This article was reprinted with permission after being published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
To provide for her two young children, Maral became a sexual employee.
The 38-year-old, who is the only father for her relatives, claimed economic insecurity forced her to engage in trafficking four years ago.
” There were days when I couldn’t even manage to make a hot meal for my children for month, let alone get them school materials”, said Maral, whose brand has been changed to protect her identity.
Maral is believed to be one of hundreds of sex workers in Turkmenistan, where common poverty, poverty, and terrible food shortages have driven some people to prostitution.
A native of the southern area of Turkmengala, Maral depended on transfers from her father, who worked in Turkey. But she claimed that he had stopped communicating with her and sending cash.
Maral registered with her neighborhood work agency, but she was unable to find work. In the cotton fields, she found annual employment.
The job was laborious and underpaid. Alas, she claimed that she was hardly able to pay her book, and that her family largely lived off of bread and drink.
” I couldn’t find anyone to assist me. My kids were old, and my mother-in-law suffered from ill-health”, said Maral. ” I’ve contacted social service numerous times, but I never received any support.”
Prostitution is a stigma in Turkmenistan, and most gender employees try to hide their job from their families.
Maral is not alone.
” We have resorted to]prostitution ] not because we want it, it is desperation that has imposed this situation upon us”, said a sex worker in the southeastern province of Mary, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
” If the government provided us with jobs, none of us would have become ]sex workers ]”, the woman added.
Exploited By Officers
Prostitution is a legal offence in Turkmenistan, and punished by several operational measures, including charges. Follow offenders are subject to two years in prison.
Prostitution has long been practiced in Turkmenistan despite being banned and frequently condemned in the country with a predominately Muslim population.
According to several sexual staff and citizens of Mary and the eastern state of Lebap, it has increased in recent years as living costs have skyrocketed in the nation.
Younger women find their clients mostly in bars and restaurants, charging an equivalent of$ 60 to$ 140 for their services, sex workers said.
Older women typically seek out clients at truck stops and highway intersections, charging far lower rates, which they said range from$ 15 to$ 30.
However, people run the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, becoming victims of abuse, and being a victim of human trafficking.
” Some customers decline to pay the amount that had already been agreed upon.” Some of them are “very rude,” physically and sexually harsh, and actually beat us,” remarked a sex worker in Lebap.
Sex workers also accuse legislation enforcement of extorting and threatening prostitution-related people.
According to several women who work in Mary and Lebap, police frequently arrest sex workers and compel them to choose fabric and perform various agricultural chores during the harvest time.
Turkmen government frequently make students, faculty, and various state employees work in cotton fields.
” We especially face pressure from high-ranking officials at]regional ] police and prosecutors ‘ offices”, said a sex worker in Mary.
They take us to police stations and remind us that they won’t let us leave without a good or criminal investigation, but they warn that whenever we ask, they must appear and serve us for free. They call us from time to time, and we provide free service to them, the sex employee said.
She did not name any officers.
RFE/RL contacted the government in Mary, Lebap, and the money, Ashgabat, for comment but did not receive any answer.
