BALI, Indonesia — BDSM professional Eva Oh, aka Mistress Eva, has shared her comments on sex work in Asia.
Oh usually travels for her job, but is currently in self-isolation at her home base on the island of Bali.
“It is challenging to live life as a sex worker in Asia,” Oh said. “You experience discrimination at a deep societal level, despite its legality in jurisdictions such as Singapore and Hong Kong.”
As the Asian sex work industry, according to Oh, collapses under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic, she and many service professionals like her are “finding other ways to keep revenue stream flowing, such as running my BDSM training site, which allows me to capture and train an international audience that I would otherwise not be able to cross paths with.”
“There is a longing among those who pay for my services to have their needs understood, to feel accepted and to share a vulnerable space with another,” said Oh. “I believe that these factors are the core tenet of my job, and I am driven by those needs to serve and support them.”
While the kink community is trying its hardest to thrive in such oppressive conditions, Oh admits that she and her fellow service providers anticipate an uncertain future. But they continue to work together to support fundraisers for sex workers' rights organizations, such as Singapore's Project X.
"It is our responsibility to provide necessary care and assistance to those in need, but also education to those in need of a better understanding," she added. "By hosting specialty workshops — as well as my new 'Safeword' podcast with fellow advocate Dirk Hooper — my hope is to effectively demystify and destigmatize BDSM and the sex industry for a mainstream audience.”
For more from Eva Oh/Mistress Eva, visit her personal and business websites, and follow her on Twitter.
