Crack down on bogus massage parlours

In a bid to crack-down on brothels that operate under the disguise of massage parlours located in close proximity to resort beach hotels, the police raided three massage parlours in Mount Lavina and took in for questioning 22 women following a tip off.

The women found in the massage parlours were in the age groups of 20-25 who had come from areas like Ratnapura, Nittambuwa, Anuradhapura, Hambantota and Moratuwa.

The women had been lured into prostitution by pimps who promised them big money. Except for two women, the others were unmarried, employed women who visited the massage parlour regularly to earn extra money.

While two men who ran the massage parlours escaped the third man was taken into custody. Customers who visit these massage parlours are charged a sum of around Rs 5000 for the services rendered.

According to Inspector of Police, (HQI) Mahesh Perera the brothels were patronised mostly by service personnel, and state officials holding important portfolios. There were intelligence reports to suggest that the massage parlours were run by subversive elements aligned to a terrorist organisation.

Meanwhile investigations are under way to ascertain whether women have been coaxed to extract information from service personnel and policemen with regard to defence matters. "This is a serious issue where national security is concerned. Steps have to be taken to avert jeopardy," HQI said.

The raid was conducted by OIC Vice Squad, Inspector Dushantha and a team of police officers from Mount Lavinia Police station acting under the supervision of SSP Mount Lavinia Division, Willie Abeynayake.

The 22 women were produced before the Mount Lavinia Magistrate last Wednesday and remanded for 14 days pending further investigations.

According to police, brothels have become a lucrative business for the underworld. The Central Anti Vice Striking Force (CAVSF) arrested 23 women last year in brothels located at Wellawatte and Bambalapitiya areas.

The women arrested had come from far away places like Middeniya, Bibile and, Anuradhapura, while others were from the Colombo suburban areas like Wattala, Negombo, Panadura, and Moratuwa.

At a seminar in Colombo last year, an official of the National Sexually Transmitted Disease/AIDS Control Programme said that 23 per cent of the women who were engaged in commercial sex had practised anal sex, according to a study done in 2005. A similar study done in 1991 showed that only two per cent had practised anal sex that year.

It was also pointed out that an estimated 30,000 women were engaged in commercial sex in Sri Lanka. The sex workers were young women aged around 22 years practising high risk behaviour. They had been lured into sex at a young age.

The official said the problem with these women were that they did not understand the danger of HIV virus or the AIDS epidemic. Evidence showed that some women had even practised condom free sex for a higher price.

The official said that some women between the age groups of 15- 24 years do not know about HIV or AIDS and how to avoid it. "We have to take steps to eradicate the virus completely among young persons if we are to overcome the epidemic. The risky behaviour patterns of young persons have to be identified to stop the spread of HIV transmissions. Knowledge alone wasn't going to help."

She said the most frightening aspect was the mother to child transmission of the HIV virus. Although Sri Lanka was a low prevalence country, 50 per cent of the 324 women who are infected with HIV virus had acquired it outside the country while the balance 50 per cent were infected with the virus by their faithful husbands.

"Of the 24 children infected with HIV virus three orphan children are under my care and there is no one to take charge of them. Fortunately a non governmental organisation has come forward to look after them.

The children are under anti-retro-viral therapy which cost the government around Rs,7000 to 15,000 a month to look after them," she said. It was revealed that many girls who become victims of the HIV virus are those who work at the Free Trade Zone and girls whose mothers have gone to the Middle East for employment.

They had become victims because of their ignorance. They had never heard of sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhoea, chlamydia or syphilis.

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