Hanging out with Goals: Intimate Economies in Hong Kong

Abstract

The experiences of non-Chinese women in sex work and other intimate economies in Hong Kong, speak resoundingly to the conference’s key themes of gender, sexuality, justice and resilience in uncertain times. In this presentation, we present preliminary findings from approximately 40 qualitative interviews with women and men connected to sex work and other intimate economies in Hong Kong, including those managing precarious labour or migration statuses. The identities and experiences of women in this study defy easy categorization, as they move through different migrant identities, legal classifications and statuses and as they blur the boundaries between sex work and other intimate economies. We discuss the co-constitutive relationship between precarity and intimacy in a migration policy context and the role of labour migration and forced migration policy in shaping the specific contours of intimate economies in Hong Kong. In this context, we consider what justice may look like for non-Chinese women whose sexualities are scrutinized or policed, both within and outside of sex work. We look into the potential risks and challenges involved in pursuing justice through institutionally sanctioned means. We conclude by considering the implications for support service organizations who may be structured to seek justice through identity-based claims.