Country of destination Turkey - Migration, prostitution and human trafficking on the Bosporus

Since the end of the Cold War, Turkey has become one of the most important countries of destination for tourists and migrant labourers from the former Soviet Union. In the first half of the 1990s, it was above all travelling merchants who went to the Bosporus. Since then, there has been a rapid growth in migrant prostitution and human trafficking from Ukraine, Moldova, Russia and the southern Caucasus. Turkey formally allows prostitution in bordellos within very narrow limits. Most prostitution, however, is forced to take place illegally. As a result, the living and working conditions of prostitutes from the former Soviet Union are so frequently marked by violence that one must speak of human trafficking. Turkey is reacting with strict criminal legislation. Offers of social assistance remain rare.