By Andrea Motta
Athens, Greece (Inzuna)
Entrance to a brothel in Athens. In Greece today, there are approximately 20,000 women forced into the sex industry.
It is estimated that during the period from 1990 to 2000, 1.7 million men, women, underage youth and children were forced prostitution in Greece, according to the Center of Research and Action on Peace (KEDE). Athens, Greece.
A client makes his way into a brothel in Athens. Most of the clients don’t know about the background of the women and girls, thinking that they are there because they chose to work as prostitutes. Two-thirds of the brothels in Athens have trafficked women.
This is the curtain women pass through to be shown to clients.
Girl from Eastern Europe working as a prostitute in a brothel going out of the dressing/waiting room to ‘meet’ the costumer in the living room. If he likes her, he will pay 20-50 Euros in advance to the Madam and they will go to a room. Otherwise she’ll come back and wait for the next client. Since the 1990’s, the number of girls coming from ex-communist countries has grown non-stop into the sex industry in Greece. It is believed that today in Greece there are approximately 20,000 women forced into the sex industry.
Room inside of a brothel in Athens. According to Caritas Hellas, the local branch of an international organization of the Catholic Church, up to 90,000 people were believed to have been trafficked into Greece in 2000 from central and eastern Europe. The trafficking has taken a variety of forms: trafficking for forced labour, mainly of children; trafficking for sexual exploitation, particularly of women; and the trafficking of babies for adoption.
Inside a brothel, Athens Greece.
Madam of a brothel in Athens. Normally the ”Madam” takes care of the cleaning of the brothel, receives the money, introduces the girl to the client, and makes sure that the girl will not go anywhere. She must be over 50 years old to have this job, according to Greek law.
A girl passes between the dressing room into the clients’ waiting room at least 100 times daily to meet potential “Johns.”
Girl going to be checked by a client that just arrived. She walks through this hall every time a costumer comes in. In a day, around 100 to 250 men enter the brothel. She has around 20 to 35 sexual relations in an 8-hour shift in this brothel in Athens.
Porn playing in the reflection inside one of the rooms.
Greece is not alone in experiencing the impact of trafficking, which has been a global phenomenon for many years. One of the biggest challenges in combating trafficking is a lack of knowledge about its true extent, and the resulting difficulties in assessing the effectiveness of methods to tackle it. Because of the clandestine nature of the crime and the large numbers of people vulnerable to exploitation, traffickers can easily modify trafficking routes, methods of exploitation, and the structure of criminal organizations profiting from trafficking so as to thwart detection and prosecution.
Entrance to another brothel, in Athens, Greece.
A client waits for a girl while the Madam tells him prices for activities.
Decoration of a living room of a brothel.
View of the room where clients wait to be introduced to girls.
Another entrance to a brothel in Athens, Greece.
Waiting room of a brothel in Athens, Greece.
Room in a brothel, Athens, Greece.
Decorations and a cigarette in a brothel in Athens, Greece.
View of an entrance to a brothel in Athens, Greece.
The curtain is opened to introduce a girl to a client.
A prostitute waits to be called by the Madam in the living room after a client’s arrival.
Room inside a brothel, Athens, Greece.
Entrance to a brothel, Athens, Greece.
A waiting room of another brothel in Athens, Greece.
The view from where the Madam and the girls dressing room where they wait to come out and meet clients.
A room inside a brothel in Athens, Greece.
The exit of a brothel, Athens, Greece.