Posted on 05/10/2003 4:14:08 PM PDT by MadIvan
ONE DAY Vera Golubeva would like to live in the West and work as an accountant, but she has no hope of a grant to finance her studies — so for now she is selling her body on a street in St Petersburg.
Golubeva, 22, is far from being an exception. A study has found many women who work as prostitutes both in Russia and abroad are not the poor, uneducated victims of coercion they are portrayed to be; they have consciously decided to become sex workers to pay their way through university or college.
The study, carried out for the MiraMed Institute, a Moscow-based organisation that tackles sex trafficking and social issues, found many Russian women were drawn into prostitution by the Pretty Woman syndrome.
Shonda Werry of Chicago University, who carried out the research, said women told her they had been impressed by films such as Pretty Woman that make the lives of sex workers appear glamorous. Like Julia Roberts, who plays the prostitute heroine, they hope to meet a rich man who will whisk them away to a comfortable life abroad.
“I have a few foreign clients who are in love with me,” said Golubeva, who is doing a correspondence course in accounting. “I could pretty much get any of them to get me a visa to their country if I wanted, but I’m waiting for the right one.”
She started dancing in a club on Nevsky Prospekt, St Petersburg’s main avenue, but moved to the street after a dispute with the owners.
Golubeva’s situation is typical, said Werry. “Many college girls talk about prostitutes’ glamorous lifestyle and are impressed with the benefits that come with the job.”
A few Russian prostitutes do appear to succeed in establishing relationships with foreign clients and go to live with them abroad. Many more do not. Student sex workers are often more concerned with making money than insisting their partners use condoms.
MiraMed, founded by Juliette Engel, an American doctor, has been campaigning to warn young women of the dangers of prostitution — and discouraging them from responding to advertisements for lucrative work abroad.
“People assume prostitutes just come from poor economic backgrounds; this just isn’t true,” said Engel.
It could be a struggle to persuade many like Golubeva who are already in the business to quit. “I can make $250 on a good night,” she said, “and my bosses have flashing lights on the roof of their car, so I don’t get any trouble from anyone.”
That's all that's needed. Every guy I know loves southern drawls or twangs.
There was a girl from South Carolina when I was in j-school who could keep me spellbound just by her drawl. A Southern accent is a damn sight sexier than a French one, believe me.
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