Story No. Source: APTV. In Russia's new free market prostitution is booming. Moscow's streets are packed with scantily-clad hookers who have flocked to the capital in search of a decent wage.
Prostitution is not a criminal offence but Moscow's hard-pressed police force have been charged with cleaning up the capital's streets. But with the drastic increase in violent crime many policemen feel their efforts would be better spent elsewhere. The free market has brought many improvements to Moscow's streets. Bars, restaurants and night clubs now flourish in a city that was once drab and uninviting.
But together with the nightlife has come something else rarely seen during Soviet times - street prostitution. Every evening, as Muscovites start to make their way home, hundreds of hookers appear on the streets to begin their working day. The deal is struck by their pimps, former prostitutes themselves, who then summon the girls so the customers can make their choice. A steady stream of cars cruises the streets across from Russia's parliament, one of the favourite pick-up spots for Moscow's call girls.
But as darkness falls the Moscow City police force embarks on its nightly attempt to make a dent in a business that now dominates downtown Moscow. Prostitution in Russia is not a criminal offence but the government considers it an embarrassment and an eyesore.
Police make routine busts but without a law to charge the girls, have to release. The majority of the girls are from the provinces and other former republics, where unemployment is high and wages low.
