Sex tourism in Ukraine


Sex tourism in Ukraine is visiting the country for the purposes of sexual activity. It is on rise as the country attracts many foreign visitors. The main reason for the situation stem from the combined effect of various factors. Currently, in Ukraine, the effect is constituted by a high level of the population poverty and its feminization, limited options for social mobility and very active system of organized crime.
The majority of the Ukrainian sex industry exists underground and prospers due to poor law enforcement and widespread corruption. Despite making the criminal penalties for human trafficking and coerced prostitution tougher, the laws criminalizing organized prostitution have had little effect.
Sex tourism within Ukrainian borders has grown considerably, raising concern in Ukrainian society and attracting condemnation from feminist activists such as FEMEN.

General background

Ukrainian magazine Korrespondent reported that after launching the visa-free policy with Western Europe the number of western visitors traveling to Ukraine went up and continues to rise. In 2004 the total number of tourists was around 8 million, in 2006 — 16 million, and in 2008 — 20 million. Each foreigner spends about 106 Euro per day in the Ukraine. For many people who travel to the Ukraine for sex the reputation of the country has become a rival to that of Thailand.
According to Ukrainian mass media, the country became a Mecca for motley hordes of sexual adventurers because the price of a visit to Ukraine does not exceed 1500 US dollars. After violent Euromaidan Protests the biggest part of Ukrainian young females have an even harder time since their salaries have plummeted, while inflation has skyrocketed. As a result, an hourly rate for sex with local women typically ranges from $10 to $75 and is much lower than in other European countries. Even in Turkey sex with a European Prostitute will cost much more. It was noted that after the political turmoil of 2014 and the war in the Eastern Ukraine the Western guests started to perceive the country as an "unstable black hole." Nevertheless, Ukraine became a very popular destination for Turkey's middle-class visitors, who have a special predilection for Slavic women. The trips to Ukraine for sex tourism created a stereotype in Turkish culture promoted by movies and books. American Pickup Artist Roosh V published a travel guide describing his experience of dating Ukrainian females and his techniques to minimize the financial expenses of the romantic period. After public release, the manual attracted a lot of coverage in Ukrainian media and caused an outrage of feminist organizations.
An aspect of sex tourism in Ukraine is related to the business of marriage. Marriage agencies run scams throughout the country, emptying tourist's wallets as they go. With regards to the situation, the US embassy published a list of typical local fraud techniques for Americans who visit Ukraine to meet their prospective wives.

Sexual exploitation of children

The Ukraine along with Moldova and Portugal reportedly became a European center of child sex tourism. An involvement of adolescent boys into prostitution has risen a number of special concerns.
It was noted that the Ukrainian legislation system has no such term as "sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism". In addition to this, low living standards, neglected white-skinned children, ubiquitous corruption and social consumerism make Ukraine a fast-growing market for child sex services. The problem is aggravated by many other reasons, such as geographical situation in the heart of the European continent, large economic gaps between the home countries of sex tourists and locals, absence of visas for many tourists, low prices for alcohol, reputation of a corrupted society and high chance to avoid any kind of criminal prosecution.
According to the collected statistics, 26% of Ukrainian families with one child and 39% families with two children are struggling to survive whilst living below the poverty line. Poverty leaves no other option to many people except providing sex services for rich and wealthy foreign guests.
A 2008 research of the Ukrainian sex workers' lifestyle revealed that 39% of them do not use condoms regularly and that 22% are drug users. Most part of Ukrainian sex workers are prostituting in tourist resorts of the Black Sea during the summer season, around 30 — 40% of them are between 11 and 18 years old. A strong link connecting the prostitution of Ukrainian children and child sex tourism can be seen within the country.

Media coverage

Ukrainian media regularly covers the topics of human trafficking, prostitution, and sex tourism in Ukraine. Especially, a great amount of media attention was brought to these issues in regard to final rounds of European Football Championship 2012. For example, in the Polish press, all football fans traveling to Ukraine were depicted as sex tourists and all Ukrainian women as potential sexual targets. Also, the Ukrainian people were derogatorily labeled by the Polish media as poor, corrupt, criminal, HIV-positive and undemocratic. As a result, in 2012 there was an outbreak of hysteria over "sex tourism" among Ukrainian soccer fans. At the peak of the obsession, roving gangs of local vigilantes even attacked foreigners who ordered prostitutes, and posted the videos of beatings online.