Why stop with the cabarets?

It’s nice to see the police finally taking action against the exploitation of girls in Cyprus. The recent raids suggest quite strongly that the authorities know what is happening and they know where to go to make their arrests, so why was nothing done before?

What I don’t understand is why the police are only targeting cabarets; what about all those vice pubs in our towns, where girls are readily offered to customers for £150 per night. Then there are the numerous cabaret-owned pubs in old Nicosia, where girls are forced to work afternoon shifts selling their services to customers. Many other pubs also sell girls discreetly so as to avoid pimping accusations. Basically, if a customer buys a girl six or 10 drinks (usually juice) at £5 a pop, the client can take the girl for sex.

The authorities also seem to have forgotten about the ruthless impresarios also. There is one impresario-owned apartment building in Nicosia where 25 girls are virtual prisoners; locked into their rooms all day unless they agree to go out and have sex with clients. This is where the real crimes are committed.

Girls failing to fulfil the wishes of their ‘owners’ wishes are punished by imprisonment. The whole business is full of hangers on who presumably get paid with free sexual services. The police should be targeting everyone, not just a few cabaret owners.

AC, Nicosia (name and address supplied)

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