Interviews

The first part of this video is an interview (in English) with Tatiana Zabelina from the Moscow Youth Institute. She founded the Center for Women, Family, and Gender Studies at the institute in 1993. She begins by talking about the work that the center has done, and their current project to provide organizational training and seminars for young women and for health service providers.

Zabelina cites a poll that showed that 22% of girls were willing to have sex for money. She talks about problems with education, family structure, and poverty in smaller cities that lead to prostitution, and about the spread of AIDS related to prostitution. Zabelina says that the trade of women is controlled by the Mafia, and talks about a recent trial in Germany involving Russian sex workers who were murdered in a brothel. She says that girls are controlled by the Mafia because they have no rights in the countries they are in, have no support, and are afraid. Zabelina discusses various cases of child sexual exploitation, and says that the path to prostitution often begins with rape. Zabelina says that media plays a negative role, showing prostitution as a well-paid, easy, and safe profession. Since perestroika, problems are more openly discussed and there are more programs and organizations; however, women's sexuality is now being exploited in capitalist ways. Zabelina says that everyone involved in prostitution should be punished, and that there should be better control over companies that trade in women. She says there should be state-sponsored programs to help girls.

At the end of the interview, there is a MS of interviewer Gillian Caldwell and Zabelina. Caldwell re-asks the questions from the interview for video production purposes.

The second part of this video is the first part of an interview (in Russian) with Dr. Lola Karimova, director of the program for women's sexual wellness at the AESOP Center in Moscow. In the interview she talks about the increase in sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis due to social decline, migration, commercialization of sex, and the complete lack of sex education programs. She also talks about treatment for survivors of rape and marital rape, saying that doctors in Russia are not adequately trained

Dr. Karimova discusses prostitution in Russia, and her experience working with "elite" prostitutes. These women are highly educated, concerned about their health, and aware of diseases. They work as prostitutes to earn extra income. She also talks about working with street prostitutes, who are very young and do not know about basic hygiene and health.

Dr. Karimova talks about the social relations between men and women in Russia. She says that men are not aware of women's problems, and tend to not share responsibility for children. In terms of the sexual culture in Russia, she says that during the transition from socialism, a "sexual revolution" took place in which pornography became readily available, but not sex education.

The interview returns to the topic of prostitution. Dr. Karimova talks about a successful Dutch program that provided health education as well as practical information for prostitutes. She then tells a story about a young woman who ended up as a prostitute, transmitted sexual diseases to many johns, and was mistreated by police. Dr. Karimova also talks about the perception of prostitution in Russia.