Prostitution in Belarus is illegal but commonplace and is an administrative, rather than criminal, offence. Running a brothel is forbidden and engaging in other means of

pimping Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

are punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

UNAIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) (, ONUSIDA) is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an ...

estimated there were 22,000 sex workers in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

in 2016. Sex trafficking is a problem in the country.

Historical extent

Official data for Vitebsk, Minsk, Grodno and Mogilev provinces in 1889 showed there were 50 brothels with 326 prostitutes working in them. The 1897

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of the 5 Belarus provinces recorded 479 prostitutes. According to Ministry of Internal Affairs official 2010 figures, there were 1,930 women involved in prostitution in Belarus, roughly 637 of them were in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

. 780 people were prosecuted for prostitution in 210.

Sex tourism

The country is a destination for sex tourism. The government has tried to combat this by visa restrictions. However there are no visas required for visitors from Russia, where most of the sex tourists come from. Most tourists travel to the country independently, but there are "sex tours" organised from

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

and

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. Russian are attracted to

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

s in the country, (Russia banned gambling and shut all casinos in 2009) and prostitution is attached to many of the casinos. There have been a number of high-profile arrests in connection with prostitution in casinos. In 2012, the art director and manager of Minsk's Dankoff Club were arrested and later the owner of the club, Jury Dańkoŭ, was also arrested. In 2009, a Turkish citizen resident in Belarus was jailed 7 years for organising sex tours from Turkey. A year later an accomplice was also sentenced to 7 years. Some

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

nationals have also been deported from Belarus for similar activities.

Sex trafficking

Belarus is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking. Belarusian victims are primarily subjected to trafficking in Russia and Belarus, as well as in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, Turkey, and other countries in

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

and the Middle East. Some Belarusian women travelling for foreign employment in the adult entertainment and hotel industries are subjected to sex trafficking. The government has identified Belarusian,

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

n, Russian,

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

ese victims exploited in Belarus. Article 181 of the criminal code prohibits both sex and labour trafficking and prescribes penalties ranging from five to 15 years imprisonment in addition to the forfeiture of offenders’ assets. The government reported one sex trafficking investigation in 2016 under article 181, compared with one in 2015, one in 2014, and six in 2013. The

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP) is an agency within the United States Department of State charged with investigating and creating programs to prevent human trafficking both within the United States and internation ...

ranks Belarus as a ' Tier 3' country.

References

{{Europe topic, Human trafficking in Belarusian women Society of Belarus Belarusian victims of crime

Historical extent

Sex tourism

Sex trafficking

See also

References