Enjo kosai – a growing problem in Hong Kong

A group in Hong Kong claims that young girls in their city are turning to enjo kosai (compensated dating):

More and more underaged girls are going into “compensated dating” 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.

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

Read the full article in The Standard.

7 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - August 18, 2008 at 9:04 am

Categories: General Japan Tags: enjo kosai, hong kong, japan

http://www.feitclub.com feitclub

Originated in Japan?? Come on now. That phrase enjo kosai might be Japanese, but the notion of young girls dating older men for financial perks is international and older than dirt. If prostitution is “the world’s oldest profession,” surely compensated dating was invented five minutes later.
http://relaxedfocus.blogspot.com Rob

“and it does not involve sex”

Somebody’s lying. Or confused.

[Or there's a bad translation somewhere.]

_kovert

Yea sounds really suspicious…
Someone actually paying money just to hang out with a teenage girl? I highly doubt that.

I still remember dating teenage girls when i was the same age and I can’t imagine wanting to do that again. I mean even then the only motivation was sex.

jc

We have a term in Craigslist for that.

FWB. Friends With Benefits. The best part is that sex isn’t always offered in return.

http://relaxedfocus.blogspot.com Rob

Not sure how it works on CL, but everywhere else I’ve ever heard of fwb, it meant sex *definitely* was going on, just not the typical bf/gf relationship-y stuff.

zmod

Hate to quote Wikipedia since things on there aren’t always accurate but the entry shows that its definition is one of those heavily debated topics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enjo_kōsai

Still, it does point to sources which argue that the term encompasses several forms of compensated dating activities that fall under the “exchange of a girl’s company or time” where sexual favors is not part of the equation but also points out that it is just a step away from being considered a full time call girl.

http://www.dawncenter.or.jp/english/publication/edawn/9911/mean.html

Which is why the term and practice even if one does not take part in the sex aspect is still looked down upon.

http://relaxedfocus.blogspot.com Rob

I guess the parallel is more like “escort services” in the US.

Officially, “escorts” aren’t sex workers and you’re only paying for their time and company. In reality, ummm, not so much.

Though that Wikipedia article did finally school me as to the official name of the patrol group I always see out and about my city on the weekends – the Hodōin.

Enjo kosai – a growing problem in Hong Kong

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