Nude questions prompt naked fury

Beijing police have come under fire from Web users after pictures of an officer questioning a naked woman suspected of prostitution were uploaded to a news portal Tuesday.

The scene, in which a naked woman with long, dark hair stands next to a bed, her head bowed, her hair covering her breasts and covering her genitals with her hands, is part of a video which appeared on the website of v.163.com on Monday.

A plainclothes officer sits before her, asking questions and taking notes. The video is from a public security news program broadcast on the science and education channel of Beijing Television (BTV).

The news portal had lifted a still of the woman from the video to use on the site's homepage.

The film was taken when police raided a health club in Yayuncun, Chaoyang district.

Although the clip was uploaded to the website Tuesday, it is not known when the raid was conducted, and Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau spokesman, Zi Xiangdong, could not provide further details, or comment on the way the suspect was questioned.

According to the film, police arrested the club manager, and questioned two naked women, as well as another four suspected prostitutes, all clothed, who were waiting for customers.

An overwhelming majority of commenters blamed the male officer for not giving the woman the courtesy of putting on her clothes before he interrogated her.　

"At least the officer should have let her get dressed. Do we count his actions as getting a free prostitution service?" said a Web user from Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi Province on Tuesday.

Ye Haiyan, a sex worker and founder of the Chinese Women's Rights Workshop in Wuhan, Hubei Province, also posted on her Sina microblog criticizing the officer's behavior.

"What do they want by publicizing a video in which they questioned a nude prostitute? To show off their efficiency and enthusiasm in work… [They are] voyeurs," she said in her post.

Officers questioning people in the nude who are suspected of prostitution or of having paid for sex seems to be common practice when police conduct raids on establishments suspected of being a brothel.

According to a video clip on BTV's website, on July 28, police arrested several foreign women suspected of prostitution and their Chinese customers in Forte Starland Club, a nightclub on Yabao Lu, Chaoyang district.

In the video, officers questioned a woman and a man while both are naked. The blonde female is trying to hide behind the bed, and both are trying to cover themselves with their hands.

He Ruochen, 26, who lives in Chaoyang district, told the Global Times that she was rather angry when she saw the video on Tuesday morning.

"The self-respect of the woman was trampled on by the officer. A prostitute still deserves respect," she said, "I really don't understand the psychology of the policeman when questioning a nude woman standing in front of him."

Xia Xueluan, a professor of sociology at Peking University, said that it would be better to have a female officer question a suspected prostitute.

"But even so, they should let the prostitute and the customer at least wear underwear to shelter their private parts," he said.

Xia said that it is reasonable for the public to criticize the methods the police use when questioning a prostitute.

"Police represent the image of the government when they are performing tasks," he said, "an officer who neglects a woman's self-respect is no different from a [prostitute's] customer."

Lü Xiaoquan, a lawyer in Beijing Zhongze Women Legal Consultant & Service Center, said that while both the prostitute and the customer should be punished for their offences, the way officers behaved means they could be accused of infringement of other's personal dignity.

"The [suspected] prostitute and customer have the right to sue the police for doing this," he said.

According to Chinese law, prostitutes and customers could be detained for up to 15 days and be fined up to 5,000 yuan ($798) if caught.