Economic Plights Drive Prostitution in Turkey

27/08/2004

Research conducted by the Ankara Chamber of Commerce has lifted the veil on a growing problem in Turkey -- the spread of prostitution due to the country's economic troubles.

By Fatih Baran for Southeast European Times in Istanbul - 27/08/04

Increasing jobs and services would reduce the number of women who are driven to prostitution, said Ankara Chamber of Commerce Chairman Sinan Aygun.

Though prostitution is legal in Turkey, most of the women working in the industry are not registered and many are forced to ply their trade against their will, according to a new study conducted by the Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO). The research found that prostitution is spreading in Turkey due to economic troubles.

The study estimated there are as many as 100,000 prostitutes in Turkey, 30,000 of whom are waiting to obtain licenses. One out of every 350 women is at risk of prostitution or sexual abuse. Fifty-six brothels are in operation, employing 3,000 women; an additional 15,000 prostitutes are registered with the police. Many are unable to gain employment in a registered brothel and end up working on the streets, researchers said.

In the southeastern province of Diyakbakir alone, an estimated 6,000 women are working illegally as prostitutes, according to the study. Istanbul has at least 500 underage sex workers, including girls as young as 12 years old. Furthermore, researchers noted, there has been an influx of sex workers from Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Belarus.

"There is an annual turnover of around 3 billion euros in the prostitution sector. And brothel keepers, barpersons, nightclubs, hotel owners and taxi drivers all get a slice of the cake. That is to say, hundreds of thousands of people earn a living by prostitution," the report said.

At a press conference unveiling the research, ATO Chairman Sinan Aygun said that the rise in the sex trade is in part due to a decade of lax administration, combined with widespread poverty. The best way to fight the problem, Aygun said, would be to increase employment and services. "Providing social security and aid to poor, unemployed and illiterate women would reduce the number of those forced into sexual abuse," he said.

At the same time, crime in general is also on the rise in Turkey due to economic conditions. "In 2003, there were 321,805 criminal incidents in Turkey, much more than 259,895 in 2000. More alarmingly, in the first five months of 2004 there were 143,924 criminal incidents reported; it is expected to be 350,000 by the end of 2004," the study found. Forty-two per cent of all crime incidents took place in Turkey's three largest cities, with Istanbul leading the way, followed by Ankara and Izmir.