Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ASTANA593
2009-04-03 12:08:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Astana
Cable title:  

KAZAKHSTAN: LEGALIZED PROSTITUTION -- TO BE OR NOT TO BE

Tags:  PGOV SOCI KCRM KTIP KWMN KZ 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ASTANA 000593 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL/AAE, G/TIP, SCA/CEN (O'MARA)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SOCI KCRM KTIP KWMN KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: LEGALIZED PROSTITUTION -- TO BE OR NOT TO BE

REF: ASTANA 0187

ASTANA 00000593 001.2 OF 004


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ASTANA 000593

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL/AAE, G/TIP, SCA/CEN (O'MARA)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV SOCI KCRM KTIP KWMN KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: LEGALIZED PROSTITUTION -- TO BE OR NOT TO BE

REF: ASTANA 0187

ASTANA 00000593 001.2 OF 004



1. SUMMARY: Kazakhstan has struggled for years with the question
of prostitution. Though not legalized, prostitution is not
technically illegal and this legal grey zone has enabled the country
to deflect difficult questions. In a recent, public appeal to the
government, Rosa Petraus, Chairwoman of the Tirlik disability rights
group, called for the legalization of prostitution (reftel). Though
her goal was to provide the disabled with equal access to commercial
sex services, she provoked public discussion of deeper issues
surrounding prostitution. Not surprisingly, opinions about this
issue in Kazakhstani society have been passionate and quite divided.
END SUMMARY.

LEGAL BACKGROUND


2. In Kazakhstan, prostitution and solicitation of prostitution
are not specifically prohibited by law. However, all activities
surrounding prostitution, especially those connected to organized
crime, are illegal and punishable by law. For example, facilitation
of prostitution and recruitment of an individual into prostitution
are considered human trafficking crimes and punishable by up to
seven years in prison. The establishment or management of a brothel
and pimping are punishable by up to five years in prison.
Prostitutes found during raids on brothels or otherwise discovered
are registered by the police. (NOTE: Police have told Post
unofficially that this is because the women are at a higher risk of
being victims of violent crime or of going missing. Police also
find prostitutes to be good sources of information and use the
registration as a "phone book" for confidential informants. END
NOTE.)


3. Police regularly conduct operations to uncover those
facilitating prostitution, working as pimps, or managing brothels,
by checking saunas, hotels, night clubs, and travel agencies. As a
result of these operations, police initiated 12 criminal cases for
recruitment and about 250 cases of managing brothels and pimping in

2008. During the same period, approximately 150 prostitutes were
registered by police.

PROSTITUTES AND PIMPS REACT


4. The January 23 issue of the newspaper "Karavan" reported that

prostitutes would welcome the opportunity to work legally, pay
taxes, make pension contributions, and receive medical treatment in
exchange for government protection. According to those interviewed,
the legalization of prostitution would ensure their safety, which is
the biggest issue for those in this dangerous profession. They
believe that it is no secret that prostitution is the most
criminalized and dangerous business in Kazakhstan. Often, they
said, prostitutes are involved in other crimes and many are robbed,
beaten, or even killed by clients.


5. According to recent reports in the national press, prostitutes
in Karaganda responded to Petraus's appeal by offering a 90 percent
discount to disabled customers. Pimps and brothel owners were less
understanding. One called Petraus twice offering her a job in his
brothel. He explained that because she is wheelchair-bound, she
would be considered exotic and his wealthier clients would pay a
premium. Petraus also received serious offers from those seeking to
help the disabled; a businessman from London offered to arrange and
fund a study-tour for her to learn how the disabled in Britain live.


NGO ASSOCIATION IS STRONGLY AGAINST LEGALIZATION...


6. The Association against Trafficking in Persons in Central Asia
(ATIPCA),an umbrella group of 14 NGOs, met to discuss this issue
the week of January 26. Thirteen of the 14 NGO leaders voted
against legalized prostitution and one abstained.


7. According to Yekaterina Badikova, president of ATIPCA and a
former Kazakhstani police officer, 90 percent of prostitutes say
that they work in brothels against their will. She explained that
all brothels, without exception, use physical and psychological
violence, threats of violence, and fraud to make prostitutes work.
"Prostitution is a very dirty business," she said, adding that pimps
have a direct economic interest in expanding their networks and are

ASTANA 00000593 002.2 OF 004


willing to use any and all methods to keep their "employees"
working.


