The mass media are effectively procurers in the sex trade in women and children in Greece, which is both a transit and destination country, claims a recent study. Classified ads and running ticker-tape type adverts on late-night television act as fronts for prostitution rings. The recent study, Trafficking in Women and Children: Greece, a country of destination and transit ISBN: by Ira Emke-Poulopoulou, member of the New York Academy of Sciences, vice president of the Greek Society for Demographic Studies, and responsible for the Demographic Section of the Institute for the Study of the Greek Economy IMEO , removes any doubts over the role played by the mass media in countries of origin, destination, and transit, through personal ads, advertisements for massage and telephone acquaintances.
In November , there were moves to ban such adverts, but no decision has been made to date. But the study notes that the mass media also play a positive role. Eighty percent of Greeks say they knew of the problem of sex trafficking from the mass media, and one in five from their own personal experience, which shows how widespread the phenomenon is in Greece.
Police reports show most pimps are Greeks The majority of procurers and others guilty of sexual exploitation are Greek, according to police reports for the years Prostitution venues are normally bars or illegal brothels. To avoid arrest - and boost profits - the pimps flit from city to city, preferring those where they maintain relations with corrupt police officers. The clients The years saw a percent rise in the number of clients for prostitutes while sexual transactions saw a percent rise.
Albanian women are often placed in cities near the Albanian border or in the north until traffickers decide where to prostitute them. Other transit points are Volos, Larissa, Karditsa and Lamia, where the women work in bars, secret brothels and massage parlors, often well known to the police. Many are transferred to Athens, Crete and other islands where profitable prostitution rackets are sprouting everywhere.
Private service One of Greece's peculiarities is that prostitutes are chosen according to client specifications and delivered to the home. Albanian women are preferred because they are cheaper. The pimp is often their own husband. Penalties are light and the profits huge. Some rings exclusively import dancers and those in other similar professions. Others traffic in women with a legal work permit in Greece. Prostitution in Greece entails new heights of violence as well as degradation and exploitation of the prostitute, says Ira Ekme-Poulopoulou.
