Prostitution: Ukraine's Unstoppable Export

The port of Odessa has become, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the gateway from the poorest regions of Ukraine, Romania and Moldova to Western Europe and some Arab states. Seven decades of living behind the Iron Curtain have created a generation of provincial girls desperate to get out of these regions, but also ignorant of what the outside world has to offer them, especially in the 90's. The situation has become a bit more complicated since. Indeed, many of the prostitutes who pass through Odessa "sign up voluntarily". The level of desperation among these young women is so strong, they would do just about anything in order to make some money to sustain their families. They just take what they can get, since the days of dreaming of finding a waitress or nanny job abroad are long gone. This makes the controlling of sex trafficking much harder, since the girls see themselves as victims of fate, not of deception, and will not ask for help. Police corruption in the city does not help either, since the female pimps, or "mamachki" pay officers for protection.

Published on 09/10/2010 in Time World