Posted on 10/25/2005 12:08:53 AM PDT 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 chatrooms.
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 counsellor 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 counsellors 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 counsellor 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 chatrooms, 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 glamorisation 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."
Which means she's going to be in a helluva pickle when (not if) she gets AIDS, gives it to her boyfriend, and then he finds out after he gets AIDS from her.
<< Mee-so-Hohhneee. Luv-U-wong-time-GI!
And this is reported like it is news! >>
In chaste and moralistic Singapore, where even today 30-years-old spinster virgins are not at all uncommon, it is indeed big news.
Traditionally, almost every "Singapore prostitute" has been a foreigner.
SE asia before inflation.
The influences are all over. Watch almost any TV show and premarital sex among the show's teens and twenty-somethings is treated as a common, everyday, no-big-deal occurrance.
With many of these shows being exported to foreign markets and the influence of the former First Felon, can we honestly say this is a surprise?
Video phones expedite this
I'm sure any counselor from Planned Parenthood would say that was perfectly all right . . . or, perhaps, ask, "What do you mean by 'right'?"
Tut. We had a guy in a nearby town paying minors to be in porn movies. He was then selling the movies on the internet.
He was the easiest guy in the world to catch and had all the evidence necessary to convict him. Porn pirates are idiots.
They like that"EASY" money!
After getting paid, she reported them to the police. They were convicted of having sex with a girl younger than 16.
Do a girl a favor......
The Sex Positive agenda (google the term sometime) seeks to make everyone sexually active at every age (whatever type of activity the child or adult wants).
There is no "age appropriate" activity. There are no moral decisions about any sexual pairing regardless of sex, age, relation, marital status, or species. They oppose abstinence because they consider it "unhealthy" because it supresses desires.
This crud has been shoved down the throats of society for decades now (including in schools and from public health centers) and this is what we can expect out of such "openness".
" Which means she's going to be in a helluva pickle when (not if) she gets AIDS, gives it to her boyfriend, and then he finds out after he gets AIDS from her."
Chances of female to male transmission are low - even in Asia, where it's higher than in North America
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7904668&dopt=Citation
The epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in Thailand has allowed an estimate to be made of the probability of female-to-male HIV-1 transmission per sexual contact. In a study of 1115 21-year-old male military conscripts, of whom 77 (6.9%) were HIV-1 seropositive, sex with female prostitutes was identified as the principal mode of HIV-1 transmission. With a mathematical model including data on conscript's age at first sexual contact, frequency of sex with female prostitutes, and province of origin; as well as province-specific HIV-1 seroprevalence of prostitutes, we estimated the probability of HIV-1 transmission per sexual contact to be 0.031 (95% confidence limits [CL] 0.025-0.040). Allowing for random error in the self-reported frequency of contacts, the estimate was 0.056 (95% CL 0.041-0.075). The transmission probability was significantly greater among men with a history of sexually-transmitted diseases. These estimates are substantially higher than analogous estimates made in North America. This high per-act probability of heterosexual transmission helps to explain the rapid spread of HIV-1 in the emerging epidemic in Thailand and perhaps in other countries where HIV-1 transmission is predominantly heterosexual.
'They oppose abstinence because they consider it "unhealthy" because it supresses desires.'
That logic is predicated on the idea that every desire should be instantly gratified.
These are the fruits of the welfare state, literally and figuratively.
What was curious was the perps were always Malay and the victims always Chinese.
American TV shows aren't particular popular in Singapore mainly due to language barriers and dubbed shows aren't common. I think it is the influence of Japanese AVs (which make American porn look like old bastions of morality).
Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware of the influence of Japanese AVs. Having spent a little time in Japan 30-odd years ago, it's a little surprising to me to hear that. The Japanese were a little more chaste on those days.
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