Sheila O'Hara Visits the Sex Bars. Reflections No 491, 24 June 2010

Sheila O'Hara Visits the Sex Bars
Fr Shay Cullen's columns are published in The Manila Times,
in publications in Ireland, the UK, Hong Kong, and online.

Holy Rosary Parish Church, Angeles City

When Sheila O'Hara, that intrepid social investigator, continued her journey in the Philippines, with Melinda her friend and interpreter, she went to the cities and towns well known for their sex tourism business to gather data for her thesis. They arrived in Angeles City, one hour bus ride north of Manila, and rented a room off Fields Avenue not far from the notorious glitzy sex bars that saturated the area. It was like a sexual Disneyland.

Hundreds of young scantily-clad girls stood outside the sex clubs lit by the flickering multi-colored neon lights enticing middle-aged Caucasian men to go inside to buy drinks and choose a girl for the night. Sheila and Melinda met the bar girls when they came to eat at a canteen nearby. They were open about their lives. 'I came from Samar', Ellen said. 'We have nothing there, our family is always hungry and as kids we had to work in the fields'. Her companion Rosa added 'Here we don't earn much, but it’s better than nothing. For eight hours pole dancing we can earn 150 pesos (US$3, £2)', she said, 'and if we strip we get another 50 pesos (US$1, £0.67). If we get a customer into the VIP room at the back for sex we get 300 pesos ($6)'. Ellen added 'It’s not fair. The bar owner gets 3000 pesos ($65, £45). If he gives the 'cherry girls' (virgins) he earns thirty thousand pesos ($530. £450)

'There are many young ones they bring them in from the far villages, like us,' she said casually. 'Are the customers generous?' Sheila asked. 'If we go out to a hotel the customer sometimes gives us a big tip, if he is a nice man, that is, and doesn't beat us, as some do', Rosa said. 'I think that kind of man enjoys it. He imagines he is beating his wife. He's a brute'. Rosa wiped away a tear as bad memories came flooding back. 'How long have you been here?' Sheila asked. 'A long time, too long', Ellen said. 'I started when I was 14. I was forced to live with an uncle. He raped me. I went to the police but he went free in two days after paying money. Then I ran away from home. A pimp brought me here, gave me a fake birth certificate and got me a job. I had to go with men to pay her back or I could have been jailed'. She said, 'I hate it but it’s all I have. I told my family I work in a hotel as a receptionist and I send them money, so my sisters don’t have to come here '.

Rosa joined in the conversation. 'I was 15, but after six months I got a venereal disease and the boss man, a big Australian, threw me out. Most of bars are run by foreigners. I had to go to the social hygiene clinic to get cured', she said.

Later that night Sheila and Melinda went to a club and were allowed in after they paid an entrance fee. They stood at the back in the shadows. It was the Doll House, a big spacious hall with a circular stage and bar around it. Six dancers were gyrating suggestively to the beat of disco music. About 200 girls in bikinis were on the floor or up on a balcony. The place was full.

The house pimps were inviting the half-drunk sex tourists to pick a girl or have another drink if they didn't already have both. 'It’s a sex circus' Sheila told herself, and wondered about how many of the men and girls were STD- or HIV-positive. Rosa had told her that the social hygiene personnel sometimes go to the club to test the girls, not the customers.

The next day Sheila was determined to learn more and went to the government-run social hygiene center. She met the chief nurse, Angie Santos. 'Yes, we make visits to the clubs when the girls don't come here for their monthly check-up. The check-up certificate is a requirement, like the mayor's work permit. The mayor can’t let any infected girl work, you know, it’s bad for business. If the bar owners don't bring them here, he will cancel their permit and license'. Sheila then planned to go to the police to research the cases of trafficking.

(To be continued) shaycullen@gmail.com, preda@info.com.ph.

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Contact Fr Shay Cullen at the Preda Center, Upper Kalaklan, 2200 Olongapo City, Philippines.
Email: preda@info.com.ph
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PREDA Foundation, Inc.