Prostitution in Ukraine

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From the documentary "Ukraine Is Not a Brothel" FEMEN Ukraine is not a brothel.jpg
From the documentary "Ukraine Is Not a Brothel"

Prostitution in Ukraine is illegal but widespread and largely ignored by the government. [1] In recent times, Ukraine has become a popular prostitution and sex trafficking destination. Ukraine is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked transnationally for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. Ukraine's dissolution from the Soviet Union, saw the nation attempt to transition from a planned economy to a market economy. The transition process inflicted economic hardship in the nation, with nearly 80% of the population forced into poverty in the decade that followed its independence. [2] Unemployment in Ukraine was growing at an increasing rate, with female unemployment rising to 64% by 1997. [3] The economic decline in Ukraine made the nation vulnerable and forced many to depend on prostitution and trafficking as a source of income. [4] Sex tourism rose as the country attracted greater numbers of foreign tourists. [1] [5]

Contents

Domestic prostitution

According to the Ukrainian Institute of Social Studies in 2011 there were 50,000 women working as prostitutes with every sixth prostitute being a minor. [6] The organisation claimed the largest number of prostitutes were found (in 2011) in Kyiv (about 9,000 people), then in the Odesa area (about 6,000), about 3,000 could be found in Dnipropetrovsk and in Donetsk, in Kharkiv 2,500 and 2,000 were said to have worked in Crimea. [6] Research by the State Institute for Family and Youth Issues indicates that, for many women, sex work has become the only adequate source of income: more than 50% of them support their children and parents. [7] 10% of adolescents living on the streets (in 2011) were suspected to have provided sex to other men for food and clothing. [6]

In regards to trafficking, Ukrainian citizens make up 80% of traffickers with 60% being women. [8] Sexual trafficking victims tend to be women and girls between the ages of seventeen and twenty-six. [8] [9]

Exportation

Ukraine is now known to have a greater number of trafficking victims than any other Eastern European nation after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. [10] In 1998, the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior estimated that 400,000 Ukrainian women were trafficked during the previous decade; other sources, such as non-governmental organizations, state the number was even higher. [11] According to the International Organization for Migration over 500,000 Ukrainian women have been exploited with trafficking to the West since its independence in 1991 up to 1998. [11]

Ukrainian women have been exported to countries across the world, such as Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Hungary, United Arab Emirates, Syria etc. According to multiple reports the Ukrainian sex-workers are the largest group of foreign women in Turkey involved into prostitution and the second largest group of foreign women involved into prostitution outside the US military bases in Republic of Korea. [11] [12]

Of trafficking victims, 80% were unemployed prior to leaving Ukraine. [8] Traffickers use this economic vulnerability to recruit women into prostitution. [8] Many victims were convinced to leave Ukraine with the promise of profit by traffickers. The traffickers say they will work as dancers or in-store clerks. [8] Victims are usually exported with legal documents such as travel visas. Ukrainian police say 70% of trafficked women travel with genuine documents obtained from corrupt officials. [8] The majority of women cross the border with these genuine documents as opposed to being smuggled. Once they arrive in their destination country, they are frequently trapped by pimps taking away their visas, or by owing the pimps money to be paid off with prostitution. [8] If they succeed in paying off their debt, some become recruiters, going back to Ukraine and telling friends and family they made a significant amount of money by going abroad. [8] Approximately 60% of traffickers are Ukrainian women. [8] While an IOM survey in 2011 says that 92% of Ukrainians were aware of sexual trafficking, [13] trafficking continued to increase since then. Ukrainians working irregularly abroad increased from 28% to 41% from 2011 to 2015. [10]

Child prostitution

In Ukraine, children are often the victims of forced labor and other kind of sexual exploitations. [14] The group most prone to prostitution are ones belonging to poor families, homeless children and orphans; the exposure of living on the streets without protection makes them the most vulnerable. [15]

Ukraine experiences between 7000 and 8000 cases of sexual children exploitation per year. [16] According to the IOM data, 10% of the 1355 Ukrainian victims of trafficking, were adolescents. [17] Although child prostitution in Ukraine is illegal, a retrospective inquiry of adults shows that 20% of women and a 10% of men have experienced a sexual abuse by the age of 18. [17]

