EIGHT years ago last week, Oxana Rantseva plunged to her death from a fifth-storey apartment in Limassol. The circumstances surrounding her death have never been fully elucidated.
The 20-year-old Russian was an artiste working for a well-known cabaret in the coastal town. Her body was found only an hour after police had released her into the custody of her employer.
She had been tricked into coming to work in Cyprus as a translator. But Oxana found herself employed at Zigos Cabaret. She stayed there for seven days before fleeing, leaving behind a note that read: “I’m tired. I’m leaving for Russia.”
She disappeared and after a day her employer notified police that she had abandoned her workplace.
Ten days later she was spotted during the early hours at a local discotheque by another cabaret artiste, who tipped off Oxana’s employer. The latter, along with a relative, picked up the young woman and took her to the police station.
The duty officer at the station released her into her employer’s custody, who was told to come back with her the next day to clear the issue up with immigration. Oxana never made it to sunrise. Her family believes that in a desperate bid to escape from her apartment, she slipped and fell to her death.
More recently, former US Ambassador to Cyprus Michael Klosson and Turkish Cypriot politician Serdar Denktash joined forces to rescue another victim of sexual exploitation, Elena Potoran from Moldavia.
Like Oxana, Elena had been duped into coming to work on the island, this time as a waitress. Instead, she found herself working at a cabaret in a Turkish Cypriot cabaret.
Elena, a virgin, refused to have sex with customers, but allegedly was forced to do it on the very first night. Eventually, through an intricate salvage operation involving a Russian Orthodox cleric in the south, the US Embassy in Nicosia and Serdar Denktash, Turkish Cypriot police raided the cabaret and freed Elena from the clutches of her boss.
The priest in question is Father Savvas Michaelides, who used to run a shelter for artistes in Limassol that claims to have rescued hundreds of women from the sex trade. He continues to counsel them.
The crusading cleric’s ultimate goal is the criminalisation of the sex trade on the demand side. In his view, the most effective way of cracking down on traffickers and pimps is to go after the punters.
And he advocates following the Swedish model – a ban on the purchase of sexual services which observers there say has drastically reduced human trafficking and prostitution, though it has had the side-effect of driving the trade underground.
To Father Savvas, it’s all or nothing. Half measures get you nowhere. And he feels that the government’s recent attempts to crack down on cabarets in Cyprus are just that – half measures.
Under the new regime introduced last year, performers must be hired in dance troupes of four. They must also have papers proving they are professional dancers with a minimum of two years paid experience and dancing qualifications. Where necessary the artistes will have to show they are “well known” in their own country or internationally. In addition, if one member leaves, the entire troupe has to leave. Moreover, the paperwork process has been moved from the Interior Ministry (Immigration) to the Ministry of Labour.
Cabaret owners say these are impossible conditions that will drive them out of business. Father Savvas is not convinced; he says that cabarets will simply find a workaround. One way, he surmises, is that cabarets will be able to procure forged documents certifying that a women is a professional dancer. While that may increase the costs of recruiting women – for example through kickbacks to authorities in the country of provenance – it can be done.
“For years, our government has been an accomplice to sexual exploitation. How? By issuing artiste visas. But the inescapable truth is that artistes are in fact prostitutes. Therefore, the government has been condoning this activity,” Father Savvas told the Sunday Mail.
The US Trafficking in Persons report has placed the Republic of Cyprus on the Tier 2 Watch List for three consecutive years. Tier 2 is for countries that do not fully comply with the minimum standards set by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act 2000 for the elimination of trafficking but are making significant efforts to bring themselves in compliance. Cyprus is the only EU country in that category.
It is thought this sort of pressure has forced the government’s hand. But a mentality shift is also needed, says Father Savvas.
“Sadly, in Cyprus buying a woman is still considered acceptable behaviour, and even something men take pride in doing. All that needs to change, through a combination of government action and an awareness campaign to inform people of the evils of trafficking and sexual exploitation.”
The priest is well aware that cabarets are only part of the equation. It’s no secret that recent years have seen an steady rise in the number of women employed as barmaids on the island but who in reality offer sex services on the side, with the bar owners getting a piece of the action. But because these women are registered as barmaids and their profession has the veneer of legitimacy, it is that much harder to crack down on the activity. Potentially, this status allows for greater exploitation of the women.
A study commissioned by AKEL found that as many as 80 per cent of bars hired out women for sex. Although the data for this category was based largely on anecdotal evidence, in the year 2000 around 430 out of 537 bars were said to be involved in this activity.
“Why is the government still issuing hundreds of barmaid visas? If they really want to stamp out sexual exploitation, they should abolish them as well,” said Father Savvas.
The aforementioned study attempted to gauge the size of the informal, underground and illegal economy on the island, with emphasis on the exploitation of women and prostitution. It found that the turnover ran in the tens of millions of euros.
Hotels across the country also generate a sizeable income through room reservations. It is common knowledge that punters often meet women for sex at hotels.
Though bordering on the conspiracy-theory, Father Savvas maintains there are a great deal of vested interests keeping the sex industry going. Among other things, the industry generates income for lawyers defending cabaret owners against charges of abuse brought up by artistes. Some of these lawyers happen to be members of parliament.
It brings to mind a line from the movie American Gangster, where Detective Richie Roberts laments on the drugs trade: “They don’t want this to stop. It employs too many people. Cops, lawyers, judges, probation officers, prison guards. The day dope stops coming into this country, a hundred thousand people lose their jobs.”
