 2013). Like any encyclopedia, Sex141 provides extremely particularized profiles for its clients. The profiles vary in nature and also in cost. Prostitutes who are clients of such websites as allowed to publish details about themselves, the services they offer, and how much they charge (Lee et al, 2016) . In some instances, detailed directions on where these prostitutes are to be found, complete with actual maps are also added to the profiles. The government of Hong Kong has made a spirited fight against these organized online advertising of sex, including the arrest and indictment of Sex141 leaders, closing sites such as ‘hkbigman’ and hklovely’ and arrests of their organizers but the war is far from being won (Lee & Sheck, 2014; Lai, 2015).
Discussion
Prostitution has been dubbed as the oldest profession in the world and Hong Kong may not be an exception to this general rule. The idea of prostitution as a profession has however always been related with it having some form of organization and collaboration (Wong et al., 2011) . As early as the 19th century, records of organized prostitution could be found in Hong Kong. This was mainly in the form of brothels where prostitution would be openly carried out in an organized manner. By the advent of the 20th century, prostitution thrived in Hong Kong. It was a well-established commercial undertaking complete with government regulation. This regulation however mainly entailed licensing, taxation and health-based issues such as frequent check-ups and treatment for venereal diseases. All this changed in 1932 when the government placed a blanket ban on prostitution, then eliminated any licensing on prostitution in 1935 (Lai, 2017) . The law, however, did not kill the practice. Instead, it brought about the transformation of prostitution from mainstream commerce into the criminal enterprise and organized crime world.
From then on, prostitution became an organized crime business, mainly controlled by triads. The triads would target girls from poor communities who would independently not have joined the profession and exploit their naivety and gullibility to use them as sex slaves for profit (Chu, 2005) . In an attempt to eradicate this practice, several laws were enacted to establish organized prostitution kindred activities. Among them include laws that criminalize causing and/or procuring another person to work as a prostitute. The other was to criminalize any solicitation for prostitution by a secondary party. Finally, making money out of prostitution was also criminalized. However, a gray area in the law was left based on the fact that the act of prostitution itself was not criminalized (Yang, 2006) . The sum total of the laws, therefore, criminalized any form of organized prostitution such as brothel business or pimping without making it illegal for a commercial sex worker to carry out business. This created two forms of legal prostitution; unorganized street prostitution and one-woman brothels. The street prostitutes were allowed to operate as long as no active solicitation was done. The one-woman brothel, however, was able to exploit the aforementioned legal loophole and even legally advertise on mainstream media and using neon-light adverts (Blanco, 2015) . The yellow Neon-light adverts and other advertising material became so popular that yellow is considered a color kindred to prostitution in Hong Kong. Technology created a way to advance the one-woman brothel concept through enabling shadow corporations which now dominate the practice of prostitution in Hong Kong (Akinyemi, 2014) . New techno-savvy criminal gangs have therefore formed in Hong Kong and taken over prostitution from the triads with active control of the business lying squarely in the arms of the prostitutes themselves (Cho et al, 2013) .
Conclusion
The research and analysis above provide evidence why prostitution has survived as the oldest profession and still continues to thrive. Just as any other commercial commodity with a high demand, the providers will always find a legal or illegal way for meeting the demand. After the prostitution ban of 1932, prostitution has continually changed in nature and shape in Hong Kong to enable supply in spite of the restrictions. Before the advent of technology, most prostitutes working in a group would be controlled by triads. The prostitutes themselves would be akin to sex slaves under exploitation. The 1990s brought a new breed of prostitutes who were determined to control the commerce for themselves. This new group found in technology an avenue through which to ply their trade. They hide behind shadow corporations who seem to carry out normal business but advertise prostitution through internet-based instruments. Further, online pimping using mobile applications have developed and thrived in spite of efforts by the government to curb it. Technology has not changed the criminal nature of organized prostitution but has managed to change the prostitutes from victims to perpetrators.
