The Independent
By Sapa-DPA
December 13 2002

Tehran - When the Islamic system was created in Iran in 1979, prostitution topped

the list of taboo subjects. But today the situation cannot be ignored as prostitution is rapidly on the rise.

"Our main concern is that the trend is increasing dramatically," Jamileh Kadivar, MP

and member of the  women's faction in parliament said on the website Women in

Iran.

The former red-light district in the New City in central Tehran was turned into a park

by the Islamic administration in an attempt to put an end to the business but family

problems stemming from unemployment, drug abuse and a lack of social support

gradually forced women back to prostitution.

According to official figures from the Social Welfare Organisation, more than 1,7

million women and girls, almost six percent of the female population, ran away from

home, became homeless and many of them eventually turned to prostitution.

'My mother knows, of course, where the money comes from' "If the economic

management had done its job properly, we would have never faced such a dilemma"

Kadivar said.

A 23-year-old call-girl in Tehran says she found herself in a desperate situation. Her

father was an addict and there was constant physical abuse in the home. "With no

money, no education, no opportunity for marriage what else shall I do for surviving?" she

said.

Turning to prostitution, Taraneh managed to rent a small flat in eastern Teheran

with her mother and two younger sisters and she says she works to provide a

decent life for them. Her father is back in his home province where her grandmother

is trying to help him beat his addiction.

"My mother knows, of course, where the money comes from but both of us try to

ignore it and always talk about an imaginary company where I work. My sisters

however believe in the fairy tale of the company," she said.

How can a family with no man at its side cover the high life expenses?' Her monthly

income is exceeds 10 million rials (about R50 000), about five times that of the

average family. She charges her customers, who she insists come from good

backgrounds, between 50 000 to 120 000 rials.

"We are saving money so that I can stop all this when I am 30, when my sisters will

have finished school and can help the family financially," she said.

According to unconfirmed statistics, there are about 30 000 to 500 000 prostitutes

in Iran.

Prostitutes, pimps and customers are arrested on a regular basis but the police and

judiciary have nowhere to accommodate the arrested prostitutes.

With up to 30 000 people HIV positive in Iran, a plan to supervise prostitution to

control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases was mooted by the social

department of the interior ministry but the plan sparked harsh protests within the

conservative clergy and was doomed to failure.

  According to the plan, the brothels were supposed to be turned to "morality

houses" and prostitution was to be legitimised in the form of a temporary marriage

which is a traditional religious custom in Iran under which unmarried or divorced

women can have a legitimate sexual affair with men.

 Kadivar said that the women faction in the parliament plans first to distinguish

between prostitutes who are just immoral and those forced to sell their bodies

owing to financial pressures. The first category will be confronted but the second

provided with support through the social welfare organisation.

  But Taraneh counters, "the efforts by some of the female officials might even be

based on good will but how can a family with no man at its side cover the high life

expenses even with governmental aids".

  "And I further believe that at least in Iran there are voluntary prostitutes and

almost all of them prefer to have a decent life and I personally pray to God every

night to get out of this mud," she added.