Friday, 03.02.2012
The football players train themselves, the fans hunt for the tickets, when Polish and Ukrainian prostitutes count their future profits: the championship among other matters is a holiday of [paid] love, the polish edition of Newsweek Polska writes.
Gabriela is a so called "privatka". She is not protected by a pimp, and she receives the clients in her two-room flat in the center of Lodzi, which she hires at halves with her girl-friend. Her earnings of 5-6 thousand zlotys (1100-1400 EUROs) cover the recurrent expenses, but she can't save too much for the future, according to her story. So in June she is not going to idle her time away. "We are going to Poznań with my girl-friend", - Gabriela says, expecting to treble her profits as minimum.
The prostitutes' expectations of incredible income during the football championship in Germany, as well as during Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland didn't come true. Some men arrived with their families; the others were scared off by the prices for paid sex. "Compared to other parts of Europe, sexual services in Poland and Ukraine are cheap. Thus, these countries can become attractive for sex tourists interested in football. Therefore erotic business in hosting countries of the tournament hopes for recovery of their sector during the championship", - underline the authors of the report for UEFA.
Poland and Ukraine even without football turned into destinations for Western Europe citizens longing for pleasures. Every day a plane with local nightclub rounders flies from Rome to Lviv. The Englishmen are looking actively for women's charms in Krakow, as well as in Kiev. Besides, in Gdansk and Świnoujście ferry-boats full of Scandinavians avid of love arrive every day. It looks like the others will follow them on a beaten path under the pretense of seeing the football matches alive. "Almost every day I receive e-mails from abroad. Their authors ask about legal consequences which the detention of a fan in company of a prostitute can have", - tells Andrzej Borowiac, the press secretary of the Poznan police voivodeship commandant's office.
Renovation in brothel
The preparations for football fans' entertainment are glaringly obvious. One of the closed-type night clubs of Poznan is under repair. In a few months it will be reconstructed into hourly hotel with 50 rooms. "New rooms were prepared also in just closed by police "dating clubs",- Borowiac tells. In all the cities where the matches will take place, a demand for the rent of the apartments goes up, and to the opinion of the police, they can be intended for rendering of sexual services. "But on the other hand, we don't see any prostitutes from other countries trying to get to Poland", - says Mariusz Sokolowski from the General police commandant's office.
To the opinion of people studying the environment of hetaeras working in Poland, they may be so numerous, that the new ones wouldn't have a place to go. The sociologist of Lodz University Isabella Slezak is convinced that during the championship the women from the cities, where no matches will be carried on, and also those who practice the oldest profession from time to time, will join the local prostitutes.
"The girls from Warsaw clubs have one or two clients a day and they earn about 3000 zlotys (700 EUROs). So they are longing for the foreign clients", - the representative of Public committee on AIDS problems Tomasz Małkuszewski tells. During the championship the Committee is going to conduct a campaign on HIV prevention. "I know that they will use the services of prostitutes. We just want these contacts to be as safe as possible", - he adds. The Polish are going to carry on agitation against sex with juveniles: playing cards with pictures of girls in the images of adult women will be given to foreigners, there will be the inscriptions calling to think about the age of picked-up Lolita.
The Ukrainian women look forward
The more radical actions are expected in Ukraine, where unlike in Poland the prostitution is illegal (though the punishment is nominal). The members of feminists' movement FEMEN have no doubts that Euro 2012 will became the occasion for advertisement of slavery sex-business. "We prepare different actions aiming at persuading the western fans out of prostitutes' services in Ukraine", - says Alexandra Shevchenko, FEMEN activist. The protests may not produce an effect though.
The sociologist from Yaremenko Institute of Kiev Olga Balakireva studying the phenomenon of prostitution is convinced that the prostitutes will concentrate in hosting cities of the championship. It was proven, for example, by NATO maneuvers of Sea Breeze carried out in July of the last year on the Black Sea - the biggest floc of the foreigners in Ukraine for the last years. Having known about arrival of ships with hundreds of seamen, thousands of Cyprians came to the city immediately. As a result, the captains were so anxious about night escapades of the seamen, that they prohibited them to enter the city with the sum exceeding 100 USD.
The Dutch and the English fans, which teams play in Ukraine, will not be limited by anybody. Therefore, the bosses of Ukrainian sex business already rub their hands. "Donetsk won't disappoint the foreigners", - boasts Gennady, the manager of one of escort service agencies of Donetsk.
The girls from all over the country come to this city, as well as to Kharkov, Kiev or Lviv. "In Ukrainian province the girls pin faith on the legend of a rich and civilized western man", - Balakireva says. "Criminal groups use severely their naivety and already now recruit young Ukrainian women for brothels in Kiev and Donetsk, luring them with fairy-tales about rich fans", - she adds.
A few weeks ago Dutch television made a report about Ukraine. In Nikolayev, a large city on the south of the country, the Dutch engaged in the subject of paid love. They were very much surprised to hear from a 16-year local prostitute, that she admires the Dutch and looks forward to the football championship.
