Prostitution in Ukraine

According to the director of the Ukrainian Institute of Social Studies in 2011, there were 50,000 women working as prostitutes with between one out of six and one out of seven prostitutes being a minor. A 2020-2021 demographic survey of thousands of Ukrainians in sex work, conducted in various parts of the country, found a much lower proportion of minors: 95.6% of those in sex work in Ukraine were over 19, and only between 0.5% and 1.5% were minors. In regards to trafficking, Ukrainian citizens make up 80% of traffickers with 60% being women. Sexual trafficking victims tend to be women and girls between the ages of seventeen and twenty-six. == Exportation ==

Ukraine is now known to have a greater number of trafficking victims than any other Eastern European nation after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In 1998, the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior estimated that 400,000 Ukrainian women were trafficked during the previous decade; other sources, such as non-governmental organizations, state the number was even higher. Of trafficking victims, 80% were unemployed prior to leaving Ukraine. trafficking continued to increase since then. Ukrainians working irregularly abroad increased from 28% to 41% from 2011 to 2015. ==Child prostitution==

In Ukraine, children are often the victims of forced labor and other kind of sexual exploitations. The group most prone to prostitution are ones belonging to poor families, homeless children and orphans; the exposure of living on the streets without protection makes them the most vulnerable. Ukraine experiences between 7000 and 8000 cases of sexual children exploitation per year. According to the IOM data, 10% of the 1355 Ukrainian victims of trafficking, were adolescents. Although child prostitution in Ukraine is illegal, a retrospective inquiry of adults shows that 20% of women and a 10% of men have experienced a sexual abuse by the age of 18. == Health effects ==

HIV and AIDS are prominent in Ukraine with 1% of people aged 15–49 having HIV as of 2003. This gives Ukraine the highest rate of infection in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. In a study conducted in 2005, female sex workers knew sex without condoms increased the risk of HIV, but said they didn't always use condoms. Close to half of these workers said they would occasionally not use condoms if the client refused, if they were offered more money, and if the client was a frequent customer. Female sex workers have less access to medical services which makes prevention and treatment more difficult to acquire. The social stigma and poverty that often accompany sex work also make it difficult to get prevention measures and treatment. == Legal status ==

By law prostitution is illegal in Ukraine. While individual prostitution is not classified as a criminal offense, engagement in prostitution is an administrative offence in Ukraine as of 12 June 1987, when it was forbidden by Supreme Court of Ukraine and individuals are susceptible to a fine of ₴255 (approximately $10). However, there are other laws in place that aim to control pimping and the organization and operation of brothels. Article 303 in The Criminal Code of Ukraine addresses pimping and involvement in employment prostitution. It states that "involving or compelling a person to prostitution by deceit, blackmail, distress of the person concerned, or using violence or threats, thereof pimping is punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to five years" Since then laws criminalising organised prostitution and penalties for human trafficking have had little effect owing to the relaxed implementation of these laws in the nation, with nearly 70% of convicted traffickers acquitted from imprisonment. On 23 September 2015, Ukrainian MP Andriy Nemirovsky proposed a draft law that would legalize prostitution in Ukraine and would consider individual and organization that provides sexual services for money as entrepreneurs. The draft law also introduced regulation on the service such as age restrictions and medical condition. that set down a framework for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which addresses the importance of women in the prevention and resolution in conflict. The action plan aims attention at the prevention of domestic violence and trafficking of women. == Portrayal in media ==

The themes of prostitution and sex trafficking has been prominent in the Ukrainian media over the past few years. The UEFA Euro 2012 was heavily linked with prostitution and sex tourism in the country. There were efforts from the Ukrainian Ministry of Health and other political parties in favour of the legalization of prostitution in the lead up to the major sporting event, claiming that it would improve the prostitutes' working conditions, avoiding sexual transmitted diseases, and creating a new source of tax revenue. Femen, the international movement of topless female activists, is an organization dedicated to feminism and sextremism. It originated in Ukraine and was the subject of Australian documentary Ukraine Is Not a Brothel. Their objective is to seek the extirpation of prostitution associated with exploitation of women and to create awareness against the act. ==See also==