In Tajikistan, the activities of commercial sex workers are now illegal. Experts believe that legalization of this sphere of activity in traditional Tajik society is not possible in the near future.
In Tajikistan, there are no detailed statistics on the number of sex workers. About six thousand women were registered as sex workers in 2018, the Tajik Interior Ministry told the analytical portal CABAR.asia. Among them, 32 girls were minors, about 1,500 were between the ages of 18 and 30, and the rest were older than 30.
In Tajikistan there are administrative penalties for prostitution – female sex workers can be fined from 500 to 2,000 somoni (approximately $50-200 USD) under Article 130 of the Tajik Code of Administrative Offences. In case of repeated detention, administrative arrest for 10 to 15 days is possible.
Obidjon Sharifzoda, a lawyer with the Committee on Women and Family Affairs under the government of Tajikistan, also acknowledged to CABAR.asia that during raids conducted by this agency together with the Interior Ministry, minors were encountered among those detained.
“Minors are involved in committing these immoral acts through other people,” Sharifzoda said.
According to his data, often the parents of these minors either live separately or are migrant workers, and children are in the care of relatives.
“When a woman is engaged in such activities and there are underage children at home, it already negatively affects the upbringing and morale of the child. In this case, there is a high probability that the child will follow in the footsteps of his mother when he grows up,” said a lawyer from the Committee on Women and Family Affairs.
We offer jobs, they refuse
Sabohat Rustam, a spokeswoman for the Committee on Women and Family Affairs, told CABAR.asia that the authorities offered jobs to members of the industry who were detained during the raids.
However, Sabohat Rustam said, only rarely do they agree to change jobs.
“Because the wages offered for permanent and seasonal work are negligible for them. For them, prostitution is an easy way to make a lot of money,” she said.
In 2020, only seven sex workers accepted the committee’s offer to take permanent or seasonal jobs.
Farishtamoh Gulova, head of the NGO Equal Opportunities, said her organization also helps sex workers find other jobs. They are trained in skills such as sewing, cooking and using technological equipment.
“We’ve trained 70 people from the target group, including men, and we want them to be able to support themselves. Unfortunately, only 15 of them – 10 men and five women – have been able to change their lives, find jobs and become independent,” Gulova says.
Kanoat Ibrohimova, a lawyer with the NGO League of Women Lawyers, believes that many sex workers were coerced into this activity.
“I think that if men don’t sexually harass them, if working conditions are created, no woman will do it. I think if it’s 20 percent women’s fault, it’s men’s fault for the other 80 percent. During the raids, it turned out that the pimps who attract women to this work are mostly men,” Ibrohimova said.
Khilobi Kurbonzoda, chairman of the Committee on Women’s and Family Affairs, also said at a February press conference that sex workers are not solely to blame, because “men, as customers, are naturally guilty of women engaging in prostitution.
The Committee on Women and Family Affairs proposed to parliament an amendment to the Family Code that would punish male clients along with women in prostitution.
“If men were not involved and offered these women large sums of money, they would not be doing it,” Hilobi Kurbonzoda said.
What diseases do sex workers encounter?
Medical experts say that most sex workers who get tested are HIV-positive due to non-compliance with safety rules.
Zuhro Nurlaminova, an HIV specialist in Tajikistan’s Ministry of Health, said women who frequently change partners without using condoms are at greater risk of contracting various diseases.
According to her, research among sex workers is conducted on a voluntary basis every six months.
“The task of Ministry of Health specialists is to attract them to the examination with their recommendations and to explain the importance of the examination,” the interlocutor told CABAR.asia.
Authorities say they are combating the growing number of sex workers by raising awareness with the help of specialists. But experts attribute its growth to low incomes, labor migration and improper upbringing in the family.
Sabohat Rustam, head of the information department of the Women’s Affairs Committee, told CABAR.asia that one of the undesirable factors is the depravity of young women, which is very unfortunate and should be raised in society today.
An analysis conducted by the committee and the MIA showed that people engage in this profession depending on the economic status of the family, the influence of labor migration and the attitudes of family members. Currently, mostly women and girls from unstable and unhealthy families, that is, such families are called vulnerable families, take up such occupation.
“This is a very broad issue, and not only the Women’s Committee and the Ministry of Interior, but also civil society must take action on this issue. Because if we do not prevent negative events today, tomorrow the name of the Tajik people will be tarnished,” Sabohat Rustam said.
Authorities are proposing to increase penalties for souteneurs
Women need to be supported and provided with decent jobs and good wages so they can earn a living, analysts said. At the same time, the routes leading to prostitution through Turkey and the UAE should be closed.
The country’s Committee on Women and Family Affairs recently submitted a bill to parliament on combating prostitution, which would punish pimps and brothel owners with termination of parental rights. The lower house of parliament (Majlisi Namoyandagon), considered the bill Jan. 11 and is expected to approve it in the coming days.
They believe attempts to remove parental rights could reduce prostitution in Tajikistan because other people would be afraid to rent their homes to prostitutes and their clients.
Oinihol Bobonazarova, a Tajik expert, says no one in Tajikistan has the courage to ask parliament to legalize the profession, and even if someone proposed it, parliament would never pass the law. In her view, in a society where 98-99 percent of the population is Muslim, it is impossible to pass such a law.
“Look, even Russia, which often passes laws along Western lines, has not passed a law legalizing prostitution,” Bobonazarova said.
Obidjon Sharifzoda, a lawyer with the Committee on Women and Family Affairs, is also against legalizing prostitution.
“It undermines the mentality of traditional Tajik society and at the same time carries other negative factors,” Sharifzoda said.