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Prostitution in Russia should be legalized, believe Duma deputies
By Igor Korolkov
March 31, 2002
Prospects for legalizing prostitution in Russia were discussed at an MN
roundtable by leading sexologists and legal experts, Interior Ministry
officials, and State Duma deputies.
Legalize!
Prostitution has existed throughout human history. For thousands of years
society has got along with sex workers, but every now and then considerations
of outraged morality prevail, and then prostitution is outlawed. Yet some time
passes (usually not much), and it thrives again. For a while society puts up
with brothels, but then a new cleansing campaign begins and prostitutes fall on
hard times; before long, however, the campaign lets up and everything slips
back into the old pattern. And so it goes on from one century to the next.
The roundtable on the eternal issue was initiated by State Duma deputies
Alexander Barannikov and Andrei Vulf, who are currently working on "draft laws
and regulations aimed at protecting public morals and stopping the illegal
involvement of minors in prostitution." To put it bluntly, the idea is to
legalize prostitution.
The deputies' position is as follows. There have been prostitutes in any
country, under any political regime, and their numbers remain stable,
regardless of the severity of the laws in force. Prostitution is a big industry
with big money at stake. Say, in Britain, according to the deputies, the sex
industry is estimated at $1.5 billion a year. In Russia, the figure is put at
$400 million to $500 million. These sums are comparable with incomes derived
from drug and arms trafficking.
Half the sum goes to the prostitutes themselves, with the other going to pimps,
guards, and those providing the "roof," or protection - organized crime groups
and law enforcement officers.
The deputies' approach to the problem is fairly pragmatic. They believe the
money should not bypass the state treasury. The prostitution business should
pay taxes. Besides, legalized prostitution is easier to control. With an
appropriate legal framework in place the state will be able, on one hand, to
protect the prostitutes themselves, and on the other, to ensure their health
monitoring. At the same time the state should fight forced prostitution.
Tighten the Screws
A different view of the problem was formulated by Col. Kulikov, an
official of the RF Interior Ministry Criminal Police Service Main Criminal
Investigations Department. The police are convinced that prostitution provides
fertile soil for crime. Homicide, drug trafficking, and illegal arms trade
often go hand in hand with the sex business. As a rule, involved in it are
unscrupulous individuals who are prepared, for financial benefit, to commit any
criminal act. In addition, the environment that exists around the sex industry
makes these people themselves exposed to such crimes.
The Interior Ministry's position is unequivocal: Prostitution must not be
legalized on any account; laws against brothel owners and prostitutes
themselves should be toughened; law enforcement agencies combating prostitution
should be given greater powers, and special vice squads should be set up, in
particular to deal with pornography.
The first proposal - legalization of prostitution - drew support from
sexologists while the second - cracking down on prostitution - was upheld by
police officials only.
UN Convention Archaic?
The advocates of putting the heat on the sex industry were quite
categorical in their conclusions and proposals while their opponents only
groped for acceptable methods of controlling prostitution. They believe that
tough legislation will do nothing to address the problem. Quite the contrary,
it will suppress it with all the ensuing consequences - rising crime,
corruption, and the spread of STDs. A case in point is Ukraine, where a fairly
severe law on prostitution has been adopted but does not work. Ukraine leads in
the per capita number of prostitutes and in the pace of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Ukraine is one of the main suppliers of prostitutes to the Russian market.
In urging tougher action against the sex business, police officials cited a
number of UN documents, in particular a 1949 convention making it incumbent on
signatories to prosecute prostitution as a criminal offense, which evoked a
not-unreasonable observation from their opponents to the effect that the world
has changed in the past 50 years. Say, in Russia, homosexual contacts were
until recently a criminal offense, punishable with a prison sentence while
today homosexual behavior is tolerated; moreover, in some European countries
homosexual couples can now legally get married and even adopt children.
Igor Kon, D.Sc. (Philos.), is convinced that the problem cannot be addressed
other than through the legalization of prostitution because a legal business is
more profitable than an illegal business. The whole question is how to do it.
There is no clearcut answer in world practice. Kon cited Holland and Sweden.
Sweden opted for restrictions and bans; Holland, conversely, legalized
prostitution. Brothels were placed under public control, and they now pay
taxes. Russia, however, is a long way away from either Holland or Sweden. It is
economically undeveloped; it has a great number of social problems while its
state institutions are eroded by corruption.
Mob Unlikely To Cede Control
A crackdown on prostitution raises yet another question. How to protect
society's interests without violating citizens' right to privacy? One speaker
at the roundtable, citing the country's past experience, predicted the possible
consequences of any solution based on the use of force: Wholesale checks will
begin at hotels and dormitories, and couples kissing in public will be detained
and taken to police stations. This will vastly expand opportunities for
blackmail and extortion on the part of unscrupulous police officers.
So, in working out a law on prostitution, it is also essential to keep in mind
those who will be enforcing it. Roundtable participants, including Interior
Ministry representatives, seemed to agree. In his presentation, Col. Kulikov
pointed out that police credibility and its positive image are among the key
prerequisites of effective law enforcement.
Unfortunately, we can boast neither. Furthermore, public opinion largely sees
police as the main protection force for the sex business. According to some
speakers, the police get one-third of the money that a client pays a
prostitute. Assuming Deputy Vulf's statistics are correct, this is
approximately $150 million. Is it in the interests of protection rackets to
allow legalization of the sex industry and so lose a great deal of money?
Several years ago I wrote a story about a police officer, Andrei Dugin, who
tried to expose his colleagues providing protection services to prostitutes in
downtown Moscow. He was fighting a losing battle. High-ranking Interior
Ministry officials stood up for the rogue police officers caught red-handed,
and the knight in shining armor lost his job.
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