KUALA LUMPUR: Despite a national outcry of anger and demanding for an explanation, Malaysian women say the government has not moved to deliver an answer as to why and how six reported students from the Southeast Asian country were made to work as sex workers in Australia. The Prime Minister's office on Monday morning would not comment on the matter when Bikyanews.com called for an explanation, saying they were “in discussions” with their Australian counterparts. Malaysian women have been demanding answers after a group of 6 students who had traveled to Australia on student visas were reportedly forced to perform sex acts as payment for their visas. Reports surfaced that 6 students were told that in order to pay off their debts they would be required to work as sex workers in Australia, which has left many in the Southeast Asian country livid and calling on the government to explain how this came to happen. This is disgusting and we demand the government take full action with Australia in order to ensure that our youth are protected when they travel abroad," 41-year-old social worker Amina Yussif in Kuala Lumpur told Bikyanews.com. “We have a sex trade problem already in this country and for this type of acts to be forced on our young women is despicable and scars any relationship we have with Australia," she added. According to reports, the woman accused of running a Sydney brothel, Chee Mei Wong, 37, told the women who were held in alleged “sexual servitude" that they had to do it to pay off the debts they incurred in going to Australia, a court heard yesterday. Wong pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual servitude and six counts of breaching visas, including exploiting workers, reported the Australian Associated Press. At the opening day of her trial in the NSW District Court in Sydney, it was alleged that Wong ran the Diamonds brothel in Willoughby in Sydney's north between August 2008 and 2010. She is also known as Yoko. She allegedly employed six women of Indian background, who were recruited in Malaysia. Unfortunately, this is not the first instance of Malaysian women being forced into the sex trade while abroad, or even at home. Women's rights advocates have repeatedly told Bikyanews.com over the past few months that police must do more to ensure that women are not being forced into the sex trade or illegal pornographic filming. “We have seen a number of Chinese women forced to make sex films and work as sex workers in the country because the demand continues to rise," social worker Usmanah Mahammad, who works with former sex workers in Kuala Lumpur, told Bikyanews.com. She said that the recent revelation of such “dens" in Ipoh and elsewhere are a sign that paying for sex is on the rise. Police have responded and over the weekend raided on of the dens in Ipoh, where they confirmed to Bikyanews.com scary details of what occurs inside. According to police reports, visitors are able to “choose a girl and have sex with her." BN
