Child prostitution in the
Caucasus
Georgian law does not define prostitution in gen-
eral or child prostitution in particular. Prices for an
underage prostitute in Georgia range from around
$5 for 2 hours in small rooms in beerhouses, to lux-
ury hotel prices at $200 per night. None of the
countries concerned, however, have gathered real
statistical data concerning child prostitution. In
1997 the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs had
registered 50 minors who worked as prostitutes in
Tbilisi. A study by the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) and the Center for Intercultural
and Social Studies in Tbilisi showed that 112 pros-
titutes aged between 12 and 16 were known, with
an average age of 13, most of whom were encour-
aged, assisted, or forced into the activity by their
parents or families. The activity often grows out
of other street activities such as begging, though
in some cases girls from rural families come to
the capital for prostitution without their families’
knowledge. Child prostitution in Georgia is a well-
organized business, with the ensuing financial
interests of certain circles, including the very gov-
ernment services that would be expected to enforce
legislation; instead they control most prostitution
establishments, albeit inconspicuously. Also, expa-
triates have been accused of increasing the market,
and a 2003 report on expatriate patrons of a beer
bar in Tbilisi caused a well-respected international
peace-keeping agency to reorganize itself and dis-
creetly dismiss certain ranking employees.
Trafficking
The Caucasus countries are under-informed on
most issues of child abuse and exploitation, and
none have fully investigated trafficking. The prosti-
tution of women and minor Georgian girls in
Turkey has been largely documented, both by sci-
entific research and on Internet “sex tourism” sites.
The baseline for the issue on trafficking is the
Stockholm Declaration on Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children. Although Turkey has rat-
ified the latter, none of the southern Caucasus
countries have.
A Georgian minister of internal affairs stated
that “no kind of trafficking exists,” while “the UN,
OSCE, IMO, Interpol, Europol, US State Dept,
European Commission, and other agencies unani-
mously rate Georgia as the leader in Caucasus
countries and Central Asia” (UNICEF 2001). Jean-
Christophe Peuch, of Radio Liberty, Prague,
reported on 27 July 2001 that “deteriorating eco-
nomic conditions, corruption and a high rate of
unemployment are factors that have contributed to
iran 737the growing phenomenon of trafficking women
and girls from the three Caucasus states of Arme-
nia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.” Azeri and Armenian
women are trafficked to Turkey and the United
Arab Emirates while the destinations of Georgians
are more diverse. An End Child Prostitution, Child
Pornography and Trafficking of Children (ECPAT)
report of 2000 states that “Georgia holds the lead-
ing position” in the increase of commercial sexual
exploitation of children (CSEC) in the Central Asia
and Caucasus regions. Georgia heads the three cat-
egories of child prostitution, child pornography,
and trafficking in children in Central Asia and the
Caucasus, although at the same time attempts are
being made to combat the problems through non-
governmental organization work and with UNICEF.
However, Azerbaijan has serious problems in child
prostitution and trafficking, yet CSEC in that coun-
try is not regarded as a problem that warrants
measures to be taken. Armenia has an important
trafficking problem but, again, no measures are
being taken.
The increased trafficking through Turkey re-
ported by IOM includes trafficked migrants
exposed to labor exploitation, but children are par-
ticularly vulnerable to these smugglers who commit
human rights violations “in the form of rape, phys-
ical and mental abuse, food deprivation, abandon-
ment and even death” (IOM 2000).Bibliography
ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and
Trafficking of Children), < http:// http://www.ecpat.net/eng/
index.asp>.
IOM (International Organization for Migration), Report
on irregular migration in Turkey, 2003.
Parliament of Georgia, Independent Board of Advisors,
Legal mechanisms against commercial sexual exploita-
tion of children, Tbilisi 2001.
UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), The general
situation of children’s rights and commercial sexual
exploitation of children in Georgia, in Situation analy-
sis of women and children in Georgia, Tbilisi 2000.
UNOCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan) Tbilisi,
Georgia humanitarian situation and strategy 2003,
Tbilisi 2003.
World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children, Declaration and Agenda for action,
Stockholm 1996.
Women for Future, The problem of women’s trafficking
in Georgia, Tbilisi 2002Mary Ellen ChatwinIranA review of Iranian newspapers and magazines
reveals that child sexual abuse is a problem and