Zi Teng is a non-governmental organization working for the benefits of sex workers, which is involved in outreach work and provision of legal, occupational safety and health information to sex workers. They believe that all sex workers should have a right to live in dignity and to have human rights respected as other workers do. Through conducting research and public education, the organization aims to let the public know about the situation of sex workers in order to eradicate the social prejudices against sex work and people involved.
Zi Teng – Acorus Calamus is a plant with an extraordinarily tough and strong vitality. Their leaves and stems can be used for making ropes, baskets and many other household furniture. They grow and flourish, quietly and unnoticeably around houses corners, alongside with other wild grasses, and in the wind.
The selling of sex, one of the longest surviving professions in the world, has long been dismissed and discriminated against. Sex workers, with women the majority, have been deprived of their basic and rightful rights other workers in other professions are entitled to. They face the exploitation of the pimps, the sadistic torturing of the punters, not to mention the risk of all kinds of sexually transmitted diseases. They have been rejected by society at large, living a life with no dignity. Zi Teng is formed by people of different working experiences. They are social workers, labor activists, researchers specializing in women studies and church workers etc. who care and concern about the interest and basic rights of women.
Zi Teng believes that all women, regardless of their profession, social classes, religion, or races, have the same basic human rights, that they are equal and entitled to fair and equal treatment in the legal and judicial system, that nobody should be oppressed against, that all people should live in dignity.