Health effects

HIV and AIDS are prominent in Ukraine with 1% of people aged 15–49 having HIV as of 2003. [18] This gives Ukraine the highest rate of infection in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. [18]

HIV is contracted more frequently in people who do not use condoms during sex. [19] In a study conducted in 2005, female sex workers knew sex without condoms increased the risk of HIV, but said they didn't always use condoms. [20] Close to half of these workers said they would occasionally not use condoms if the client refused, if they were offered more money, and if the client was a frequent customer. [20] [21]

Female sex workers have less access to medical services which makes prevention and treatment more difficult to acquire. [18] [21] The social stigma and poverty that often accompany sex work also make it difficult to get prevention measures and treatment. [21]

Map of Europe showing legal status of prostitution. Ukraine is in red, indicating illegal status Prostitution in Europe.svg
Map of Europe showing legal status of prostitution. Ukraine is in red, indicating illegal status

By law prostitution is illegal in Ukraine. While individual prostitution is not classified as a criminal offense, engagement in prostitution is an administrative offence in Ukraine as of 12 June 1987, when it was forbidden by Supreme Court of Ukraine and individuals are susceptible to a fine of ₴255 (approximately $10). [22] However, there are other laws in place that aim to control pimping and the organization and operation of brothels. Article 303 in The Criminal Code of Ukraine addresses pimping and involvement in employment prostitution. [23] It states that "involving or compelling a person to prostitution by deceit, blackmail, distress of the person concerned, or using violence or threats, thereof pimping is punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to five years" [23] If this act is committed in respect to a group of individuals, the sentence extends to a term of four to seven years. Based on article 303, pimping of a minor (below 18 years) is a crime that is punishable by imprisonment of five to ten years. Pimping an underage minor( below 14 years) makes the term eight to fifteen years. [23] Under Article 149 in The Criminal Code of Ukraine, which concerns trafficking of human beings, trafficking of individuals is punishable by law with imprisonment for a term of three to eight years, if it is in respect to a group of individuals the term is five to twelve years and if it involves a minor then the term is extended to fifteen years. [23] On 12 January 2005 the Ukrainian parliament passed tougher criminal penalties for human trafficking and coerced prostitution. Prior to 2004 previous laws criminalising organised prostitution had little effect. [1] [24] Since then laws criminalising organised prostitution and penalties for human trafficking have had little effect owing to the relaxed implementation of these laws in the nation, with nearly 70% of convicted traffickers acquitted from imprisonment. [25]

On 23 September 2015, Ukrainian MP Andriy Nemirovsky proposed a draft law that would legalize prostitution in Ukraine and would consider individual and organization that provides sexual services for money as entrepreneurs. [26] The draft law also introduced regulation on the service such as age restrictions and medical condition. [26]

On 24 February 2016, the Government of Ukraine launched its first National Action Plan [27] that set down a framework for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which addresses the importance of women in the prevention and resolution in conflict. [28] The action plan aims attention at the prevention of domestic violence and trafficking of women.

Portrayal in media

The themes of prostitution and sex trafficking has been prominent in the Ukrainian media over the past few years. The UEFA Euro 2012 was heavily linked with prostitution and sex tourism in the country. There were efforts from the Ukrainian Ministry of Health and other political parties in favour of the legalization of prostitution in the lead up to the major sporting event, claiming that it would improve the prostitutes' working conditions, avoiding sexual transmitted diseases, and creating a new source of tax revenue. [29]

Femen, the international movement of topless female activists, is an organization dedicated to feminism and sextremism. It originated in Ukraine and was the subject of Australian documentary Ukraine Is Not a Brothel . Their objective is to seek the extirpation of prostitution associated with exploitation of women and to create awareness against the act. [30]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Child prostitution is prostitution involving a child, and it is a form of commercial sexual exploitation of children. The term normally refers to prostitution of a minor, or person under the legal age of consent. In most jurisdictions, child prostitution is illegal as part of general prohibition on prostitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in Thailand</span>

Prostitution in Thailand is illegal. However, due to police corruption and an economic reliance on prostitution dating back to the Vietnam War, it remains a significant presence in the country. It results from poverty, low levels of education and a lack of employment in rural areas. Prostitutes mostly come from the northeastern (Isan) region of Thailand, from ethnic minorities or from neighbouring countries, especially Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. UNAIDS in 2019 estimated the total population of sex workers in Thailand to be 43,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in India</span> Overview of the legality and practice of prostitution in India