Being a prominent activist, Father Savvas was once interviewed by a French television network about human trafficking in Cyprus. Soon after the documentary was broadcast in France, Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis happened to be on a visit to that country. During one of his meetings, someone who had watched the documentary broached the subject of human trafficking with regard to Cyprus, and on his return to the island Silikiotis was able to use this as ammunition to crack down on the activity.
But there was a flipside: a few days later, Father Savvas got a call from a concerned CTO (Cyprus Tourism Organisation) officer.
“He complained to me that we had become a laughing stock in Europe…hinting that my interview was a bad move,” Father Savvas told the Sunday Mail.
“Prostitution and sexual trafficking are two sides of the same coin. It doesn’t matter whether the girl is aware of what her job entails. And c
onsommation (punters buying drinks for artistes) is sexual harassment, no matter what spin you put on it.”
Majority of ‘girls know the score’
IN CYPRUS, the act of prostituting oneself is legal and there are no laws against the purchase of sexual services; however, it is illegal for third parties (i.e. pimps) to earn a living out of prostitution. Otherwise said, brothels are outlawed. Cabarets have been able to evade the arm of the law because they are registered as “nightclubs” and on paper are legitimate businesses.
Kleitos Kleovoulou, owner of the Mirage nightclub in Limassol, describes cabarets as strip-joints, where men come to meet women.
“We sell the company. What happens afterwards between two consenting adults is their own business. We never push the girls to have sex,” he insisted.
Though admitting that abuse of women was common in the past (cabaret owners would hold on to a women’s passport or threaten her if she refused to go out with punters), Kleovoulou said that today cabarets have cleaned up their act and that abuse is the exception rather than the rule.
And he shoots down the victimisation argument, pointing out that “99 per cent” of the women coming to work as artistes know the score.
“Yes, some of the girls hate the job and leave, and they are free to do so,” said Kleovoulou, rejecting the notion of debt bondage, after numerous reports that girls have been manipulated into having sex with customers to repay their airfare once they reached the island.
“But many of them come back several times. Either way, I can guarantee you that no one is forced to do anything against their will.”
Kleovoulou himself has been in jail after one of the women he employed reported him to the police for abuse. He claims it was a set-up.
And while professing to have the “utmost respect” for Father Savvas – the two are acquainted – he says that stories of exploitation should be taken with a pinch of salt.
According to Kleovoulou, women are often coached or cajoled into testifying against their employer. In return for testifying, he says, the women are allowed to stay on the island for a year, during which time they receive state benefit.
Asked by the Sunday Mail whether it would not be more profitable for the girls to remain employed at cabarets rather than receive the montly benefit, Kleovoulou said:
“Maybe so, but more often than not the girls go to the police when their contract is coming at an end, so that they get to stay here for another year. For many of these girls, who come from poor countries, the state benefit is way better than any salary they could get back home.”
Kleovoulou, who worked at Las Vegas’ Olympic Garden Cabaret for years before returning to Cyprus, ascribes to the view that having regulated prostitution is better than unregulated prostitution. An outright ban is of course out of the question – and unrealistic.
“Look, there will always be a demand for sex. And we agree that the worst practices should be rooted out. But what about all the girls working out of apartments? Does anyone check them for HIV and other diseases? No. By law, girls working at cabarets undergo all these medical checks.”
Kleovolou believes that the new regulations governing cabaret girls have arisen out of a misguided attempt by the government to control the sex trade.
“The people who are behind this idea, they couldn’t figure out a clever way of regulation. Under pressure from the Americans, they decided effectively to shut us down, using the new rules as a disguise. It’s as simple as that.
“This business about artistes requiring dancing certificates is utter nonsense. Let’s face it, the girls are strip dancers. I mean, come on, it’s like asking Cicciolina [the famous Italian porn actress] for a university degree!”
Though denying that cabarets are in the prostitution business, Kleovoulou argues that sexual services perform a vital social function.
“Even here in Cyprus we’re seeing an increase in sex crimes, minors being raped and what not. Now imagine what would happen if someone could no longer pay for sex. Things would get worse.”
And according to Kleovoulou – who claims credit for introducing a Hollywood style and glamour to the local cabaret scene – equating cabarets to brothels is a false impression.
“People come here to relax, to wind down. We put on exotic shows, we have lap dances. You wouldn’t believe the clientele we’ve had. Famous people, even politicians. I think that some folks are taking this whole business way too seriously. Do they want to create a theocracy or something? They should lighten up a bit.”
Competition from bars and so-called “massage parlours” is getting tougher, and the economic crisis isn’t helping either. Now, Kleovoulou says, the new regulations are the final nail in the coffin for cabarets.
Desperate times call for desperate measures – so to speak. In a marketing ploy, Kleovoulou, for example, plans to perk up business by bringing back an oldie. Every weekend, his cabaret will be staging a competition, where male punters walk up on the stage and are stripped by the girls.
“The goal is to see which guy gets an erection first. If you get an erection, you win,” Kleovoulou says.
The jackpot now stands at €10,000.
“I’m still looking for a winner. We’ve had hundreds of guys go up on stage, and believe it or not they all freeze up. Personally, I was amazed by this, given the Cypriot male’s macho ego. Just goes to show you.”
Side bar
Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, harbouring, or receipt of people for the purposes of slavery, forced labor (including bonded labor or debt bondage), and servitude. It is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, with the total annual revenue for trafficking in persons estimated to be between $5 billion and $9 billion.
Exploitation includes forcing people into prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery and servitude. For children, exploitation may also include forced prostitution, illicit international adoption, trafficking for early marriage, or recruitment as child soldiers, beggars, for sports (such as child camel jockeys or football players), or for religious cults.
