A/HRC/4/24/Add.2 page 10 The entertainer E-6 visa 33. For example the E-6, or “entertainer visa”, is available to “foreigners who, for the good of profit-making, wish to be engaged in activities such as music, art, literature, entertainment, performance, plays, sports, advertising, fashion modelling, and other occupations that correspond to those above”. Female migrant workers coming to the Republic of Korea under an “entertainer visa” are increasingly being lured into sexual activities. This visa category, established in 1994 has met an increasing demand for foreign female entertainers and requests doubled since 1997. 34. Prostitution is illegal in the Republic of Korea, though numerous brothels operate in major cities and around United States military bases. Sex workers, especially female migrant workers, often suffer from grave abuses, including arbitrary detention and verbal or physical abuse by their employers. For migrant sex workers, language and cultural barriers exacerbate their vulnerable legal status. Most of them are irregular migrant workers who have overstayed their “entertainer” visas which makes it even more difficult for them to report abuse or seek redress from government authorities. 35. One of the Vietnamese female migrant workers interviewed by the Special Rapporteur reported long hours of domestic work and non-payment of her wages by her employer for the last 16 months. She was forced to perform several tasks for 12 hours on a daily basis from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. She would then perform as an entertainer in an elephant show; besides, she was forced to engage in prostitution with her employer’s clients. She finally ran away and was staying in a shelter when she met the Special Rapporteur. 36. In September 2004 the Republic of Korea enacted a law that included a provision stipulating a prison term of up to 10 years for people who forced their employees to sell sex, and as a means to repaying the debts the employees incurred in the course of such employment. The new law also paved the way for trafficking victims to pursue cases against brothel owners. However, the law does not protect those that either want to stay in the sex industry or cannot prove that they were coerced. Critics argue that police crackdowns pursuant to the law have driven many sex workers further underground, putting them in an even more vulnerable situation. Marriages 37. Over the past few years, the number of international marriages has sharply increased. In particular, as legal immigration routes are limited due to the implementation of new employment schemes, international marriages are becoming more popular than ever because it guarantees a long term and stable resident status. The number of marriages between Korean men and their foreign female spouses stands at around 30,000 in 2006, more than three times higher than marriages between Korean women and foreign male spouses. In 2006, mixed marriages represented 13.6 per cent of the total number of marriages in the Republic of Korea but in the rural areas they represent 36.9 per cent of the marriages. 38. Statistics by nationality reveal that 66.2 per cent of foreign female spouses are from China and 18.7 per cent are from Viet Nam. Japanese nationals constitute 4 per cent; Filipino nationals 3.2 per cent; and the rest of the women are from other countries including Thailand, Mongolia, and Russia.