LADIES OF THE NIGHT FOR EXPORT, Or why is the domestic sex industry competing successfully with its western counterparts?

This July a transatlantic US-EU seminar on issues of the immigration and trafficking in women as well as the sex business took place in Lviv. Ukraine has a long-time reputation as a main exporter of women to the international market of sex services. And how are domestic prostitutes doing at home? The Day reporters decided to take a look at it by joining a Kyiv police night raid. After working with the Kyiv police for half the night, the reporters concluded that prostitution should be legalized since it appears impossible to ban it.

The world's most popular call girls work in Kyiv under slavery conditions. On the one hand, they are constantly subjected to extortion by racketeers, bandits, and even the police. On the other, the recently created morals police scares away clients, which has caused "earnings" to drop twofold over the last two years.

Street prostitution is an offspring of the growing competition. Here, unlike in hotels, saunas, and casinos, mostly lower and middle class prostitutes are employed. One-third of those women who stand along the streets are drug addicts. They would be turned down by any "respectable" firm where discipline and a clear mind are a must. The average age of street hookers is 20, although some have an employment record since the age of 12 or 14. Picking up a girl on the highway exposes the client to the risk of AIDS or syphilis. It is virtually impossible to track such women down – they have set up a good system of alarm communication among themselves. The fee for service is relatively low, and after five or six clients a day the earnings look quite impressive. You are in luck if you happen to be the first client of the day: you get a 5 to 15 hryvnia discount.

When we arrived at our next destination, a sauna, the entertainment was in full swing. The standard rate for a girl there is $20 for two hours. There is obviously a significant difference between the back seat of a car and a sauna, where prostitutes not only keep their bodies clean but also have good meals. Still, this is not the most prestigious category of prostitutes in Kyiv.

On the way back to the police station, we stopped by the Ukraina Hotel. A group of prostitutes at the front entrance emanated a heavy floral scent, attracting those lost in the night. The girls were standing in the rain not for advertising purposes – they are simply not allowed inside without permission obtained by a wealthy and influential client. The women hardly reacted to our arrival; they just pleaded the police officers not to scare away clients. There are fourteen of them working at the hotel, and they work for themselves. When asked about vacancies, they said they had no spots for new girls since the earnings have dropped double lately – now they are barely making $1000 a month. This is the caste of prostitutes most closed and inaccessible to outsiders – permanent clients and professional prestige require them to comply with the rules of a civilized approach to their work duties. Their professionalism simply disarmed us.

We asked Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Korhan, Head of Kyiv Police Department for Combating Moral Crimes, to comment on the situation:

"We have systematized all available information on prostitution, pimping, distributing pornographic materials, and trafficking in women. Since our department's inception on April 1, 1998, our ten employees have launched investigations in 15 criminal cases involving prostitution and trafficking. The biggest challenge for us at the moment is to prove cases of trafficking because this requires much work. Our department is still a temporary one, and we do not have the necessary status and work conditions. We also lack special equipment, vehicles, and workspace sometimes our employees have to use public transportation to bring prostitutes to our office.

"Last week we uncovered a trafficking 'agency' whose annual net profit was almost $1 million. A total of over 150 prostitutes have gone through this agency. What is most impressive about it is the demanding approach to women by the employer — all employees had to sign a contract, according to which they were not allowed to drink alcohol and take drugs. Contract violations were penalized by high fines and dismissal."

"But your work seems ineffective since there are really no tough legal means of combating prostitution. After you release the detained women they go back to work, and you cannot prevent them from doing so even by imposing high fines on them. Perhaps, we should legalize prostitution and let those women service their clients in peace?"

"We have no objection. No matter how strictly you forbid prostitution, people still do it. In any case, we certainly have enough to do. At the moment, we are trying to set up a record system that would help us keep track of our 'clients' and at least monitor the situation. The main objective of our work is not so much to detain the prostitutes but to identify the people who control the sex business in Kyiv and make huge illegal profits on it. Those are the people who should be held accountable to Ukrainian law for their activities."

According to the International Migration Organization (IMO), 90% of Ukrainian women are unemployed or unsatisfied with their income. This makes them the main source supplying young women to the sex industry market. Statistics show that almost all women involved in prostitution are single or have underage children. Diseases, violence, and lack of rights are permanent companions of the oldest profession. According to IMO statistics, one woman forced into prostitution is killed every month in Italy. Recently, four Ukrainian women aged between 18 and 28 were killed in a brothel in Frankfurt. In some cases, rebellious women were thrown off the balconies of tall buildings. Prostitutes both in Ukraine and other countries are forced to serve up to 15 clients at a time, satisfying the most humiliating wishes of the customers who call the women raw meat. Those women who have been subjected to violence and humiliation can obtain consultation and professional help by using the La Strada International Organization telephone hotline at 224-0446.

Photo by Viktor Marushchenko:
While high-class hookers seek earnings abroad, their less talented counterparts have to make do on the local market