50
2
3
In cases where force was used or they were deceived as to the purposes journeys please state what methods were employed.
of their
Ans. The number of women who left Hong Kong for the Straits Settlements in order to practise prostitution there during the years 1924-1927 was as follows:
1924
1927
1926
1927
457
245
700
71
5. What, in general, has been the result of applying the laws and measures mentioned in question 4 in the last five years?
Ans. It would be difficult to say. On the whole it is probable that the situa- tion so far as the traffic in women is concerned has altered little during the past 5 years. Other factors such as the fluctuation of civil war and disorder in China affect the question. The following figures taken from the police reports give the number of charges brought under the Women and Girls Protection Ordinance No. 4 of 1897.
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
63
47
116
170
152
All these women were questioned before departure by an officer of the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs and so far as could be ascertained they all went of their own free will. In 1927 admissions to tolerated houses in the Straits Settlements were stopped. No other statistics are available
Complaints are from time to time made at the Chinese Secretariat by girls who allege that they have been induced by force or fraud to leave their homes in order to practise prostitution. Specimens of such statements are given in the Appendix. The methods as stated are generally-
(1) promise to find work,
(2) promise to arrange marriage,
(3) undertaking to find relations who have gone abroad,
(4) intimidation,
(5) In addition girls sometimes allege that they have been drugged by means of chemicals introduced into food or cigarettes. No direct evidence of this practice other than the statements of the victims seems ever to have been obtained.
In estimating the value of such statements, it should be remembered that girls some- times make false allegations of this nature either from a sense of shame or, after they have sold themselves, from a desire to retain the money and escape the conse- quences. This form of conspiracy is known in China as "Flying the Homing Pigeon".
4. Please furnish the text of all laws and administrative orders or regulations in actual operation in your country for combating the traffic in women and children.
The Commission is in possession of the laws mentioned on the attached sheet.
.Ins. blem :---
The following ordinances and regulations are concerned with this pro-
1. Women and Girls Protection Ordinance 4 of 1897.
Ditto. Amendment Ordinance 21 of 1929. Regulations of Hong Kong pp. 178-179.
Amendment Govt. Notn. 578 in Govt. Gazette of 7th October, 1927.-
2. Boarding House Rules, Regs. pp. 715-726.
Amendment Govt. Notn. 326 in Govt. Gazette of 8th June, 1928.
3. Female Domestic Service Ordinance 1 of 1923.
Ditto. Amendment Ordinance 22 of 1929.
Regulations Govt. Notn. 568 in Govt. Gazette of 8th November, 1929, as amended by Govt. Notn. 273 in Govt. Gazette of 9th May,
1930.
4. Ordinance 2 of 1865, Sections 44 and 45.
Ditto. Amendment Ordinance 13 of 1929.
213
The increase in the number of cases does not necessarily connote an increase in the traffic. It is due rather to the fact that during 1925 and 1926 the attention of the authorities was occupied in dealing with the situation arising out of the political crisis of those years. With the collapse of the anti-British movement in 1927, it became possible to devote more attention to this work.
6. Is there any demand for foreign prostitutes in your country and what factors contribute to the creation of this demand? By foreign prostitutes are meant prostitutes, citizens of other countries, oriental as well as occidental.
Ans. Hong Kong is a large shipping centre. It is also a naval and military station. Males exceed females in the population in about the proportion of
to 2. All these factors tend to create a demand for European and American, Japanese and Chinese prostitutes. There are a large number of transient visitors always in the colony, and it is not unusual for Chinese residents to leave their wives to supervise any houses or land they may possess in their country of origin. There is also a de- mand for women who act as entertainers at clubs and restaurants, and these women are by custom usually prostitutes. The practice of concubinage leads to a large num ber of prostitutes leaving their profession in order to become concubines, and their places are filled by a fresh influx from outside the colony. It would be impossible
to say what proportion are natives of Hong Kong
7. Can your Government give, in addition to those stated on the attached sheet, a list
of associations or prominent individuals in your country who are concerned with the problem
of combating the traffic in women and children?
What results of their work has your Government observed?
Ans. Associations:
1. The Po Leung Kuk Committee.
2. The District Watch Committee acting through the District Watch
Force.
3. The Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children.
4. The Anti-Muitsai Society,
5. The Salvation Army.
6. Institutions such as The Victoria Home and Orphanage, the French
and Italian Convents.
Individuals:
Members of the District Watch Committee.
Past and present members of the Po Leung Kuk Committees. Generally speaking it may be said that the detection of traffickers and the res-
que of their victims is almost entirely in the hands of the authorities and in these matters the Police Department and the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs work in close co-operation. The latter has the assistance of the District Watch Force a body of
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