References
Akinyemi, A. (2014, January 18). Hong Kong Police Crack Down on Toilet Brothels. Retrieved April 27, 2017, from http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/hong-kong-police-crack-down-toilet-brothels-1432856
Blanco, B. (2015, December 24). Crackdown on sex workers a strange by-product of District Election polls. Retrieved April 27, 2017, from https://www.hongkongfp.com/2015/12/26/crackdown-on-sex-workers-a-strange-by-product-of-district-election-polls/
Chan, T. (2014). Forced Labour Laws in Hong Kong: A Comparative Analysis. Journal of Law, Technology and Public Policy® , 1 (1)
CHAO-FONG, L. (2014). Cocaine, Parties, and Prostitution: The Life of Hong Kong's Young, Wealthy British Expats. Retrieved April 27, 2017, from https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/british-expats-hong-kong-cocaine-prostitutes-rurik-jutting-304
Cheng, S. (2017). Getting laid online: We explore Sex141.com, Hong Kong's 'Wikipedia for whoremongers' Retrieved April 27, 2017, from http://timeout-admin.candrholdings.com/around-town/features/38403/getting-laid-online-we-explore-sex141com-hong-kongs-wikipedia-for-whoremongers.html
Cho, S. Y., Dreher, A., & Neumayer, E. (2013). Does legalized prostitution increase human trafficking?. World Development , 41 , 67-82
Chu, Y. K. (2005). Hong Kong triads after 1997. Trends in Organized Crime , 8 (3), 5-12
Guest. (2016, September 29). How hong Kong Fuels Sex Addiction. Retrieved April 27, 2017, from https://www.thecabinhongkong.com.hk/how-hong-kong-fuels-sex-addiction/
Kobe, S. (2014). KOBE Sauna. Retrieved April 27, 2017, from http://hongkong.happymassage.com/massage-yellow-pages/massage-places/kobe-sauna-2415.html
Kong, T. S. (2006). What it feels like for a whore: The body politics of women performing erotic labour in Hong Kong. Gender, Work & Organization , 13 (5), 409-434
Lai, E. (2017). History of Hong Kong sex industry. Retrieved April 27, 2017, from http://www.com.cuhk.edu.hk/varsity/0303/periscope_b.htm
Lai, Y. Y., Leung, E., Siu, N. T., Thadani, M. R., 梁曦文, 蕭敖芷, & 黎欣欣. (2015). A qualitative study into community stakeholders' and interest groups' views towards prostitution in Hong Kong. HKU Theses Online (HKUTO)
Lee, T. Y., & Shek, D. T. (2014). Compensated dating and juvenile prostitution in early adolescents in Hong Kong. In Chinese Adolescents in Hong Kong (pp. 173-199). Springer Singapore
Lee, T. Y., Shek, D. T. L., & Busiol, D. (2016). A Longitudinal Study of Compensated Dating and Juvenile Prostitution Behaviors Among Adolescents in Hong Kong. Journal of pediatric and adolescent gynecology , 29 (1), S31-S37
Li, J. C., Cheung, C. K., Jia, C. X., Yu, Y. M., & Nguyen, P. (2016). Narratives of compensated dating of girls in Hong Kong using routine activity theory: results of a focus group study of guardians. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology , 0306624X16648960
Lo, C. (2013, December 06). Police bust vice racket behind city's biggest porn website Sex 141. Retrieved April 27, 2017, from http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1373896/police-bust-vice-racket-behind-citys-biggest-porn-website-sex-141
Lo, S. H. (2013). The politics of controlling organized crime in Greater China (Vol. 136). New York. Routledge
Single Man's Paradise. (2016). Mongering in Hong Kong – A Beginners Guide. Retrieved April 27, 2017, from https://singlemansparadise.com/mongering-in-hong-kong-a-beginners-guide/
The Standard. (2017). 71 arrested over South Korean tourist prostitutes. Retrieved April 27, 2017, from http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news.php?id=85884
Wong, W. C., Holroyd, E., & Bingham, A. (2011). Stigma and sex work from the perspective of female sex workers in Hong Kong. Sociology of health & illness , 33 (1), 50-65
Yang, Y. (2006). Whispers and Moans: Interviews with the men and women of Hong Kong's sex industry . Blacksmith Books
