Media Room - News at December, 2005

Milliyet Newspaper - December 29, 2005

Nevsal Elevli

    The fact that 74 percent of the calls, made to rescue women forced into prostitution, came from men surprised both the UN and the foreign press

    74 percent of the calls made to the charge-free hotline, set up by the UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for women, have come from men.

    In her interview to The Independent, IOM Chief of Mission Marielle Lindstrom said that she was very surprised to find out that most of the calls came from brothel clients: "We haven't noticed this anywhere in Europe."

    The Independent reported the news as follows: "An unlikely hero has emerged in Turkey to rescue victims of forced prostitution: the brothel customer."

    The Police Caused Surprise Too

    Lindstrom stated that in the past six months, 100 women - mostly from Ukraine, Moldova, Romania or Russia - have been rescued from sex slavery and that Turkish police have broken up 10 trafficking networks.

    The Independent wrote "While the country's security forces are hardly renowned for their attention to human rights or sympathetic treatment of women, they have been chalking up impressive successes in finding and freeing trafficked women from brothels." Nevertheless, this success does not only belong to the police and the project but it is also a result of "Turkish brothel clients acting like chevaliers" reported the newspaper.

    Lindstrom also claimed that "Turkish men seem to have an old-fashioned view of women. They don't mind using prostitutes, but they want the woman to be doing this willingly. If she's found not to be doing it willingly ... it affects their pride."

Hürriyet Newspaper - December 29, 2005

Hürriyet Newspaper

    Turkish men have spirits of a chevalier

    The Independent: Heroes rescuing sex slaves

    The British newspaper 'The Independent' wrote that the Turkish brothel clients, the unlikely heroes, helped to rescue women forced to prostitute by making calls to the helpline.

    Evaluating the efforts to rescue 'sex slaves', the newspaper said that the clients acted like chevaliers and made calls to the helpline. It wrote:

    "While the country's security forces are hardly renowned for their attention to human rights or sympathetic treatment of women, they have been chalking up impressive successes in finding and freeing trafficked women from brothels."

    100 WOMEN RESCUED

    The newspaper stated that "In the past six months, 100 women - mostly from Ukraine, Moldova, Romania or Russia - have been rescued from sex slavery and Turkish police have broken up 10 trafficking networks." The newspaper also gave two reasons for this success: A 'helpline' set up in May by the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the clients acting like 'chevaliers.' The newspaper reported the following:

    "But the second, more unexpected, factor is the chivalry of the Turkish brothel client. Since the hotline started, 74 per cent of tip-offs have come from men: customers who have learned to spot the difference between a professional prostitute, and someone who's been forced into it."

    IOM: NOWHERE IN EUROPE

    "I've been very surprised," said Marielle Lindstrom, head of the IOM in Turkey. "We haven't noticed this anywhere in Europe. Turkish men seem to have an old-fashioned view of women. They don't mind using prostitutes, but they want the woman to be doing this willingly. If she's found not to be doing it willingly ... it affects their pride."

    Explaining the 'red telephone' practice, the Independent indicated that an information leaflet was slipped into the passports of women from high-risk countries and a Russian language advert has been playing on Turkish television stations.

Vatan Newspaper - December 29, 2005

Vatan Newspaper

    Prostitution Calls of Turkish Men Surprised the UN

    The fact that 74 percent of the calls, made to rescue women forced into prostitution, came from Turkish men surprised the UN officials. Lindstrom stated that "100 women were rescued in six months through the calls coming from the Turkish men … Turkish men seem to have an old-fashioned view of women. They don't mind using prostitutes, but they want the woman to be doing this willingly. If she's found not to be doing it willingly, it affects their pride."

Cumhuriyet Newspaper - December 29, 2005

Cumhuriyet Newspaper - Foreign News Desk

    Chevaliers of the Brothel

    British newspaper The Independent wrote that the Turkish police has shown impressive successes finding victims of human trafficking, and that the brothel clients acting like chevaliers has helped to rescue "sex slaves" by making calls to the helpline. While the article claimed that "Turkey's security forces are hardly renowned for their attention to human rights", it stated that the success belongs to the brothel clients acting like "chevaliers" and making calls to the "helpline" set up by the UN International Organization for Migration.

Turkish Daily News - December 29, 2005

Turkish Daily News - ANKARA

    Free hotline service set up to help women proves to be successful

    The practice of a charge-free hotline, which was set up in May by the United Nations' International Organization for Migration (IOM) for women to call for help, has been successful, the Anatolia news agency said yesterday.

    In the past six months 100 women -- mostly from Ukraine, Moldova, Romania and Russia -- have been rescued from sex slavery, and Turkish police have broken up 10 trafficking networks.

    Since the hotline started, 74 percent of tip-offs have come from men: customers who have learned to spot the difference between a professional prostitute and someone who's been forced into it.

    "I've been very surprised," Marielle Lindstrom, head of the IOM in Turkey, told British daily The Independent. "We haven't noticed this anywhere in Europe. Turkish men seem to have an old-fashioned view of women. They don't mind using prostitutes, but they want the woman to be doing this willingly. If she's found not to be doing it willingly ... it affects their pride."

The Independent Newspaper - December 28, 2005

Meriel Beattie - ANKARA

    Customers help stamp out Turkey's sex slaves

    An unlikely hero has emerged in Turkey to rescue victims of forced prostitution: the brothel customer.

    While the country's security forces are hardly renowned for their attention to human rights or sympathetic treatment of women, they have been chalking up impressive successes in finding and freeing trafficked women from brothels.

    In the past six months, 100 women - mostly from Ukraine, Moldova, Romania or Russia - have been rescued from sex slavery and Turkish police have broken up 10 trafficking networks.

    There are two reasons for these results. A charge-free hotline was set up in May by the UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for women to call for help. It is staffed by multi-lingual operators who try to pinpoint where the women are - and then send in the police.

    But the second, more unexpected, factor is the chivalry of the Turkish brothel client. Since the hotline started, 74 per cent of tip-offs have come from men: customers who have learned to spot the difference between a professional prostitute, and someone who's been forced into it.

    "I've been very surprised," said Marielle Lindstrom, head of the IOM in Turkey. "We haven't noticed this anywhere in Europe. Turkish men seem to have an old-fashioned view of women. They don't mind using prostitutes, but they want the woman to be doing this willingly. If she's found not to be doing it willingly ... it affects their pride."

    Unlike the professional Russian prostitutes, nicknamed "Natashas", who invaded casinos and clubs of holiday resorts in the 1990s, the trafficked women are not migrant sex workers.

    Typically, they have been tricked into thinking they are coming to better-paid jobs. "I was told that someone would meet me at Antalya airport and take me to my new job," one 31-year-old Moldovan woman told her rescuers. "Instead he took my passport and took me to a village. They put a gun to my head and threatened me, and then beat me. They told me if I didn't consent, they would kill me. They kept me locked in the house and brought customers to me."

    The hotline is publicised in two ways: passport officials at borders and airports slip an information leaflet into the passports of women from high-risk countries; and a Russian language advert has been playing on Turkish television stations.

    "Turkey respects your rights," it says. "If anyone takes away your passport, your freedom, or forces you to perform work of any kind without pay, call the helpline 157, free of charge. Any time, any phone."