Where are you now, ladies of pleasure?
Clean up of Tashkent on the eve of Navruz holiday from the prostitutes, homosexuals and drug-abusers and their places of dislocation shocked everyone who is interested in daily life of the capital: as information agencies informed that during “the Morality” raid more than 200 bars, 115 saunas and 70 hotels were inspected. 466 administrative sanctions were taken, 141 criminal cases were commenced. Approximately 500 delinquents were taken under the preventive control of law machinery.
The problem of “the most ancient profession” – prostitution is still the biggest effect of unemployment caused by absence of remunerative job conditions: on the average prostitute earns approximately 300 000 Uzbek sums per month that is more than living wage in Uzbekistan, which is close to 50 000 Uzbek sums.
I, personally, during my university years conducted research on the life of those who are selling their bodies for money. That time I got a bit of shock because of the facts I found: 35 % of the ladies of pleasure had bachelor’s degrees, 28% had basic education certificates. To my horror, I’d found that people with high educational degree could do nothing but sell themselves because they had and still have no opportunity to earn money by other means.
The phenomenon of prostitution is not solved yet: if you go to the monument of Amir Temur, the hero of a new independent Uzbekistan, you’ll find prostitutes home for a many years. As one of the prostitutes said: “It’s our territory and such raids are for few days only, made to show the officials that we have no prostitution problem. The existence of prostitutes is profitable for the local militia. We pay them money for inviolability and they try not to interfere in our work. We’re informed that the operation would be held and that day we hadn’t had going out for work.”
Drug abusers will get their dosage of drugs in spite of this raid, because it is also profitable for those who get money for “invisibility” from junkers.
Regarding homosexuals they are still getting together at the same place as prostitutes are doing. They don’t even afraid of the sodomy (pederasty) article 120 of the Criminal code of Uzbekistan. Maybe it is also profitable for some groups of power-holders?
The next national holiday is the Independence day. So, should the prostitutes, homosexuals and drug-abusers get preparations for that holiday’s raids? Life will show. But life will also show that even we, independent people of Uzbekistan are almost 17 years, the social problems are still driving people to criminal activities: prostitution, drug-abusing and other sins…
photo: uzmetronom.com
on March 23rd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Quite ironical since we know who the megapimp in Uzb is… (take a guess and win a gastronomic holiday in Dubai). :)lol
“because they had and still have no opportunity to earn money by other means.”
Well yes the economic-financial aspect is one fundamental thing. But don’t underestimate the other factor, that is, with the social degeneration of the post-Soviet transition prostitution, alcoholism etc… are often being encouraged/promoted sometimes with funding from outside (not to speak about the behavior of certain foreign expats): “liberal secularism” it’s called!
The same with homosexuality. In Kyr, for example, there are Western-funded NGOs who promote that among young Kyrgyz as part of an neo-colonial and anti-Islamic plan.
on March 23rd, 2008 at 12:19 pm
What was the main point of this article? I didn’t get it.
-”Law enforcement units conducted an operation against prostitution,” OK;
-”Prostitutes make more than average people can,” pretty obvious;
-”the author “personally” conducted “research” during student years and was horrified because most prostitutes were well-educated,” let us not to dig the details of this “personal research”;
-”sluts are still around, usually near the Temur statue and local police (militia means a different thing in English) make some money on them,” all right;
-”drug addicts are still getting their shots,” ok, but what does this one-and-a-half-line paragraph has to do with the sluts near Temur’s statue?;
-brave gays also stick around near sluts coz they also pay the police, hm, are they also profiting by selling their bodies then?
-”sluts and gays may face similar raids sometime close to Independence day, people are turning to these sins because of social problems”…..interesting: sluts are sluts in Uzbekistan, the US, Germany, Britain, Saudi Arabia, etc.
Sluts, gays, drug users, independence day, temur’s statue, “personal research”…..so what? You started with telling us that government raided some sites and places for a clean-up, what did you wanted to say about it? Was it a good move or a bad move?
on March 23rd, 2008 at 12:25 pm
What about the picture? Was it taken during those raids? If not, it must be removed.
