More girls lured into 'compensated dating' (extract)

(學習重點：加了黃色螢光標記的詞組)

More and more underaged girls go into "compensated dating" (緩助交際) because they have a choice of clients and it does not involve sex, according to a study by the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. (民建聯)

The girls, some as young as 15, are not aware of the consequences, the study says, and can suffer from physical and psychological harm should they be forced to serve violent clients.

Family debts, it was found, drive some to the sex trade.

Compensated dating originated in Japan in 1994 and it involves older men give money and luxury gifts to young women, working individually or with agents, for their companionship.

The DAB collaborated with the Yang Memorial Methodist Social Service, which investigated six women aged between 16-18. The DAB also interviewed some of the women involved.

The investigation showed most of the girls involved in compensated dating were not from underprivileged families although most had personal financial problems or poor family relationships. In addition, the young women believed that compensated dating differed from sex work because they had a choice of clients.

Beatrice Siu
The Standard, 18 August 2008