All-around neglect of migrant workers' rights
- Source: Global Times
- [00:03 February 01 2010]
- Comments
By Li Yanjie
A Guangdong official's proposal offering more assistance to migrant workers, whose sex lives are affected by the long separation from their spouses, has caught media attention and triggered a debate.
During the current session of the Guangdong provincial CPPCC, Zhang Feng, director of the province's commission on population and family planning, said Thursday that prolonged sexual deprivation could contribute to a host of social problems.
Zhang holds that it's necessary for the government to pay more attention to the problem as sexually transmitted diseases are spreading among migrant workers, and AIDS carriers, too, are increasing.
However, his proposal has been questioned and even criticized. Another official is of the view that there are many problems of the migrant workers crying to be solved, and their sexual deprivation need not concern the government.
China has around 230 million migrant workers in cities and the number is rising annually. According to a recent survey by the Guangdong Sexology Association on the sexual practices and reproductive health of the province's migrant workers, 36 percent of 3,093 respondents have experienced severe sexual depression, 30 percent of married men have used sex workers to meet their physiological needs, and another 30 percent have many sexual partners.
But most of the migrant workers don't use condoms, and know little about the importance of safe sex.
Unsafe sex leads to a rise in venereal diseases. Of the AIDS affected found from January to October 2009 in Gansu Province, farmers, migrant workers and the unemployed account for 55.41 percent.
Statistics on crimes by migrant workers born in the 1980s and 1990s based on research in Guangdong's three prisons shows that 2 to 3 percent of the offenders are serving term for cruel sex crimes, and usually committed as a group.
Poor living conditions are one reason. Most migrant workers live in crowded dorms provided by employers. High housing costs and the hukou system make it difficult for them to rent or buy an apartment and bring their spouses. They are also excluded, by access costs, from a city's cultural and entertainment scenes. They live a marginalized life, deprived and isolated in many ways.
Unemployment, low pay, and lack of social insurance are all important problems that haunt migrant workers. But the relatively greater importance of these problems cannot be reason to neglect the sexual needs and rights of migrant workers.
Thousands of years ago, Confucius said that the desire for food and sex is part of human nature. Food ensures humans can live, while sex enables humans to multiply and develop. The two are basic components of human rights.
It is important to solve migrant workers' problems, including their sexual deprivation, which is more akin to repression. However, these problems cannot be resolved overnight and until then, local authorities should work out some short-term solutions to ease their situation in the interests of social security.
Toward this, giving out free condoms, promoting paid holidays, and operating affordable housing may be good starting points.
