By Natalia Khodyreva
According to different expert opinions, there are between 20 000 and 130 000 prostitutes working in Moscow alone. At the same
time it is estimated that Russian and foreign men in Russia buy sexual services for moe than 700 billions dollars per year
(Khodorych & Golikova, 2001). It is alarming that prostitution in Russia has a tendency to be: (1) the alternative occupation
for women from the low-paid sector – such as medical nurses, teachers, sales clerks, librarians; (2) (for students) the way
to pay both for one’s education and recreation; and (3) the main source of income for needy mothers and their children, drug-addicts
and single women. One may conclude that young women have by now lost access to the culture of self-preservation and the values
of recognising that health is a priority that were widely available to them before the period of economic transition in Russia
(Shilova, 2000).
The purpose of our research was to explore the phenomenon of prostitution in present-day Russia and to highlight it on a broader
scale as a problem which concerns gender relations generally. Another aim of the project was to examine in more detail the
emotional background to prostitution and to address the reality of the epistemological phenomena – so called ‘free choice’
and ‘work’ – which are used to rationalise the decision to take up prostitution (Davidson, 1998; Jeffrews, 1997).
Research methods
In our research we used both quantitative and qualitative methods. We used questionnaires with both closed and open questions to a large group of women from various social groups (not primarily identified with prostitution); and non-directive in-depth interviews with eight women involved in prostitution.
The questionnaires were distributed to 1,200 young women (13-30 years of age) which represent a quantitative represenative sample for this age group of women living in St Petersburg. They came from a range of social groups, including students, pupils, clients of women’s hospitals and STD clinics, women working in bars and as strippers, unemployed women, heterosexuals and lesbians and all from St. Petersburg City and the Leningrad Region, as part of a more extensive study into trafficking issues and forced prostitution (Khodyreva & Cvetkova, 2000).
The eight women interviewed were of different ages (from 21 to 40 years old), had various levels both of education (secondary and higher) and material status (low and middle class). We would like to note that we chose a group of women who predominantly work without pimps and are not dependent on drugs. Some of these women had their first experience in prostitution through the agency of various pimps (some of them were their lovers) and later worked independently. At the time of interviewing, most of them worked independently. One of our interviewers was a former prostitute who now works as a psychologist. Thus, the personal experience of the researcher was included in the process of interviewing.
We tried to avoid the term “prostitute” as this notion does not characterise our research participants adequately. Rather, the roles of mother, student, unemployed, wife, daughter, grand-daughter, friend, etc. are more pertinent to their lives. While performing their main roles, they sometimes, often, or from time to time, “make money” by prostitution. For that reason we introduced a new concept – “a woman involved in, or earning by prostitution” (WIP). By means of this new concept we would like to emphasise that prostitutes are not just an isolated, impersonal group of women. We would also like to underline that there is no borderline distinguishing the prostitute from the so-called respectable woman.
Opinions about prostitution
Parts of the questionnaire to the 1 200 women contained questions about the frequency, quality and development of sexual relations with unloved partners. The experience of girls and young women answering the questionnaire demonstrates that one in five has already had experience of emotionally non-reciprocal relations with undesired partners, with the respective figure of 5 per cent during the past year (0,5 per cent of respondents refused to answer this question).
The women tried to explain the reasons for their forced, alienated or unilateral sexual relations with an unattractive partner. The women have built a rating of material and other values which, in their opinion, “justify” their entering into sexual relations with an unloved partner (in past or in future). The motives include: 1) escape from the threat of violence directed at herself or her family members; 2) some noble intentions, such as earning money to pay for the medical treatment of family members; 3) consideration for fundamental material values – their own private accommodation, stable earnings, well-paid job, lots of money to spend; 4) then “the child” is mentioned, followed by 5) “the desire to take revenge on some other man”. The sixth motive mentioned is that of moving abroad for permanent residence or entertainment trips abroad. All this is an indirect indication of the fact that the stated needs are not otherwise accessible to women and that they wish to obtain all this by way of entering into relationships with men they do not love.
Only a small group of women (below 0,25 per cent) noted that they would enter into such contact purely for getting their own sexual satisfaction.