Ataman Rakin, please, please, please, don’t tell us that an Islamic government will solve the problem…..if you object show ONE country that calls itself Islamic which had solved this problem.
P.S. Marrying 50 women is not a solution.
on March 24th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Let’s not blame foreigners for the presence of prostitution (and other “sins”). I’m pretty sure those would still exist if you closed your borders. Besides the fact that without an outside influence you would still have poor women with no other way of making money, you have plenty of Uzbek men who enjoy these things.
As for Western-funded NGOs “promoting” homosexuality in Kyrgystan - are you crazy? Show me an NGO with “everyone should be gay” in their mission statement.
on March 25th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Uzbek From the Valley: OK my friend, because you ask it so friendly I won’t (aslo because I never said that I want and Islamic *governement*). Nonetheless…
BTW, ‘marry 50 women’?!
“While men are allowed to marry up to *four* wives, they are also commanded to meet the preconditions of being able to financially support them. They must also deal with each wife justly and fairly with respect to marital and economic obligations. Allah says in the Qur’an (translation),
‘If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice.[4:3]’
Moreover, women are allowed to reject any marriage proposal made to her by prospective suitors, thus if she does not feel she can abide by the rules of the Qur’an and Sunnah if she marries a certain person, she can reject his proposal. While it is irrelevant to Islam, it is worthwhile to note that both Judaism and Christianity allow polygamy. The idea is not as foreign to the non-Muslims as is often claimed.”
www.islamicweb.com
Formerly living in Farg’ona:
“As for Western-funded NGOs “promoting” homosexuality in Kyrgystan - are you crazy?”
Pfrrr, if it makes you feel comfortable: yes.
(every visionary is/has been called crazy at one time).
“Show me an NGO with “everyone should be gay” in their mission statement.”
HA! Are you so naive to think that they will put that in their mission statements?!
It’s sneakier than that. It’s like these Christian sects: few will say that they want to convert all Kyr or Central Asians to their Protestant slave ideology even if that is their ultimate aim. Instead they smoothly pack it into English and computer classes, “art cafés”, “women’s groups” and other “inter-faith dialogue forums”. Or pressure people to convert of they want jobs at the US base or certain foreign companies.
“Besides the fact that without an outside influence you would still have poor women with no other way of making money, you have plenty of Uzbek men who enjoy these things.”
Yes that is true. The fault of the (Western) expats lays herein, that they have encouraged mass prostitution by conspiciously giving the bad example with some individuals being actively involved in organising the activity (I mean, come on, let’s be serious… ). How do you want people to respect them? Moreover, their behavior has seriously stained the reputation of the bona fide/clean mixed couples/families as well.
on March 25th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Ataman Ratkin:
I am gonna have to repeat it again: the number of wives of the Saudi king is a state secret. It is a secret because it is more than one or four….
on March 25th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
The absence of upward social mobility, closed political system, and economic devastation unfortunately make foreign and different options more appealing….and sadly some fanatical groups (whether christian or vahhabi) that are ready to spend large sums for their cause step in…
on March 25th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Formerly living in Farg’ona
I agree that it is virtually impossible to root out prostitution, but it is certainly possible to reduce it.
Both moral and economic aspects are important in reducing prostitution. Moral denunciation comes from religious and cultural values, whereas economic prosperity comes with open borders.
on March 25th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
“the number of wives of the Saudi king is a state secret. It is a secret because it is more than one or four…”
That is well possible. Who cares? What we have in common, my friend, is an strong antipathy (be it one from different perpectives) towards the munafiq puppet monarchies in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf baronies. They are not ‘Islam’ (even if the Saudis hold Mecca and Medina which is a disgrace) and ‘the Islamic world’ is not limited to them (or to the Taliban for that matter).
“but it is certainly possible to reduce it. Both moral and economic aspects are important in reducing prostitution.”
