Miari

Mia-ri
Mia-ri
Nickname(s): Miari Texas, Texas Miari
Country South Korea
City Seoul

Mia-ri is one of largest red-light districts in Seoul, South Korea.[1] Located in the Wolgok-dong area at Gireum Station,[2] it is also known as Miari Texas[2] or Texas Miari after the American servicemen that helped popularise the area.[3] The area is entered through a curtain at the entrance to an alleyway.[2] Several other alleys come off this alley.[2][4] Outside each of the buildings stands an ajumma, who tries to entice clients to enter.[2]

History

Even though prostitution was made illegal in 1961,[5] police action was generally limited to the suppression of human trafficking and underage prostitution.[6] The police were often bribed by the brothels.[3]

In January 2,000, the district appointed a new police chief, Kim Kang Ja, who was Korea's first female police chief.[3] Kang Ja claimed 80% of the area's 1,500 prostitutes were underage.[3] She instigated many raids[6] to try and eliminate underage prostitution.[3] At least 40 of the estimated 260 brothels were closed,[3] and underage prostitution virtually eliminated in Miari.[5]

Kang Ja's crackdown precipitated a 50 day national anti-prostitution campaign and a change in the law.[3] The law now allowed police to name people who used underage prostitutes, tripled jail sentences and fines for pimps and no longer treated underage prostitutes as criminals.[3]

Following the 2004 anti-prostitution laws, which define prostitution as a form of human trafficking,[7] further police actions occurred in Miari.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "3,000 Sex Workers Protest Threat to Livelihood". The Seoul Times. 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2006.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Miari Texas in Gireum". Rokit Reports. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Baker, Michael (10 March 2000). "S. Korea's first female chief of police tackles prostitution". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  4. ↑ Ghani, Faras; Borowiec, Steven (19 March 2018). "South Korea: Sex workers hit hard by government's crackdown". Aljazeera. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 Kim, Seung-kyung; Kim, Kyounghee (2014). The Korean Women's Movement and the State: Bargaining for Change. Routledge. ISBN 9781317817789.
  6. 1 2 3 "Hookers complain of hardship after anti-prostitution law enacted". Donga. 22 September 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  7. ↑ "Sex Work Law - Countries". Sexuality, Poverty and Law. Retrieved 23 March 2018.

Coordinates: 37°36′12″N 127°01′30″E / 37.60334°N 127.02502°E / 37.60334; 127.02502

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