Editor's note: The following was translated and edited from an article that appeared on iFeng.com's blog highlight section. The author draws on the recent discovery that Apple's voice-activated Siri search functions returned actual results for prostitution services, and uses this discovery – which has since been rectified and no longer brings up illicit results – as a springboard to discuss the state of prostitution in Chinese society and the world on the whole.

As one netizen recently discovered, telling Siri (Apple's voice-activated search function for the iPhone 4S) "I want to visit a prostitute" not only correctly parses the command, but offers a helpful list of locations and directions (mostly nightclubs, discos), much to the interest of the Chinese internet community.

Clearly, Siri understands China. And I think this reflects four things about the current state of prostitution in society:

1) Prostitution is gradually legalizing across the globe
Though "the world's oldest profession" is a fact of life all over the world, different countries have different policies on the matter, and more and more are turning to legalization. There was the report last month of a Spanish "prostitution school" in Valencia: started by a former sex worker, the course covers one week of instruction and costs 100 Euros. Spanish law currently permits prostitution, and it is estimated that there are 300,000 sex workers operating in Spain today.

Then there was the elderly American landlord who ejected one of her tenants—a young, fashionable woman—after suspecting the men she frequently brought home might be customers of an illicit sex business. The young woman then sued the elderly landlady for invasion of privacy and the court promptly ruled in her favor, forcing the woman to pay damages. When the confused old woman asked the judge why the court would let a "bad person" win, the judge reportedly responded: "Because, ma'am, the law applies to good people and bad people."

Prostitution in China may not be a glamorous profession, but it's not technically a crime either. Code 358 of Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China (刑法) lists numerous punishments for "organizing" and/or "coercing" prostitutes, including special penalties for "rape followed by coercion" and "coercion of girls under the age of 14", but it does not specifically prohibit the sale of sexual acts for money. Prostitution is therefore not a "crime" per se, but instead falls under the jurisdiction of public security (治安).

Apple's Siri service simply provides the user access to a directory of goods and services already enjoyed by people around the world. Therefore, if the events above stir up controversy, it's simply because the iPhone 4S hasn't fully understood the Chinese situation.

2) Prostitution is poorly defined in Chinese law
According to the Penal Code of Public Security Administration (治安管理处罚法) of the People's Republic of China, prostitution is the exchange of money or property for unspecified acts (including oral sex, hand sex, and sodomy) between members of the same or different sexes. Due to the subjective nature of the way the act is treated, one could be arrested after sexual activity but before money is exchanged; or after money is exchanged but before sex happens. It all depends on the "intent" of the persons involved.

This is how we treat prostitution in China: two people meet, have sex, exchange money. But where do we draw the line? If two people are in a committed, sexually active relationship, they tend to exchange gifts and even money from time to time. Clearly that's not prostitution. I believe we ought to look at whether prostitution is the main occupation of one of the participants before instituting punishment, but the line is fine indeed.

Because of this, Apple's Siri helping users find houses of ill-repute isn't technically legal, but it's hard to say exactly which law prohibits it. Whether or not those nightclubs and discos offer sexual service is their own business, so Siri is hardly a pimp.

3) Prostitution is, to a certain degree, a rights issue
As we know, sexual needs are not the exclusive domain of the able-bodied. Handicapped people have needs too! There's the story of the disabled Dutch man who, after 7 years of intense legal struggle, finally won his right to a once-a-month government sponsored visit from a prostitute to satisfy his "physiological needs".

Meanwhile, Chinese citizens have a different sort of problem. The one-child policy may have saved us of a million extra people in the world, but it also contributes to an uncomfortable gender imbalance: according to an official report from 2004, the national ratio of women to men was 116.9 to 100, which in some provinces spread to as much as 135 to 100. It's estimated that by 2020, there will be 30-40 million more marriage-age men than women, meaning approximately 1 out of every 5 men in China will never find a wife. Then again, that's just a theoretical figure. In reality, some women will go abroad, some women won't marry, and some women will be content to share a very "successful" man with a mistress, so actually the number of doomed Chinese bachelors is probably going to be even higher than the above estimate.

4) Fallen women: the current Chinese situation
Officially, there is no such thing as a Chinese "prostitute" anymore. After all, we outlawed brothels 60 years ago, so how could there be? According to a statement by chief of police Liu Shaowu in 2010, "We used to call these women 'prostitutes', now we can call them 'fallen women'. Special groups deserve respect, too." Since November of that year, sex workers are to be treated as victims of coercion, not punished.

So, as anyone who understands China knows, we don't have "prostitutes" here, but we sure do have a lot of "fallen women". An estimated 5 million, actually, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

In conclusion, Apple's Siri app can give you more than just a nearby place to satisfy your needs; with just the sound of your voice, it can give you a lot to think about.

Editor's note: A more recent discovery by Chinese netizens reveals that Apple is now blocking results for prostitution and other pornographic searches, though it does so by claiming that "there are no results for escort services".

Source: iFeng.com

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Keywords: China prostitution siri app prostitution china prostitution Chinese law China iPhone Siri