A third of HK teens would consider prostitution

Of nearly 600 youngsters aged 12 to 20 questioned in the wealthy city of 7 million, 34 percent said they would consider offering compensated dating, a euphemism for prostitution, as a full-time job.

Sixty percent of those who said they would consider compensated dating said they would do it mainly to earn quick cash, while 23 percent said they would do it for their own sexual gratification.

The survey by the Hong Kong Christian Service came despite a grisly case in July in which a 24-year-old man was jailed for life for murdering a 16-year-old girl he met over the Internet.

Ting Kai-tai murdered and dismembered the girl after she agreed to meet him in exchange for cash and presents and went home with him after in exchange for a 1,500 Hong Kong dollar (193 US dollars) payment.

A survey earlier this year found that teenagers in the fashion-conscious city often got involved in compensated dating to earn money for designer clothes and brand-name products.

Police in the wealthy city of 7 million have arrested several men in recent months for allegedly working as pimps for schoolgirls as young as 13.

In one case, a 19-year-old girl was arrested after a video circulated the Internet of her giving a man oral sex on a city bus to earn US$25 towards a Gucci handbag.

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