TWO sex workers from Greece have asked to live and ply their trade in Cyprus, leaving authorities here at a loss.
Through their lawyer on the island, the two Greek nationals – one female, the other a transsexual – have written to four government ministers requesting information on which procedures they should follow.
The letter has been sent to the ministries of labour, health, justice and the interior. In it, they inform the ministries that they are registered and employed as sex workers in Athens, that they comply with all public health and public order requirements under Greek law, and that they are able to furnish all the relevant documentation and certificates.
The two sex workers indicate that they wish to provide their services in Cyprus, and ask what arrangements should be made in advance as they intend to open a workplace and the particulars, such as what permits are needed from municipal authorities and how to go about getting them.
Although the two do not intend to work together, their requests for information have been filed jointly.
The letter was sent to the ministries months ago, but to date there has been no answer.
“No one seems to have a clue, and one ministry is passing the buck to the other,” says their lawyer Costas Efstathiou.
Cyprus law does not prohibit prostitution itself, but operating brothels, organising prostitution rings, living off the profits of prostitution, encouraging prostitution or forcing a person to engage in prostitution are illegal activities.
The law does not prohibit soliciting, and states that a prostitute can legally work alone, but the activity becomes illegal if somebody else financially gains from her income, or if two or more prostitutes work in the same building.
In Greece, prostitution is legal and highly regulated, but only in state-licensed brothels. The law also specifies the minimum distance which brothels are allowed from public buildings.
Under EU laws regarding the free movement of people, workers have the right to move to a different member state, to look for work and be employed under the same conditions as nationals of that state, subject to a number of reserved areas which varying according to country.
In theory, the two Greek sex workers should not face any restrictions to live and work in Cyprus. But according to Efstathiou, “that’s precisely the problem, it’s all theory.”
And Efstathiou sees it as a test case for where the world’s oldest profession stands in Cyprus.
“My clients are willing to pay social security, income tax, the works. They want to be fully licensed, you see. But we haven’t been able to find out whether local, Cypriot sex workers, do these things. If I had to guess, I’d say they don’t – but that’s the problem, no one knows the answer to these questions.”
The lawyer says he is giving authorities a little more time to get back to him, and if no action is taken he is considering reporting Cyprus to the European Commission for unjustified delay.
“If it comes to that, yes, we shall file a complaint with the European Commission, on the grounds that the measures (or non-measures) taken by authorities here have equivalent effect to prohibition.
“On the one hand we’ve got thousands of unregulated sex workers, and on the other hand someone comes along and says ‘Look, I want to work legally’ and they treat it almost like a joke.
“It’s time for this false puritanism of our society to end,” says Efstathiou.
Lazaros Savvides, permanent secretary of the Interior Ministry, confirmed that they had received the letter from Efstathiou.
“It’s definitely a first,” he said.
He said the ministry will appoint an administrative officer to ‘investigate’.
“We have to figure out whether they [the sex workers] would need work permits, whether they have to register with an association, and so forth. We’ll look into it.”
In Limassol there exists an association which provides support to ex-prostitutes and which aims to reintegrate them into society. Its full name is “The Love, Protection and Care Association for Former Prostitutes.”
Established in August 2009, the association was created through the initiative of Annita Nicolaou, author of Eleni the Prostitute, based on the true-life experiences of a former Cypriot sex worker. The book has been made into a television series that is currently running on Antenna.
