Thaindian News

Beijing, Aug 4 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A group of Chinese sex workers and their sympathizers took to the streets of central Chinese city of Wulhan on Thursday. The group said they wanted the discrimination against prostitution in the country lifted.

But the police have arrested and detained the leader of the group, Ye Haiyan, who is also called, “the Hooligan Sparrow”. In a text message sent by Haiyan to the media from her detention center, Haiyan said the authorities were giving her “re-education”.

It ought to be mentioned that prostitution is illegal in China. It has been illegal since the Chinese Communists party took over the running of the country six decades ago.

But Haiyan has decided to defy that ban. She started what she calls, Chinese Women’s Rights Workshop to promote the rights of the country’s sex workers.

Haiyan, who alleges that she is a sex worker, is also a single mother of one. She claims that in contrast to opinions about them, she is promoting the awareness of HIV/AIDS among the sex workers. After her detention she vented out her frustration on the popular social networking and micro blogging site Twitter and she said that, “I promote AIDS awareness. They can investigate all of that, but I do not deserve this kind of treatment.”

The WHO estimates that China has about four million sex workers in the country and the Chinese police have been very severe with most of the prostitutes.