PAUL MOONEY
Ye Haiyan campaigns to improve conditions and end discrimination for China’s sex workers and AIDS victims, who are scorned by society and abused by authorities. Her bid for empathy has even led her to work as a prostitute in a low-cost brothel. She explains her passion to Paul Mooney.
The brothel is so-called because poor migrant workers can obtain sex here for just 10, 20, or 30 yuan, with 10 yuan amounting to about $1.50. A sign on the wall of this barren room, however, says “Sexual Services Provided for Free.” Ye Haiyan, the occupant of the small room, does not look like one of the regulars here, a group that is mostly made up of older prostitutes in their 40s and 50s. Actually, Ye, 37, is a well-known advocate for the rights of sex workers and AIDS victims, and she came here in January to get a first-hand feel for the lives of the young women she’s been defending for years, and to show her compassion for the many poor men who frequent such brothels. Her commitment is such that she actually has sex with customers the way the prostitutes would. Sitting in a small Beijing hotel room earlier this month after returning from a sex workers conference in the United States, Ye says that when she was younger, she was never biased against sex workers—feeling they were “just trying to make a living”—but at the same time, never thought much about their plight or their low position in society. When she ran a legitimate massage parlor next door to a beauty parlor that was a front for a brothel, the prostitutes would come over and sit and chat. After they left, her staff would run over and wipe off the chairs, afraid they would get AIDS if they sat on them. She began to take more of an interest in sex workers when she was the manager of a karaoke, where she witnessed a sex worker being beaten by some men. “The police let the attackers go and did nothing for the victim,” she said.
The brothel is so-called because poor migrant workers can obtain sex here for just 10, 20, or 30 yuan, with 10 yuan amounting to about $1.50. A sign on the wall of this barren room, however, says “Sexual Services Provided for Free.” Ye Haiyan, the occupant of the small room, does not look like one of the regulars here, a group that is mostly made up of older prostitutes in their 40s and 50s. Actually, Ye, 37, is a well-known advocate for the rights of sex workers and AIDS victims, and she came here in January to get a first-hand feel for the lives of the young women she’s been defending for years, and to show her compassion for the many poor men who frequent such brothels. Her commitment is such that she actually has sex with customers the way the prostitutes would. Sitting in a small Beijing hotel room earlier this month after returning from a sex workers conference in the United States, Ye says that when she was younger, she was never biased against sex workers—feeling they were “just trying to make a living”—but at the same time, never thought much about their plight or their low position in society. When she ran a legitimate massage parlor next door to a beauty parlor that was a front for a brothel, the prostitutes would come over and sit and chat. After they left, her staff would run over and wipe off the chairs, afraid they would get AIDS if they sat on them. She began to take more of an interest in sex workers when she was the manager of a karaoke, where she witnessed a sex worker being beaten by some men. “The police let the attackers go and did nothing for the victim,” she said.
Zhao Ziyang was the Communist 
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