A sex worker in Singapore suffered from a fractured arm after confronting a fellow sex worker who offered lower rates to clients.
The woman, identified by the pseudonym Susan, informed the Chinese language newspaper Shin Min Daily News that she was waiting for customers between Lorong 18 and 20 in Geylang when the incident happened on Sept 4.
The other sex worker, who was in her 40s, began offering clients S$20 for 30 minutes of their services.
“Younger women usually charge S$50 for half an hour, but for those like us who are older, we will [offer the same but] pay for the S$15 room rate, which means that we only earn S$35. If the other party offers S$20, we end up not earning much,” said Ms Susan.
When she confronted her peer’s decision, adding her dissatisfaction with the offered rates, the other woman allegedly started scolding her.
It was reported that the other sex worker threw a mineral water bottle at Ms Susan, which she retrieved and threw back at her.
The fight escalated, and the other woman picked up a plastic chair and walked toward Ms Susan with the intent to attack her.
As Ms Susan defended herself, she was reportedly kicked from the back by a man, which caused her to fall down.
She informed Shin Min Daily News that the man was one of the staff responsible for the sex workers from the other woman’s brothel.
Ms Susan warned the other woman that she was going to alert the police, but the other party said she was not afraid, as she would ask her clients to “get” Ms Susan if she dared inform the authorities.
Ms Susan suffered from injuries on her right arm and knee after the fall. She also called the police on the incident but decided not to pursue the matter and sought medical attention instead.
Her injuries worsened the following day, forcing her to call for an ambulance. She was told at the hospital that her right arm was fractured, and she would need to wear a cast.
Ms Susan spent S$500 on medical bills and was given two weeks’ hospitalization leave, although she requested her cast removed after a week.
Hospital staff advised her to report the incident again to the police, which she did on Sept 13.
She is still unsure if she will return to Geylang, where she worked for over a decade, typically getting one or two customers a day.
“I’m worried that someone will do something untoward to me should I go back,” she admitted.
The Singapore Police Force said it was aware of the incident, and investigations are ongoing. /TISG