Please refresh the page and retry. G reece has voted for change. There are currently an estimated 20, prostitutes in Greece according to EKKE of which fewer than 1, are legally registered. Because although street prostitution is illegal in Greece, sex work is technically not. Studio-based prostitution is considered safer and is regulated , with on-site security and regular sexual health screening. The studios are traditionally run by older women, sometimes former prostitutes themselves.
Each is granted a licence, issued by the state. The Greek authorities decided to implement a law in which stipulates that all brothels must have such a permit. Women working as prostitutes must register and carry a medical card, which is updated every two weeks. The reason for this stipulation is difficult to fathom. And with the number of women sex workers in the country rising rapidly, so the situation of its streets is worsening.
T hey are mothers, married women and young professionals. Women from every walk of life are now just as likely to turn to prostitution as drug addicts. She explained the harsh reality for married women who want to use prostitution as a means of supporting themselves, explaining that she must turn them away, or run the risk of losing her licence.
The BBC reported on a woman named Georgia, a doctor, who also works as an escort to support her family. A fully qualified medical professional, she has a private clinic β but currently only treats three patients a week. O ver the past four years, Greece has seen a per cent rise in cases of HIV. Not only did this compromise their safety, it made other women considerably less likely to get tested, in case they were subjected to similar public shaming.
The per cent increase in women working as prostitutes has hugely disrupted the chain of supply and demand. And the volume of available women has created a climate in which competition for business is rife. Women, jostling for a finite quantity of clients, are forced to charge less and less. And, of course, clients have vastly reduced spending power due to the financial crsis. Some prostitutes are also starting to offer riskier sex acts that clients will pay more for, such as unprotected sex - which carries a premium price, but is contributing to the rise in HIV.