Prostitution is legal in India, but a number of related activities including soliciting, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, prostitution in a hotel, child prostitution, pimping and pandering are illegal. There are, however, many brothels illegally operating in Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, and Nagpur, among others. UNAIDS estimate there were 657,829 prostitutes in the country as of 2016. Other unofficial estimates have calculated India has roughly 400,000 prostitutes. India is widely regarded as having one of the world's largest commercial sex industry. It has emerged as a global hub of sex tourism, attracting sex tourists from wealthy countries. The sex industry in India is a multi-billion dollar one, and one of the fastest growing.

Prostitution in the Czech Republic is legal, but organized prostitution is prohibited. Ever since the Czechoslovak Velvet Revolution (1989) led to the creation of the two independent states Czech Republic and Slovakia, prostitution has been flourishing and has contributed its share to the region's booming tourist economy. Prostitution is widespread in Prague and areas near the Republic's western borders with Germany and Austria. In 2002, the Czech Statistical Bureau estimated the trade to be worth six billion crowns a year. UNAIDS estimate there are 13,000 prostitutes in the country.

Prostitution in Greece is legal at the age of 18, and regulated. It is estimated that fewer than 1,000 women are legally employed as prostitutes and approximately 20,000 women, half of whom are of foreign origin and the other half are Greek, are engaged in illegal prostitution. Many women affected by the economic crisis have turned to prostitution through poverty.

Prostitution in Senegal is legal and regulated. Senegal has the distinction of being one of the few countries in Africa to legalize prostitution, and the only one to legally regulate it. The only condition that it is done discreetly. Prostitution was first legalised in 1966. UNAIDS estimate that there are over 20,000 prostitutes in the country. The average age for a sex worker in Senegal is 28 years old and female.

Prostitution in Ecuador is legal and regulated, as long as the prostitute is over the age of 18, registered, and works from a licensed brothel. Prostitution is widespread throughout the country. Many brothels and prostitutes operate outside the regulatory system and the regulations have been less strictly enforced in recent years. 25,000 prostitutes were registered in the year 2000. In 2007 it was estimated that 70% of the prostitutes in the country were from Colombia. The country attracts Colombian prostitutes as the currency is the US$ rather than the unstable Colombian peso. UNAIDS estimate there to be 35,000 prostitutes in the country.

Prostitution in Costa Rica is legal. Costa Rica's legal system is based on Roman law rather than common law, and so for prostitution to be illegal it would have to be explicitly stated as such in a penal code, and it is not. Nevertheless, many of the activities surrounding it are illegal, as the law forbids promoting or facilitating the prostitution of another, and therefore pimping, brothels, or prostitution rings are illegal. Prostitution is common and is practiced openly throughout the country, particularly in popular tourism destinations.

Prostitution in Paraguay is legal for persons over the age of 18, but related activities such as brothel keeping are prohibited. Prostitution is common in the country. Brothels are also common, even some rural villages have a small bar/brothel on the outskirts.

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Prostitution in Burkina Faso is not specifically prohibited by the law, but soliciting and pimping are illegal. Burkinabe society only accepts sexual intercourse within marriage. In 2009, Voice of America reported that the number of prostitutes in Burkina Faso had increased as a result of the country's poverty. The increase in prostitution has given rise to fears of an increase in the number of Burkinabés infected with HIV and AIDS. UNAIDS estimate there to be 31,000 prostitutes in the country.

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Prostitution in Cambodia is illegal, but prevalent. A 2008 Cambodian Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation has proven controversial, with international concerns regarding human rights abuses resulting from it, such as outlined in the 2010 Human Rights Watch report.

Prostitution in Kosovo is illegal, and can incur a prison sentence of up to sixty days. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's HIV Program in Kosovo estimated there to be 5,037 prostitutes in the country. Many women turn to prostitution through poverty.

