Tricked and Trapped: Human Trafficking in the Middle East, ‎pdf 4.1 MB

Two Russian artists said during an investigation that they were being forced to
prostitute with clients. The manager of the nightclub filmed one of them while she
was prostituting herself with a client and threatened her with the video whenever
she would ask to leave to go back to her country. She ran away with another Russian
artist to the Russian Embassy, which stated that it was not aware of this kind of
work in the nightclubs and that an intermediary had deceived the artist, as she had
not come to Lebanon with the intention of engaging in prostitution. 140
As an official from the ISF explained, “even with proof against the owner,
their super nightclub cannot be shut down because the law stipulates in
article 103 of the Lebanese Criminal Code that the place will be closed only
if the crime is committed inside the place. The owner takes the girls outside
and forces them to prostitute themselves.” 141 The challenge is all the greater
given that those establishments that are shut down can reopen once they have
the permission of a judge. Between November 2010 and September 2012
the ISF closed down 25 massage parlours, cafés and beach houses used for
commercial sex, of which 16 managed to reopen. 142
Recruitment: Voluntary or involuntary?
Across the region, the owners of nightclubs and super nightclubs use similar
recruitment methods. They often rely on impresarios (or agents) in countries
of origin and destination, but they also surf the Internet to identify suitable
candidates, travel to countries of origin to recruit locally and consider
candidates recommended by other women in the industry (box 3.10).
Women also actively search for employment overseas: an official from the
Russian Embassy in the UAE explained that “they find information on job
opportunities on the Internet”. 143
Once the women have been identified, the club owner sends the contract and
travel documents. In Jordan it is difficult to obtain artist visas, so the women
enter on tourist or other workers’ visas. As one official from Aqaba Special
Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) explained, “in Aqaba, the women who
work in nightclubs apply to come as tourists or as waitresses, because out of
the 800 visas issued a year, there may be 100 visas for waitresses and four to
five for artists”. Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian women do not need visas
to enter the country. However, they will need residency permits to stay. “An
iqama [residency permit] costs 400 Jordanian dinars (JOD) [US$560] a year
for a Russian girl and 272 JOD [US$380] for an Arab woman,” explained
140
According to the Internal Security Forces (ISF), this case was referred to the Appellate
Prosecutor’s Office in Mount Lebanon on 14 Oct. 2009. A search warrant was issued
to find the manager of the club and one of the owners.
141
Interview with an official of the ISF, Lebanon, 17 Nov. 2012.
142
Interview with an official of the ISF, Lebanon, 27 Sep. 2012.
143
Interview with an official from the Embassy of the Russian Federation, UAE,
31 Jan. 2012.
81