Prostitution in Armenia
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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
Prostitution in Armenia is illegal{{cite web|url=https://news.am/eng/news/125553.html|title=Prostitution statistics in Armenia|access-date=24 December 2016}} under administrative law{{cite book|last1=Ditmore|first1=Melissa Hope |title=Encyclopedia of prostitution and sex work|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediapros00ditm_518|url-access=limited|date=2006|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Conn.|isbn=978-0313329685|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediapros00ditm_518/page/n121 90]}} (Article 179.1).{{cite web|title=Republic of Armenia Law Enforcement Anti-Trafficking Training Needs Assessment|url=http://www.osce.org/yerevan/30894?download=true|website=Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|access-date=19 January 2018|date=December 2007}} Related activities such as running a brothel and pimping are prohibited by the Criminal Code,{{cite web|title=The Legal Status of Prostitution by Country|url=http://chartsbin.com/view/snb|website=ChartsBin|access-date=19 January 2018}}{{cite web|title=Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia|url=https://prostitution.procon.org/sourcefiles/ArmeniaCriminalCode.pdf|publisher=National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia|access-date=19 January 2018|date=18 April 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722092011/http://prostitution.procon.org/sourcefiles/ArmeniaCriminalCode.pdf|archive-date=22 July 2017|url-status=dead}} although there are known to be brothels in the capital, Yerevan, and in Gyumri.{{cite book|last1=Dudwick|first1=Nora|last2=Gomart|first2=Elizabeth|last3=Marc|first3=Alexandre|last4=Kuehnast|first4=Kathleen|title=When things fall apart : qualitative studies of poverty in the former Soviet Union|url=https://archive.org/details/whenthingsfallap00nora|url-access=limited|date=2003|publisher=World Bank|location=Washington, DC|isbn=9780821350676|page=[https://archive.org/details/whenthingsfallap00nora/page/n154 138]}} According to UNESCO, since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, prostitution in the country has grown.{{cite web|title=Proposed to legalize prostitution in Armenia|url=https://report.az/en/region/proposed-to-legalize-prostitution-in-armenia/|website=Report News Agency|access-date=19 January 2018|language=en|date=14 June 2015}} There are about 5,600 women involved in prostitution in Armenia,{{cite web |title=Sex workers: Population size estimate - Number, 2016 |url=http://www.aidsinfoonline.org/gam/stock/shared/dv/PivotData_2018_7_22_636678151733621264.htm |website=www.aidsinfoonline.org |publisher=UNAIDS |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404121947/http://www.aidsinfoonline.org/gam/stock/shared/dv/PivotData_2018_7_22_636678151733621264.htm |archive-date=4 April 2019 |url-status=dead }} roughly 1,500 of them are in Yerevan.{{cite web|title=Armenia 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/eur/136018.htm|website=U.S. Department of State|access-date=19 January 2018|date=11 March 2010}} However, official police figures are far lower, for example 240 in 2012. Police and other safety forces reportedly tolerate prostitution. Many women turn to prostitution due to unemployment.{{cite web|url=https://iwpr.net/global-voices/armenia-women-driven-prostitution|title=Armenia: Women Driven into Prostitution|access-date=24 December 2016}}
Child prostitution is a problem in the country,{{cite web|url=https://iwpr.net/global-voices/armenia-child-prostitution-taboo|title=Armenia: Child Prostitution Taboo|access-date=24 December 2016}} but this is denied by the authorities. Sex trafficking is also a problem.
History
At the start of the 20th century, prostitution in Armenia was legal and regulated. The main objective of the regulation was to control sexually transmitted infections.{{cite web|last1=Vardanyan|first1=Gegham|title=The Armenian sex trade - 4 - A history of prostitution in Armenia|url=http://hetq.am/eng/print/8436/|website=Hetq - News, Articles, Investigations|access-date=19 January 2018|language=en|date=20 July 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180120070651/http://hetq.am/eng/print/8436/|archive-date=20 January 2018|url-status=dead}}
Brothels could be opened by women over 35 years old. The brothel could not be within 150 sazhens (320 metres) of churches, schools, and other public places. The owner must live on the premises and not engage in prostitution herself. She could take a maximum of 3/4 of the prostitutes' earnings.
A former brothel in Teryan Street, Yerevan is still noticeable by its carved naked women on the facade.
During majority of the Soviet period, prostitution officially didn't exist. Prostitutes were sent to be "re-educated" in labour camps.{{cite web |url= http://www.a-z.ru/women/texts/lebina2r-3.htm |title= Кнутом или законом? |trans-title= A whip or a law? |last1= Shkarovsky |first1= Lebina NB |date= 1994 |publisher= Progress Academy |access-date= 1 December 2017 }} It wasn't until 1987, that the Administrative Code included the prohibition of prostitution.
Calls for legalisation
The head of Dermatology and Infectious Diseases Scientific-Medical Center, doctor-dermatologist Samvel Hovhannisyan, was quoted as saying in June 2015: "The legalisation of prostitution in Armenia may cause a reduction of a rate of sexually transmitted diseases to 60%." He added that the "ancient profession" must be strictly controlled by the country.
In 2016, the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly’s Vanadzor Office president, Artur Sakunts, called for prostitution to be legalised and regulated. He said the taxes paid by the sex workers would benefit the country, and that “Paid sex services should not be considered a punishable act; they should not be prosecuted not to be ever manageable at the hands of organized criminal groups which could make [sex workers] victims of internal trafficking.”{{cite web|title=Prostitution should be made legal in Armenia – human rights activist |url=http://www.tert.am/en/news/2016/12/16/Sakunts/2226118 |website=Tert|access-date=19 January 2018|language=en|date=16 December 2016}}
In the run-up to the 2017 Armenian parliamentary election, former prime minister, Hrant Bagratyan, of the Free Democrats party said prostitution should be legalised and licensed, and taxation of their services would be positive towards the state's budget.{{cite web|last1=Martirosyan|first1=Nana|title=Free Democrats promise to legalize prostitution, while Communists are set to eradicate it|url=http://arminfo.info/full_news.php?id=24817&lang=3|website=Arminfo|access-date=19 January 2018|language=en|date=20 March 2017}}
Sex Trafficking
{{see also|Human trafficking in Armenia}}
Human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Armenia, and traffickers exploit victims from Armenia abroad. Armenian women and children are subjected to sex trafficking in the UAE and Turkey. Armenian women and children are also subjected to sex trafficking within the country. Russian women working as dancers in nightclubs are vulnerable to sex trafficking.{{cite web |title=Armenia 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report|url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-trafficking-in-persons-report-2/armenia/ |website=United States Department of State |access-date=14 March 2020}}{{PD-notice}}
The United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons ranks Armenia as a 'Tier 2' country.
See also
{{Portal|Prostitution|Sex work|Society}}
References
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