See? Another thing we agree on. It is as much a matter of a mentality (e.g. the obsession among some with easy money ‘n glamour) than of poverty. That is why I don’t buy into the standard tearjerker stories about “poor naive girls who are lured into prostitution (abroad) with false promises and blablabla”.
on March 25th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
A poorly presented article.
First and foremost Prostitution, Drug addicts, and Homosexual behavior are not related except for people who group these different activities as things they do not like or don’t approve of. If Mansurhon is serious about developing a correlation between poverty and prostitution he should not group these groups together as this discredits himself / herself.
Drug addition is caused by a lack of information, social support and ignoring other social issues. A reflection of other social problems which UZ has, which is not linked to poverty.
Homosexuality is not linked to poverty or to sodomy. Heterosexual couples also widely practice sodomy at about the same rate as homosexual partners. This lack of information is what organizations in KG are free to create understanding about; not through advocating for this sexual practice but for providing understanding of and being open about these issues.
Prostitution by both men and women is primarily done for financial reasons, in any country not just UZ. The lack of income generating activities dictates the value of such services as simple as providing a supply – demand analysis. The level of prostitution is not dependant on ones education in fact you can argue the better-educated person is likely more progressive in his/her thinking and thus participates in prostitution. There is and always will be prostitution in both Islamic and non-Islamic countries, irregardless of how many wife’s one can take. Society dictates how much the act is pushed in the closet and defined different but the fact is its still the same activity with the same purpose. In Europe experiments of making prostitution legal and illegal have been met with ills on both sides. Yet controlling and protecting the people both customer and provider takes precedence and the best way to do this is to make it legal.
Sadly, in Uzbekistan’s current state, prostitution will never be legal and people will continue to be abused and hurt. The police profit from prostitution, the providers and pimps benefit from the illegality and the community would rather ignore the issues rather then face them. No one wants it to be legal and thus it will always be a problem.
The same arguments can be given for the other ills of Uzbekistan and until this changes trying to “clean up” something will have no effect. However, better understanding by people who present issues would help. ☺
on March 25th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Prostitution by both men and women is primarily done for financial reasons, in any country not just UZ. The lack of income generating activities dictates the value of such services as simple as providing a supply – demand analysis.
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I strongly disagree. I know many women who live in extreme poverty who never ever ever will consider prostitution as a solution for their financial problems.
I also know many women who have become prostitutes and they are greedy animals who don’t want to earn their money with honor and dignity.
on March 26th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
“not through advocating for this sexual practice but for providing understanding of and being open about these issues.”
Pfff that is typical Western dev consultant/diplo discourse but bears no relevance to the reality in Turkestan/Central Asia.
“First and foremost Prostitution, Drug addicts, and Homosexual behavior are not related except for people who group these different activities as things they do not like or don’t approve of.”
Well as a matter of fact they do relate in the sense that their spread or their increase in numbers are the outcome of social degeneration and a society’s decadence.
“Prostitution by both men and women is primarily done for financial reasons, in any country not just UZ. The lack of income generating activities dictates the value of such services as simple as providing a supply – demand analysis.”
Like Uzbek f/t Valley I also met very poor women (war widows in TJ for instance) who would rather kill themselves than to go into prostitution.
So I strongly disagree as well for the same reasons as Uzbek f/t Valley and those I already mentioned before: it’s a much a social and mental degeneration, both from the supply and demand side:
–granted, *part* of these women are poor sods to whom life has not been kind to say the least but many others are the “easy money easy glamour” kind or/and plain idiots.
–there is also demand, which is primarily rooted in a loser/prole definition of post-Soviet “manhood” that is centered around, first, heavy drinking and second, bragging with prostitutes.
During the ’90s, prostitution (both supply and demand) has been actively promoted (esp. in KG but other places too) as a secular virtue in the name of ‘friidum’ by both the establishment and certain Western(-funded) organisations to destroy the social tissue and better oppress the people (as one writer put it: ‘wine, song and dance as an antidote to dissent’).