By Han Eun-jung
Staff Reporter
Close to seven months have passed since the implementation of an anti-prostitution law, and while many are still hesitate to discuss the controversial matter, a vigorous discussion touching on many of its surrounding issues took place at a university campus in Seoul Tuesday.
The international forum titled "Sex Trafficking in Asia and Voices from the Spot" was held as part of the Women's Film Festival in Seoul (WFFIS)'s Feminist Film and Video Activism section, in which works by individuals and groups that depict the realities of prostitutes in Asia are being screened.
The event was co-organized by the Center for Women's Culture and Theory and WFFIS and held at the LG Convention Hall at Ewha Womans University.
A panel made up of filmmakers, feminist activists and scholars examined the status quo of sex trafficking in Asia, its causes and possible alternatives in part one, while the second part addressed video activism as a method of self-empowerment and healing for sex workers. Each session closed with a floor discussion that invited spectators to share views with guest speakers.
Starting the discussion were presentations by professor Ko Gaphee of Hanshin University on Sex-trade/Sex-Work in Korea and Asia and Swapna Gayen of Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a Kolkata, India-based sex worker collective, who spoke of innovative approaches to combating trafficking of women for the sex trade.
Thailand's own collective, Empower secretary Chantawipa Apisuk, introduced the state of prostitution in the southwest country. On behalf of local sex workers' Union Hanteo, its director Kim Moon-hee made a declaration stating the need for the public to address the rights of women in that line of work.
Debates and open floor discussions circled around the political correctness of addressing prostitution as a sex trade or as sex labor and the legitimization of it.
The presentations and debates also drew spirited comments from the students, filmmakers and activists present, who broached the moral and ethical sides of prostitution while others voiced the opinion that the sex trade needs to be decriminalized.
The power of camera and film to give a voice to those who want to be heard and the changing role of documentary films and filmmakers was addressed in the latter half of the forum by guest speakers, including Wang Fang Ping, Secretary General of Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters (COSWAS); Taiwan, Ah-yin, COSWAS staff and former sex worker; and Kim Il-rhan, director of "Mamasang: Remember Me This Way."
Media scholar and director Shohini Gosh spoke of her feelings about the importance of realizing that filmmaking is an endless negotiation between the filmmaker and his or her subject.
"Though there may never exist a perfect equation between the two, the struggle to acknowledge this issue should bear imprint on the film," Gosh said.
She went on by saying that her "Tales of the Night Fairies," a documentary that explores the power of organizing and resistance while reflecting contemporary issues surrounding sex work in India, responds to the complex notion of the gaze.
"As both an insider and outsider I am both the person who gazes but one who is gazed upon.
"I felt that that this `vanishing approach' of coming to the object with a camera and then withdrawing was wrong. Filming is not an act of charity rather it is made for the rights of both sides," she said.
Response from the floor was as mixed and open for future discussion as was the resolutions of the forum.
"To be honest, my views on this contentious issue are mixed. However, coming to this forum was informative in the sense that I was exposed to so many different standpoints," Lee Mi-sun, a 21-year-old journalism major from Seoul said.
"All in all, just knowing that so many people are concerned about it and that it can be talked about here has made participating in this forum meaningful for me," she added.
A total of seven films have been shown in the Feminist Film and Video Activism section at Shinchon's Artreon theater since the annual film festival opened last Friday.
They include "Highway Courtesans," "Licensed Prostitutes Apocalypse," "Mamasang: Remember Me This Way," "Our Life Saving Vinegar," "Prostitution Behind the Veil," Tales of the Night Fairies," "Awful Normal," "Economic Women" and "A Report About Matriarchs Who Are Standing in Front of the Wall of Poverty."
The 7th WFFIS comes to a close tomorrow.
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