The Commodification of Chinese Women in Spain

Abstract

There has been a patriarchal economic alliance between Spain and China in recent years, with the main victims being poor Chinese women without support networks and who are destined for prostitution in Spain. Twentieth century China, an important provider of goods, also supplies women to the Spanish prostitution market. This article is based on participant observation research in the private spaces related to Chinese prostitution in Madrid. Taking into account the prostitutes and their “managers” as primary information sources, we can know what is behind the advertising of Chinese prostitution to Spanish or non-Chinese buyers of sexual services, how this type of exchange works; we can also come to understand the protagonists’ life-stories through their own testimonies.