A WEBSITE has removed a job advertisement seeking women as condom testers in Shanghai after some people said it was a guise for prostitution.
A screenshot of the post taken before it was removed showed a condom manufacturer was looking to hire "lively and good-looking women" aged 18 to 25 to work as condom testers in the Pudong New Area. The company offered each woman a salary up to 3,000 yuan (US$480) per day, according to Shanghai Youth Daily. Within three hours after the post was uploaded on Baixing.com on Sunday, 22 people had applied for the job, the newspaper said.
A reporter with the newspaper called the number provided in the ad and spoke to a man surnamed Chen, who said he worked at the company in Shanghai. He added that the company had been hiring women to test condoms for several months.
Chen told the newspaper many young women have passed interviews but they already have enough male testers.
"Although machines are usually used to test condoms, we have to hire women and men because we can't afford the machines," Chen was quoted as saying.
"In the tests, women usually don't have such a tough job as only men are responsible for taking notes and getting test results," Chen added.
Although Chen admitted the women were required to engage in sexual activities with men during the tests, he said it was different from prostitution.
"If you are not willing to do the job, others will. A woman only has to do the test once a day and we don't pay extra if they volunteer to do more," Chen told the newspaper.
"We wouldn't pay 500 yuan to 1,000 yuan per day if we wanted prostitutes," he added.
Baixing.com deleted the advert soon after screenshots went viral on the microblogging site weibo.com.
A lawyer surnamed Xu told the newspaper it is difficult to say whether the job is legal since there are no laws regarding condom testers.
Xu added that it is a fine line because both prostitution and the condom testers are paid to engage in sexual acts.
"If such tests are to be legalized, there may no longer be a need for prostitutes," Xu was quoted as saying.
A screenshot of the post taken before it was removed showed a condom manufacturer was looking to hire "lively and good-looking women" aged 18 to 25 to work as condom testers in the Pudong New Area. The company offered each woman a salary up to 3,000 yuan (US$480) per day, according to Shanghai Youth Daily. Within three hours after the post was uploaded on Baixing.com on Sunday, 22 people had applied for the job, the newspaper said.
A reporter with the newspaper called the number provided in the ad and spoke to a man surnamed Chen, who said he worked at the company in Shanghai. He added that the company had been hiring women to test condoms for several months.
Chen told the newspaper many young women have passed interviews but they already have enough male testers.
"Although machines are usually used to test condoms, we have to hire women and men because we can't afford the machines," Chen was quoted as saying.
"In the tests, women usually don't have such a tough job as only men are responsible for taking notes and getting test results," Chen added.
Although Chen admitted the women were required to engage in sexual activities with men during the tests, he said it was different from prostitution.
"If you are not willing to do the job, others will. A woman only has to do the test once a day and we don't pay extra if they volunteer to do more," Chen told the newspaper.
"We wouldn't pay 500 yuan to 1,000 yuan per day if we wanted prostitutes," he added.
Baixing.com deleted the advert soon after screenshots went viral on the microblogging site weibo.com.
A lawyer surnamed Xu told the newspaper it is difficult to say whether the job is legal since there are no laws regarding condom testers.
Xu added that it is a fine line because both prostitution and the condom testers are paid to engage in sexual acts.
"If such tests are to be legalized, there may no longer be a need for prostitutes," Xu was quoted as saying.