We also asked an open question on the definition of prostitution, which yielded a variety of answers. Over a third of the respondents (35 per cent) regard prostitution as a form of commodity-money relation, where the woman's body and her sexual services are offered in exchange for money, other material goods or services. The second most common definition was of prostitution as a phenomenon proceeding from poverty, dependence and other social and economic conditions unfavourable for women (10 per cent). Next in priority is the definition of prostitution as a job and profession (7,5 per cent). Next, sharing the fourth and the fifth positions, are definitions including moral judgement of this phenomenon (negative mostly) and psychological reasons and motives inducing women to take up prostitution (7 per cent). Sexual relations with a person for whom the woman has no affection, but has entered into for the sake of consumer benefit, are regarded as prostitution by every third woman who participated in the study.
There is a certain correlation between the level of income and the individual’s assessment of prostitution. The smaller the income, the more often prostitution is regarded as a profession within commodity-money relations. The older the respondents, the more they subscribe to “liberal” views of prostitution. The acceptance of prostitution as a trade or job is related to a past experience of sexual relations for money.
In the in-depth interviews with the eight women involved in prostitution we tried to focus on the decision-making process leading to the person's “choice” to engage in prostitution. All of these interviewees also filled in the questionnaire asking for their opinions about prostitution.
The following issues were detailed in their responses: violence from partners and clients, initial experience of the work, sexual relations, gender attitudes, attitude to prostitution, risks, feelings, coping strategies, etc. (Khodyreva, 2001).
1. Reasons for choosing prostitution and the initial circumstances leading to this choice
All the interviews show that the reasons of taking up prostitution are not only related to poverty, but also to the lack of opportunity for combining maternity with work, or studies with work, as well as the fact that it is often impossible to earn enough money to support a satisfactory standard of living if a woman takes up a normal profession and obtains a good education. In general, it is so easy to become a prostitute: everything around invites you to take it up. There are plenty of consistently ready and willing clients - those just driving around in their cars; those specifically watching for you; drivers engaged in carrier's trade and long-distance drivers. All the newspapers are full of ads looking for girls: “Girls wanted, good prices offered!!!”, etc.
The process of involvement in prostitution also takes place through the numerous agencies of the pimping institution – relatives, friends, acquaintances, casual acquaintances.
“My first young man (now I recognize that he was a pimp) forced me to sleep with him when I did not want to and then gave me money for it”.
There is an impression that knowledge of the different aspects of prostitution - regarding places, terms, relations with the police and criminal gangs - is extremely accessible, publicly open and widely disseminated amongst the population.
2. Multiple violence from partners, clients and other men
Most of our interviewees suffered repeated physical and sexual violence from their husbands and their clients.
”If you want to talk about violence - it has always existed.”
Also, the multiple risks include, in the first place, the ignorance of men, their lack of responsibility for the health of their partners, direct physical and sexual violence and violation of client's agreement on payment for the services.
3. Sex with the clients
We did not find that the WIPs' work provides much pleasure for themselves. The very process of their work aroused disgust in the women, if they still had any feelings left. These women prefer to avoid the subject in question and to evade any description in proper language of what is denoted by the term "prostitution" and what specific functional and emotional experience lies behind it. The WIPs are, in fact, devoid of real sexual pleasure in their lives.
“Sex was never a joy for me.” “ Prostitutes don't get pleasure from it”.” It seems to me, this is virtually impossible”.
4. Attitudes to prostitution
One participant in the study suggested her own way of solving the problem of prostitution in Russia. She wishes to see much fewer women engaged in prostitution in our country:
"Women must have better salaries; their problems should be taken care of; they should never be denied employment, even when they have children. Very often I was neglected because I had small children. This society should treat women who are mothers better".
5. The feelings
At the initial stage of entering non-professional prostitution women still make efforts to have some feelings, but very soon they develop protective strategies and become similar to experienced prostitutes working for hard currency.
“All the feelings died away, atrophied.” “There is no room for sincere feelings in the world of prostitution if you wish to earn well.”
The anonymous participants of our study and the anonymous co-author of this article had made efforts to withdraw from prostitution. Some of them succeeded in this attempt, others did not. The perception of and reflection on this experience was a very important factor for an enhanced understanding of their real situation during the period of transformation, and this is a first step towards further social action.