8. She also explained that it is very difficult to tell when a
woman consents to work as a prostitute and when she is forced. The
NGOs agreed that many women choose to become prostitutes
voluntarily, but that once they get into the business, the system
leaves them no choice but to continue to work. They find themselves
under the complete control of other people and have to obey the
rules under the constant threat of violence. The NGOs consider all
prostitutes to be victims of organized crime and in need of
protection from the government.


9. The links between prostitution and other criminal businesses
such as money laundering, human trafficking, and drug trafficking
are strong. In that sense, legalizing prostitution would be similar
to legalizing human trafficking or drug trafficking. The NGOs
strongly believe that forcing people into prostitution, keeping
brothels, and pimping must not become legal. They see these
activities not as businesses, but as crimes that take away the
freedoms and rights of people and facilitate slavery. The NGOs will
strongly oppose any legalization initiatives.

... BUT SOME VOICES ARE IN FAVOR


10. In the January 23 issue of "Karavan," the president of the
Association of Businesswomen, Raushan Sarsenbayeva, said she
believes that prostitution should be legalized. She said that
people have been trying to eliminate prostitution for 5,000 years,
but no country has yet succeeded. She noted that commercial sex has
become an illegal business along with narco-trafficking and weapons
smuggling, which are very profitable. To fight such crime, she
said, prostitution must be moved out of the shadows. She suggested
that such a measure would help to protect both prostitutes and
clients. However, Sarsenbayeva did not deny that legalization could
have a negative effect on the image of Kazakhstan. Nevertheless,
she said, "legalization would have more positive consequences than
negative."


11. "Karavan" also reported on January 23 that the Executive
Director of the Charter for Human Rights, Zhemis Turmagambetova, is
likewise an advocate of legalized prostitution. "I am not trying to
defend this phenomenon, as it is immoral by its nature," she said,
"but let's not pretend that it does not exist. We do not need to
re-invent the wheel, but we should simply learn from Tsarist Russia
or some European countries where the inhabitants of red-light
districts officially work, pay taxes and are protected by the law."
(NOTE: The Charter for Human Rights is one of the leading
Kazakhstani human rights NGOs, although Turmagambetova herself is
known for her somewhat unorthodox views. END NOTE.)

ASK THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT


12. According to local press reports, a member of the Almaty
Maslikhat (city council),Ablaikhan Samatdin, is strongly against
the legalization of prostitution. He stated that the legalization
of prostitution would offend the moral sensibilities of those who
follow religious traditions. He said he is convinced that
prostitution "never existed" in Kazakhstan previously, and he does
not understand why it exists now. (NOTE: There is well-documented
historical evidence confirming that brothels existed thousands of
years ago along the Silk Road which crossed what is now the
territory of Kazakhstan. END NOTE.) Samatdin pointed out that the
unemployment rate is relatively low in Kazakhstan compared to its
neighbors and came to the conclusion that there are no economic
reasons for modern prostitution, but only social, i.e., "lazy young
women are unwilling to study and work hard."


13. Samatdin also believes that law enforcement is ineffective. He
said that when the police cleared prostitutes off Sain Street in
Almaty, they simply moved to Seifullin Street or to rented
apartments. (COMMENT: Seifullin Street is now so infamous that an
Embassy employee was advised never to attempt to flag a cab on the
street, because she would be mistaken for a prostitute. END
COMMENT.) He suggested adding a question asking about legalization
to the census questionnaire. (NOTE: The census, which ended in
February, did not include such a question. END NOTE.)


ASTANA 00000593 003.2 OF 004


OPINION POLL RESULTS


14. On March 9, a local newspaper published the results of a public
opinion poll on the government's efforts to combat prostitution and
prostitution-related crimes. A majority of respondents were in
favor of legalization, with many saying that if the problem cannot
be eliminated, it must be regulated. Other arguments in favor of
legalization included concern for prostitutes' and their clients'
health and safety and the economic benefits and income for the
government. Some respondents pointed out that prostitution has
historical roots in Kazakhstan -- bigamy, harems, and concubines can
be considered forms of legal prostitution -- while others disagreed
and believe that prostitution is a very "young profession."


