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Violence Against Women: 10 Reports / Year 20034.2 Prostitution of and Trafficking in GirlsAccording to the Directorate General on the Status and Problems ofWomen, 50 women and girls in Turkey enter into prostitution due to lowwages or sexual harassment in previous jobs, and choose prostitutionbecause it guarantees them economic security. One third were forced intoprostitution by husbands and boyfriends. 51Prostitutes are required to register and undergo regular medical examinations.Only single, Turkish women over the age of 18 may register andregistered women cannot marry while registered. 52 However, mostwomen prostitutes work outside the official system. Unregistered prostitutesare reportedly at the mercy of the police, facing violence and sexualabuse as well as arbitrary detention in police stations. 53During the past decade, Turkey has become a major destination and transitcountry for trafficking in women and girls for the purposes of prostitution.According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM)and domestic NGOs, most trafficked women and girls in the country arefrom Albania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, and the Ukraine. Accordingto the IOM, arrests (and in most cases, deportation) of nationals fromMoldova, Romania, and Ukraine rose from 6,000 in 1998 to approximately11,000 in 1999. 54Many girls and women come to Turkey believing that they will be legitimatelyemployed as models, entertainers or translators. Once thesewomen and girls arrive in Turkey, they find themselves in debt bondage totheir traffickers. Women who attempt to escape are at risk of being beaten,gang-raped, or killed.The Turkish government does not generally provide protection or socialservices to victims of trafficking. Victims of trafficking are eligible to useonly one of the eight government run battered-women’s shelters and inpractice, trafficked women are unable to avail themselves of even the minimalprotection offered by this one shelter. 55 Moreover, the government’sstrategy to deal with trafficking is limited to tightening immigration controlsincluding restricting the avenues to attainment of Turkish citizenshipthrough marriage 56 and deportation of any foreigner linked to commercialsex-work 57 without screening to identify trafficked persons. 58358