Strengthening patriarchal gender relations
This study indicates that many women enter into sexual relations with men they do not love. One in every five women reported
having such experience in her life. 46 per cent of these cases are related to initial violence from the men. On the other
hand, about 20 per cent of the young women reported the experience of entering into sexual relations with unloved partners
for some material and non-material benefits. About a third of the young women shared the point of view that trading of the
female body for the provision of sexual services may be interpreted within the framework of the present market relations.
It is not clear, however, if they regard their own body as a commodity for that purpose. Only one in ten women can see any
relation between prostitution and women's situation in society. About 8 per cent defined prostitution as work and a profession.
Most of these women have experience of having sexual relations for some benefit. One can make different assumptions regarding
this: either they had adopted sexist views with respect to women, or they had adopted protective mechanisms in order to rationalise
away the experience of the social disapproval of prostitution. One may suppose that, as a consequence of experiencing the
growth of prostitution at the personal level, the activity will be treated more and more as a normal profession: properly
valued within the professional sphere. However, in this situation the fact that many women experience an impossible choice
in respect of paid employment is being ignored.
The criterion of free choice supposes that there are opportunities to earn the same amount of money for the same period of
time on the same terms. In order to have a real equity between prostitution and ordinary professions, one has to have a broad
range of adequate alternatives. None of our women in prostitution (WIPs) mentioned any possibility of choice between prostitution
and standard jobs. They had either been rejected when trying to get employment, or they had failed to combine studies and
work. The salaries offered them had been insufficient to meet even a subsistence standard of living. They evidenced the actual
absence of any state or public infrastructure that could provide any alternatives to prostitution for girls and young women.
Though we cannot talk about any direct physical pressure forcing a woman to take up prostitution, one may conclude that in
a situation where the opportunity for a more or less equivalent choice is missing, a woman can feel that she has to get involved
in it.
Research shows that the social profile of women in prostitution has expanded tremendously - from a young uneducated mother to a student at a prestigious university, and including women over 40 with higher education who nevertheless have found themselves without jobs.
Most of our respondents (excluding 0,25 per cent) did not mention any actual involvement or pleasure from sex/sexual services with unloved persons or clients. Moreover, they described negative or suppressed feelings. The model of patriarchal sexuality is traditionally characterised by the suppression of feelings, emotions and a resultant alienation. One may say that a discourse of liberalism and pseudo-freedom in Russia seems to have changed nothing in respect of traditional masculine sexuality.
Thus the very phenomenon of prostitution as a mechanism supporting patriarchy and traditional gender relations has expanded and strengthened its position in Russian society. No emancipation or liberation has taken place in this sphere. The predominant position of patriarchal sexuality, the promotion of it on the market, the forming of enormous groups of male consumers enjoying this system of entertainment is possible only because of a certain policy towards the Russian and NIS women. The destruction of the socially oriented (welfare) state in Russia and the social polarisation of gender promote the feminisation of poverty. This policy has resulted in women being entrapped by the system of prostitution, both locally and transnationally.
Khodyreva Natalia is researcher at the St. Petersburg State University. She also works for the INGI Crisis Centre for Women in St. Petersburg.
Notes
Davidson, Julia O'Connel (1998). Prostitution, Power and Freedom. Cambridge, Polity Press.
Jeffrews, Sheila (1997). The Idea of Prostitution. N. Melbourne, Spinifex.
Khodorych Alekcei, Golikova Liza (2001). “Footway and Love” (Panel da Lybov). In Money, No. 17-18, 45-51, Commersant Press.
Khodyreva Natalia (1996) “Sexism and sexual abuse in Russia”. In Chr. Corrin (ed.) Women in а violent world: Feminist analyses
and resistance across Europe. Edinburgh University Press, 27-40.
Khodyreva Natalia, Cvetkova Maria (2000). “Russian Women and the Traffic Phenomenon”. In Sociologicheskie Issledovania [Sociological
Research], No. 11, 141-144.
Khodyreva Natalia (2001). “Tolerance for What? Sexuality for Whom?” Paper presented at the conference “Sexuality in Transition
– 2001”, Dubrovnik.
Reinhartz Shulamit (1992). Feminist Methods in Social Research. N.Y., Oxford. Oxford Univ. Press.
Shilova Ludmila (2000). “Women’s Model Transformations of Self-preservation Behavior”. In Sociologicheskie Issledovania [Sociological
Research], No. 11, 134-140.