15. Citizens of all 16 regions of Kazakhstan were interviewed to
evaluate the efforts of each to combat prostitution on a five-point
scale. Only four regions scored three points or higher: West
Kazakhstan (Uralsk),East Kazakshtan (Ust-Kamenogorsk),Kyzlorda,
and Almaty. Astana was rated seventh and the worst oblast was
Dzhambul in southern Kazakhstan, which received a score of 1.92.
(NOTE. The capital of the oblast, the 2,000-year old Taraz, was a
stop along the Silk Road and is now well-known for its organized
criminal activity and narco-trafficking. END NOTE.) Respondents
said that the police cannot effectively fight prostitution because
it is not criminalized and the government is doing nothing to reduce
demand.


16. In a poll published by Express-K on January 30, respondents
said that the priority must be strengthening the punishment for
pimps, brothel owners, and customers. Respondents expressed
frustration with the fact that people who use sexual services are
not punished, despite the fact they create the demand. They also
called for customers to be publicly named and shamed in local media
before going to jail.

ON-LINE "BROTHELS"


17. For some time now, Almaty has been awash in graffiti
advertising an escort website called Almatinki ("Almaty girls").
The site is run by a company that also operates sites for female
escorts in Astana, Prague, and Berlin, and for male escorts in
Moscow. The company seems to have a grand vision for the future,
with domain names reserved for services in Karaganda and several
cities in Russia and Germany. The Almaty and Astana sites provide
detailed instructions for prostitutes to place advertisements. An
advertiser must have a residency permit for the city in which they
are advertising, and applications are accepted only from women 18
and older, who must provide photographs. A $50 registration fee
paid through an online money-transfer system is required to run the
ad for three months. To activate a profile, an applicant must call
a telephone number given on the site in order to receive further
instructions.


18. The sites provide photos, hourly rates, activities each woman
would be willing to participate in, and a contact number. Though
the instructions direct advertisers to provide non-explicit photos,
many of the photos purportedly range from mildly to very explicit.
The Astana site is much smaller than Almaty; where Almaty has
approximately 150 advertisers, Astana has no more than 30.


19. According to the Deputy Minister of Interior, who oversees the
K-Department (cyber crime division),police have been investigating
the site, but are unable to shut it down because it is hosted in the
Czech Republic. The owner of the site was born in Kazakhstan, but
is a naturalized Czech citizen. Under Czech law, his site is legal
because it is registered for advertisement purposes and, since all
profiles are posted voluntarily, he cannot be charged for pimping.

REAL BROTHELS IN THE CENTER OF ALMATY


20. On January 23, "Karavan" ran an interview with a former
prostitute who complained that the police shut down only small
prostitution rings and brothels while ignoring the large, well-known
brothels. She said that one of the most popular night clubs in
Almaty employs 30 prostitutes and charges each woman a $700 monthly
in fees. The women are required to charge $200 an hour or more and
make their clients order food and drinks from the bar. The club is
said to be well-known among expatriates and pays the western hotels

ASTANA 00000593 004.2 OF 004


to recommend the club to their guests.


21. The second brothel, according to the former prostitute, is a
very well-known hotel in Almaty. Hotel security selects 15 to 20
women to work in the hotel from 9 pm to 5 am every day. The women
charge $300-$500 an hour and pay 50% to the "house." Women are not
allowed to leave the hotel during their working hours and must pay a
$100 per hour penalty if they do.


22. Embassy officers have observed prostitutes openly soliciting
clients in the bar at one of the large western hotels in Almaty.
The same few prostitutes regularly work from the bar, charging $300
an hour, with a 10% cut going to the hotel management.

FINANCIAL CRISIS HITS THE SEX INDUSTRY


23. According to a local press report, every week, specialists from
the government's HIV Center in Astana visit locations frequented by
prostitutes to speak to them about the risks of HIV/AIDS and discuss
preventative measures. According to their anecdotal evidence, there
has been a significant drop in the number of prostitutes working in
Astana. In October 2008, they found 240 prostitutes, but only 75 in
December. A month later the number dropped to 47. The women
explained that due to the financial crisis, many prostitutes have
lost their regular clients and have returned to their home villages
and countries. An HIV Center epidemiologist estimates that prices
charged by prostitutes in Astana have dropped as much as 40 percent
in the last three months.


24. COMMENT: Prostitution is a divisive issue and no concrete
decision on legalization is likely to be made by the government in
the near future. As many countries have found, there are no easy
answers. Both criminalization and legalization come with serious
costs to the criminal justice system, health care system, and
society. END COMMENT.

HOAGLAND