A statue in the middle of Erlian's designated prostitution area. This is a small version of a larger statue that stands in the middle of one of the town's main squares. Erlian is the first stop in the trafficking of Mongolian women to China. This statue which is meant to elevate and praise the beauty of Mongolian women, serves in this setting as suggestive reminder of Erlian's wide spread prostitution.
Golden Bridge Street, Erlian's prostitution zone, is comprised of many small and medium sized brothels. About 300 Mongolian women work in this area.
Towards evening Golden Bridge’s neon signs light up and girls stand in windows trying to lure men in passing taxis. On average the workers here have two or three customers a night. The rate for a young woman is 200rmb an hour and as low as 20rmb/hour for older women. They keep 70 % of the fee and give the remainder to their pimp.
Each night the enclave lights up in multi colored neon. The women wait and occasionally dance in the window to attract customers. If a woman refuses the request of a customer she may be docked a part of the fee and then deepen her debt to the pimp.
Each night the enclave lights up in multi colored neon. The women wait and occasionally dance in the window to attract customers. If a woman refuses the request of a customer she may be docked a part of the fee and then deepen her debt to the pimp.
A Mongolian woman returns to the brothel. The other girls are waiting for customers to drive by and notice.
In one of Erlian's bothels where the mostly Mongolian women work and live.
Preparing for the evening shift in Erlian's brothel district, called Golden Bridge.
Erlian is a growing border city that has busy cross border trade with Mongolia. Wind Turbines and new real estate developments are rapidly expanding Erlian's perimeter.
A victim of trafficking in Ulan Bator, Mongolia 2009. Lured by ads for free tuition at a Korean college she was told to work in club/brothel. All her documents had been seized but after telling a patron of her plight she was assisted in her escape and eventual return to Mongolia.
Ad for massage centers and spas which offer a menu of different kinds of women and services. These kind of locations are often in hotels. The women often live, sleep and eat in these confined conditions. They particularly vulnerable to exploitation.
Macau, China. Major intersections and crosswalks are strewn with fliers advertising prostitution. In addition to gambling, Macao has become a haven for sex tourism. Women from many parts of Asia as well as Russia are trafficked to Macao to work in saunas and brothels. The women working in the 'saunas" are locked away on special floors where they live and work. The saunas service list reads like a menu of exotic dishes including Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Hong Kong, Mongolian...etc.
A poster placed at the Macao border displaying a 24 hotline to report human trafficking incidents. Trafficking of Mongolian women to Macao has become an issue that the NGOs and governments are slowly addressing. The Macao government says it's clamping down on the trade in women across its borders. In June last year, it introduced a new human trafficking law, which has given police more powers to arrest and prosecute those involved in the trade.
The Ger Districts of Ulan Bator are slums that house many families who are giving up full time herding and a nomadic living. Besides the current financial crisis their economy was already in troublesome state. Its often the lack of opportunity at home that has left woman more vulnerable to traffickers.
The Ger Districts of Ulan Bator are slums that house many families who are giving up full time herding and a nomadic living. Besides the current financial crisis their economy was already in troublesome state. Its often the lack of opportunity at home that has left woman more vulnerable to traffickers.
Mongolia is still adjusting to its post Soviet separation. In the background of an older housing complex is an old Russian jet and along the back wall, an old political mural featuring Lenin.
After 2008 parliamentary elections angry voters torched the ruling party's headquarters. Elbedorj, the country's new leader was partly blamed for setting off the riots by calling the vote "rigged". The public sector with the potential new mining taxes will hopefully create a growing local economy and jobs.
Voters in a more provincial town come to vote. Election officials carefully checked voter rolls and verified each vote with a stain mark put on the finger. The main issue in the election is how future mining concessions will be run and how those benefits are distributed.
Overlooking one of the mining excavations at the Erdenet Copper Mine. The rocks in the foreground are left out for visitors to see the purity of the copper deposit.
Mongolia is hoping that its bountiful natural resources will create jobs and wealth.
A cooling lake at the Erdenet copper mine seems to be clearly spewing chemical and particulate pollution into this small city. Warning signs in this area prohibit animal or human entry.
Mongolia has a very bright future but its recent past has been full of economic hardship. Many have been lured by false advertising offering education or work in foreign countries only to find themselves indentured or trapped in massage parlors or brothels. According to NGO reprots, between 3,000 to 5,000 Mongolians are trafficked each year. The vast majority are poor and uneducated women and girls. Feature story in South China Morning Post and Global Post.