Prostitution in Angola is illegal and prevalent since the 1990s. Prostitution increased further at the end of the civil war in 2001. Prohibition is not consistently enforced. Many women engage in prostitution due to poverty. It was estimated in 2013 that there were about 33,00 sex workers in the country. Many Namibian women enter the country illegally, often via the border municipality of Curoca, and travel to towns such as Ondjiva, Lubango and Luanda to work as prostitutes.

Prostitution in Malawi is legal and prevalent around hotels and bars in urban and tourist areas. Living off the proceeds of prostitution is illegal. In 2015, it was estimated there were 20,000 sex workers in the country.

Prostitution in Somalia is officially illegal. There is generally very little voluntary prostitution in the country according to the African Medical Research and Education Foundation (AMREF). UNAIDS estimated there were 10,957 sex workers in Somalia in 2016.

Prostitution in the Central African Republic is legal and commonplace. Procuring or profiting off the prostitution of others is illegal, as is coercing people into prostitution. Punishment is a fine and up to one year in prison, or 5 years if the case involves a minor.

References

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  2. ↑ "Microsoft Word - The Social and .... _FSU JDC_.doc" (PDF). Claimscon.org. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "Ukraine leads in number of human trafficking victims in Eastern Europe, group says". International Herald Tribune . 16 March 2008. Archived from the original on 16 March 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "Appendix I" (PDF). Theadvocatesforhumanrights.org. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  5. ↑ Antonova, Natalia (24 April 2012). "Welcome to Kiev: city of beautiful women and a prospering sex industry". The Guardian. London.
  6. 1 2 3 (in Ukrainian) В Україні кожна шоста повія – неповнолітня Archived 15 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine , Ukrainian Independent Information Agency (12 April 2012)
  7. ↑ Ukraine and HIV/AIDS: Time to Act, Kyiv, Ukraine Human Development Report. Special Edition (page 13) UNDP (2003)
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Donna M. Hughes; Tatyana A. Denisova. "The Transnational Political Criminal Nexus of Trafficking in Women from Ukraine" (PDF). Justice.gov.il. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "Executive Summary : Ukraine" (PDF). Ecpat.org. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  10. 1 2 "IOM Responds to Growing Human Trafficking Threat in Ukraine". Iom.int. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 Donna M. Hughes (2010). "The "Natasha" Trade: The Transnational Shadow Market of Trafficking in Women". In Leonard Territo, George Kirkham (ed.). International Sex Trafficking of Women & Children: Understanding the Global Epidemic. Political Science. Looseleaf Law Publications. p. 125. ISBN   978-1-932777-86-4.
  12. ↑ James O. Finckenauer (2007). "The Problem of Human Trafficking". Mafia and Organized Crime . True Crime. London: Oneworld Publications. ISBN   978-1-85168-526-4.
  13. ↑ "Ukrainians Underestimate Dangers of Human Trafficking, Report Finds". Iom.int. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  14. ↑ "Ukraine" . Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  15. ↑ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld – 2007 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor – Ukraine" . Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  16. ↑ "THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN IN UKRAINE AND THEIR VULNERABILITY TO COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2007. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  17. 1 2 "Child Prostitution – Ukraine" . Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  18. 1 2 3 "HDRSE Eng final" (PDF). Aidsallaince.org.ua (in Russian). Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  19. ↑ "Using Condoms". Aids.gov. 17 August 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  20. 1 2 "PostScript". BMJ. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 "Sex Workers – HIV by Group – HIV/AIDS – CDC". Cdc.gov. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  22. ↑ "The Legal Status of Prostitution by Country". Chartsbin.com. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  23. 1 2 3 4 "Criminal Code of Ukraine" (PDF). Unodc.org. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  24. ↑ "Sex in the City – Ukraine". Journeyman Pictures. Retrieved 4 April 2010.[ dead YouTube link ]
  25. ↑ "Protection" (PDF). State.gov. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  26. 1 2 "Legalizing Prostitution in Ukraine: to Be or Not to Be". Voxukraine.org. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  27. ↑ "Landmark resolution on Women, Peace and Security (Security Council resolution 1325)". United Nations. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  28. ↑ "National Action Plan: Ukraine". Peacewomen.org. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  29. ↑ "Disourse[sic] on prostitution and human trafficking in the context of UEFA EURO 2012" (PDF). Nswp.org. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  30. ↑ "About Us – FEMEN" . Retrieved 15 January 2017.
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