Special Report: A Life in Pain

City Hall�s policy on prostituted women, which criminalizes them on the one hand and legalizes them — through the city�s collection of fees — on the other, has been decried for its tendency to victimize these women twice over.

By Jetty Ayop-Ohaylan
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY � At around seven in the evening, the club opens. At eight, Michelle puts on her makeup and slips into the �dress code� — skimpy underwear with lace trimmings and a pair of sandals with three-inch heels. At nine, as male costumers start coming in, the show begins. The lights become a kaleidoscope of red, orange, blue and green.

On stage, Michelle dances almost nude. She has to dance to three songs and, just like any of other dancers in the club, her performance would become more daring as she removed a piece of what she wears each time a new song begins.

She would end the night either being �tabled� by customers or taken out to God knows where. Michelle is a �taxi dancer,� the city�s classification of women like her who are likewise engaged in prostitution.

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