The Price of Sex

Photo journalist Mimi Chakarova has created a great collection of videos and photos of Eastern European women telling their stories of being enslaved in prostitution.  Four of the videos tell the stories of individual survivors, and two others are focused on women at risk and how sex trafficking works.  You can view all these at: www.priceofsex.org.

This project tells the story of one form of trafficking from one region, affecting one group of victims.  The issue of trafficking women into prostitution is, of course, a problem in areas other than Eastern Europe and former Soviet-bloc countries.  However, as many of the videos explain, women in this area have been some of the most vulnerable to exploitation in prostitution.  Many face the impossible choice of remaining jobless and poor in their home country or risking trafficking by taking a job overseas.  It's a risk they know, and they take it because staying and starving is not a viable choice.

It's also important to note that many women who are trafficked knowingly and willingly enter prostitution.  While the most publicized stories are about women who thought they would be waitresses or nannies, some take a job in the Netherlands or Germany in what they expect will be legal, safe prostitution on their own terms.  Even after making that choice, women can be trafficked one their freedom is removed or their labor stolen and exploited.  A woman who took a job as a prostitute and one who took a job as a waitress are equally trafficked once they loose their ability to leave or control their situation. The women from Eastern Europe thought they were taking a number of different kids of jobs, jobs that all turned into slavery.

The price of sex is higher than you think, and Chakarova eloquently tells the stories of just how high it can be.

Image from humantraffickingproject.blogspot.com