In turkey mersin eskort the women's rights group petitioned parliament to establish a men's brothel. The call sparked a debate about whether the state should run brothels at all.
On taksim square in downtown istanbul, hayrettin bulan reads a declaration calling for the establishment of male brothels. The call was made by the anti-poverty group sefkat der. The group is fighting to eliminate government brothels. Bulan says their radical move to create brothels for women is out of frustration. According to her, they had to change their tactics against prostitution.
“The government actually protects sexual slavery, using legal grounds to do so,” says bulan. “They say men need sex and they need to go to brothels. But, on the other hand, they do not accept the principles of "gender equality". Bulan and fellow activists argue that assuming that women need sex too and demanding places like this for them, "then you should open men's brothels to meet that demand. If you think there's a need for it, consider about the needs of women and open men's brothels."
In turkey, female prostitution is allowed in state brothels, and it was legal even before the birth of the republic of turkey 90 years ago. Opponents of prostitution such as sefkat der want prostitution to be abolished. But since the state still refuses to heed their call, the opponents have changed their tactics and are now calling for equality and, consequently, for the introduction of brothels where women can visit male prostitutes.
This is not a publicity stunt
Sefkat der is no stranger to controversy and backs up her words with action.Last year, she organized shooting lessons for women victims of domestic violence, as well as assistance them in applying for a firearms license. Rejected, they will file a case with the european court of human rights.
“We don’t think turkey will open men’s brothels,” says bulan, “but with fines from the european court of justice for violating gender equality, such decisions would demonstrate turkish hypocrisy to the whole world.” The compensation money, bulan hopes, could then be used to finance women seeking to live out of prostitution.
One of the women backing the campaign is former sex worker ayse turkucu. She has managed to successfully build her life after working in government brothels, which she says is extremely difficult. She worked in brothels for 20 years when she married in 1996 and quit prostitution. “I am very aware of torture, violence, drug use and the state being an accomplice of brothels because i have worked in 7 brothels across turkey,” she says, summarizing her own experience.`
Turkuku says that women in brothels are considered useless and find it difficult to find another job after they have worked there. “Even most families will have nothing to do with women in most cases. They won't even take the bodies for burial if they die.”
Closing brothels seen as a threat
Opening male brothels is unlikely as the ruling islamic party, the akp, will in any case case is far from enthusiastic about the fact that the state runs brothels. Under his ten-year rule, the number of brothels has almost halved to its current 56. But the government's closure also causes controversy with the women who work in state-owned brothels. A group of activists protest outside the building. Police say the karaköy brothel has been closed for violating rules governing its operation. But some of the protest activists argue that the closure is part of a systematic effort to completely shut down state-run brothels, a policy that critics fear could endanger women.
Karakoy brothel is one of 6 institutions. Only one street is closed, says a sex worker who does not want to be named. “It wasn’t enough for the women working here,” she says, adding that there used to be 11 houses and no new registration papers have been issued to sex workers since 2002.
Already 100,000 women work on the streets without papers, she warns, and 40,000 of them have applied for jobs in brothels. “If this continues,” she says, “it will lead to the fact that women will go out into the streets without any control and protection, without any medical measures.We have no choice, we must do this work in order to continue living. ."
The government declined to comment on the call for brothels for women. But the whole controversy about state brothels seems to have put the government between a rock and a hard place. Want to end what has existed for more than a century, probably fearing accusations of religious agendas, but as long as there are state-run brothels for men, the demand for brothels for women also seems to grow.